The Physics of Magick

“Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your unguarded thoughts.” Buddha.

When I was first taught about the atom, the electron orbited around the nucleus, which is composed of protons and neutrons. However, this is not how it works. Now, we understand that the electron is not a tiny particle spinning around a solid ball of substance, but exist as a wave function, a cloud of possible position, or all positions, around the similar nucleus. When a measurement, or observation, is taken of the position of the electron, the wave function collapses, and one of the infinite positions of the electron is realized. This is an example of the dual aspect of matter. Matter exists both as a wave function with infinite possibilities of materializing at a particular point, and as a solid particle. This principle of matter is the crux of Magick, and in manipulating the above principle, the Magician, Pagan, or Wiccan, can cause change in their environment.

If any of the readers have watched, The Big Bang Theory, (which is my favorite sit-com) then you are quite familiar with an often referred to thought experiment entailing Schrodinger’s Cat. In this thought experiment, the cat is placed in a sealed box in which the release of a deadly poison is dependent on whether or not a single atom of a radioactive substance decays or not, (decay means that a particle materializes outside of the radioactive substance). Now, according to the particle-wave theory of Quantum mechanics, the atom is functioning as a wave, and thus all possibilities are poised to manifest, or collapse, when the atom is observed and only when the atom is observed. Before the observation, all possibilities can be realized. Thus, the cat, being dependent on the atom decaying or not, is in a state of limbo, with all possibilities present, and thus both dead and alive at the same time. Schrodinger used this experiment to show the absurdity of the phenomenon. (However, later scientist pointed out that the cat is such a large system of matter that it is still being observed by the universe, i.e., breathing and such). This will answer the question, “If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?” According to the above, the answer is a big Yes!

To bring the point home, let me elaborate on the most famous of quantum experiments, The Double Slit Experiment. In this study, researchers direct a beam of light at a barrier with two vertical slits. Directly behind the barrier is a photographic plate, which records the results. One would expect to see two vertical lines on the photographic plate as the beam of light passes through. Yet, this is not what happens. The light passing through the slits creates an interference pattern. See figure one.

Figure 1-The interference pattern shown is a result of the physical proton, acting as a wave. When one photon of light is projected at the double-slit barrier, the photon registers as a single point. Yet, after cumulative photons are fired, the result is an interference pattern. The photons act as if they are interacting with each other, even though they are singly projected.

This interference pattern is a result of the photons, (particles of light that materialize from the electromagnetic field), acting as a wave function. The light and dark patterns are created when the peaks and troughs of the wave functions either add to each other or subtract. You may say, okay, big deal. But this also happens when a single photon is projected at the barrier. The single photon goes through both slits simultaneously, creating the same interference pattern, point by point, which insinuates that the single photons are interfering with themselves, even though projected one at a time. It gets even weirder. When the researchers attach a detector before the barrier in an attempt to observe the trajectory of a single photon to record which slit the photon enters, the wave function collapses, prior to the slits, and the results are what one would expect, two separate lines on the photographic plate. This clearly shows that the observation itself changes the results, i.e. either particle or wave. When the measurement is stopped, the wave function returns and the superposition of all possible trajectories is recorded on the photographic plate as the interference pattern. Superposition is the cumulative result of all wave functions and all possibilities, and like the electron cloud around the nucleus, supports all the possible positions of the appearance of the particle. Scientists use statistical probability to determine where the particle may materialization from the wave function, but have no idea as to why that particle comes into being at that particular location. The manifestation appears when observed, and is what scientist refers to as the wave function collapse. Superposition in the wave function implies that the particle is in all possible position simultaneously and only manifests when observed. However, the term observation does not mean with the physical eyes for large systems, as noted with Schrodinger’s cat, or a tree falling in the forest.

Additionally, there is a superposition of the superposition that is the basis for my argument and where Magick gets its power.

Physicist Chris Lee, in an article entitled, Physicists summon up their courage and go after the nature of reality.” Written for Ars Technica, wrote:

“Quantum mechanics may allow the wave function to represent a superposition of different states, (meaning all possible positions while in the waveform of the particle) with measurement results determined by probabilities. The statistical interpretation of the wavefunction implies that there can be a superposition of superposition states, which changes the relative probabilities of the measurement outcomes.” He continues, “A group of physicists and philosophers who don’t believe that quantum mechanics represents reality but that it was all we could see of some deeper, more fundamental theory. A subclass of these scientists believed that the randomness of quantum mechanics would eventually be explained by some non-random, deterministic property that we simply couldn't directly observe (otherwise known as a hidden variable).” Many have theorized that this hidden variable is the human consciousness.

Having understood that the wave function contains all the possible paths of a particular particle, and that the inferior superposition contains an influencing superior superposition, the magician, during ritual or even focused thought, creates an emotional construct of the desired change. This emotional construct causes the superior superposition to influence the inferior superposition, beginning a cascade of materialized particles, which in the end, brings to fruition the change on a massive scale. This is how I believe a person, using magickal or meditative means, can cause change in their environment. Our consciousness can manipulate the superposition of the superposition.

To illustrate the idea further, Carl Jung, a Swiss Psychiatrist, believed that, just as events may be connected by causality, they may also be connected by meaning. Events connected by meaning need not have an explanation in terms of causality. This he termed Synchronicity and indicated a deeper reality with he called the Unus mundus. Wikipedia defines the Unus mundus as, “Latin for ‘one world’, is the concept of an underlying unified reality from which everything emerges and to which everything returns. (This definition will become very important in the following paragraphs). Jung believed that the Unus mundus, or deeper order, and its appearance as a synchronicity, could lead a person to a spiritual awaking and bring the egocentric individual to thinking about the Oneness of the universe.

The term meaning can be considered to hold an emotional context, which for the magician is highly important. Just like the Zen master, who observes his life events as a spectator, so too must the magician. The directed emotion gives rise to the energy needed to cause a ripple in the underlying fabric of the universe. The magician sees his life as the Zen master does, watching events unfold, experiencing it passively. Yet, when the need arises, the magician brings forth his/her passion, directing his/her will, creating an emotional construct of the desired outcome.

Let me introduce the Chaos theory, also called the Butterfly Effect, which can further illustrate the effects of manipulating the superposition of the superposition. Wikipedia explains that the butterfly effect is “the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state can result in large differences in a later state.” This idea came from a man named Edward Lorenz and his study of hurricanes. He came to conclude that the initial conditions for the hurricane can be influenced by minor, and seemingly insignificant changes, in the character of the hurricane. He gave an example that the exact path and time of formation of a hurricane could be a result of a butterfly flapping its wings on the other side of the world, weeks earlier. Lorenz concluded that a small seemingly irrelevant change in the initial conditions of a system could become highly relevant and significantly change the outcome of a much larger system.

The influence of consciousness in the quantum theater regarding the physical manifestation of thought reflects the present state of the observer. If the observer is of a stature that lacks any form of spiritual insight or growth, that individual will be a slave to his/her subconscious thought. These subconscious thoughts created by the repetition of the conscious thoughts of the individual and by the collective unconsciousness of Earth’s population, of which Jung believed was a key element in the Unus mundus, would create an environment suitable to the person’s thought process. Without the intentional effort to eliminate the influences that lay just below the surface of the waking state, these subconscious thoughts, (Jung called them Archetypes and were responsible for creating complexes in people, and comprised of both the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious), are free to manipulate and contort the quantum probability wave, or superior superposition. This would create a higher probability of a specific event materializing, thus causing the independent consciousness, i.e., the person, to experience his/her thoughts. If that person is of an unevolved mind, it perpetuates an environment made up of possible unwanted attributes.

In contrast, the person who directs his/her will towards knowledge of his/her perfected personality, or the Higher Self, can suppress the malicious external influences of both the Earth’s collective unconscious, and their own, and directly and intentionally change the probability of a particular event happening. This occurs on the quantum level, and the mind of a trained magician or meditator can focus his/her directed and pinpointed will on a particular outcome and influence the superposition of the superposition. The basic or inferior superposition wave function will collapse in the direction of a person’s evolved subconscious makeup. The practitioner of the esoteric arts can directly manipulate the overlaying or superior superposition, effecting the collapse of the inferior superposition wave function, directed by the will.

In 2013, physicist, using the Large Hadron Collider (the world's largest and most powerful particle collider, built along the border of France and Sweden), discovered a particle called the Higgs Boson, or as the media called it, the God Particle. The discovery of the God Particle purports an underlying field, called the Higgs Field, which is the last unverified theory of the standard model of particle physics. The Higgs field was created at the Big Bang, permeates the entire universe and is said to be the energy of a vacuum. It is the medium that gives mass to the wave function by way of the Higgs Boson or God Particle. This particle manifests as an excitation, or ripple, in the Higgs field. (An excitation is defined as a point with greater energy from the ground state of a field). Now you can see how the particle got its nickname, for it creates matter where before there was only a vacuum.

This leads me to how I believe Magick works. The implements of Magick, such as a talisman, a wand, a candle, and so forth, help the practitioner’s willpower focus on the desired outcome, creating an emotional construct capable of influencing the superior superposition probability wave function in a particular trajectory or direction. (Additionally, as one becomes proficient, the thought alone will cause a change in the environment). The Magician intensely focuses the mind on a desired outcome, which in turn causes a ripple in the omnipotent void of pure potential, the Higgs field, where all possibilities are un-manifest, causing the God Particle to come into existence. The focused will of the magician, added to the emotional construct, creates an increase in the probability of a single particle manifesting along the chosen vector, or path, and like the Butterfly Effect, sets the emotional construct on a course towards full fruition.

Furthermore, all this happens in Yesod, which is called by Kabbalists, the foundation of the universe. It is the ninth Sephora, directly above the tenth, or Malkuth, which is deemed the Earth. (Yesod is situated directly below the six Sephora, Tipheria, and the seat of Christ Consciousness. This alignment of the Sephora on the Tree of Life glyph shows how Humanity can raise their consciousness, and evolve their thought pattern first to Yesod, having gained knowledge of the construct of the universe, and then to Tipheria, to understand the true meaning of being a child of God). In my earlier articles, I wrote that in order to cause change in one’s environment, you must change the astral plain, or Yesod. Yesod can now be likened to the Higgs field, or Jung’s, Unus mundus. It is the field that gives form to the universe and is created from both the individual unconscious and the collective unconscious.

Here we see the coupling of three distinct branches of science; physics, psychiatry, and the yet mostly uncharted, esoteric arts. These three different disciplines have come to the same conclusion, that the physical universe is given form by an unseen primordial field, created before the physical universe came into being, is comprised all possibilities realities, and can be manipulated by both collective and individual consciousness.

Of course, mindfulness comes into the equation. Mindfulness quiets the mind, suppressing random thoughts. It is these random unchecked thoughts that create a person’s environment, whether they are good or bad. Control your thoughts, and you control your environment. Change the way you think, and you will change the way you live.

Note to reader. I am by no means proficient in Quantum mechanics and do not claim to understand any of the math involved. Einstein said, “I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know his thoughts. The rest are details. (The Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton University Press, 2000 p.202)

References:

Physicists summon up their courage and go after the nature of reality.

Quantum state may be a real thing. .). Retrieved from http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/07/quantum-state-may-be-a-real-thing.

By Chris Lee – Ars Technica

The insanely weird quantum wave function might be “real” after all.

Retrieved from http://arstechnica.com/science/2011/11/the-insanely-weird-quantum-wave-function.

By Chris Lee – Ars Technica

C. G. Jung ed, Man and his Symbols (1978)

Synchronicity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity

Our Story - Positive Luxury. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.positiveluxury.com/about/story/

By Blake Crockett on July 26, 2016

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

Sullen Falls is a cracking read once you get a few chapters in.

The characters have a very real feel about them and each is quirky in their own right. The tone starts off at a slow pace but quickly builds in momentum as the plot unfolds. A tension begins to form, the one you feel in your gut and then builds up to quicken your pulse … and reading pace.

It has many elements that are woven well by a masterful author, and an imagination that captivates you and wants you to read more. I enjoyed Sullen Falls and the extremely detailed descriptions of both its characters and setting … at times you can see and feel as though you are there.

It has wince worthy moments where you feel embarrassed for a character … for instance when Wilber needs to hide his boner. And other times where you are willing a character to safety. The pace of the book is set out very well, and will leave you thinking well after you finish the last page.

Great book from a great writer … will be looking out for more of his writing in the future.

Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite

Sullen Falls by Frank Julius Palumbo is a horror story of epic proportions. Sullen Falls is in the past for Seth; he left it behind to go looking for a life, for answers to burning questions. A comet appears, luring him back and he finds nothing but evil. An evil that is all encompassing and is threatening anyone he ever held dear, including the woman he once loved, Sophia. The Coughlins decide that it would be nice to camp at Sullen Falls in a picturesque campground miles away from the craziness of real life. It’s also a chance for parents and children to rediscover their bond, but none of them can imagine what horror they are about to face. A town festival is not what it seems and the nightmare begins. Seth, the Coughlins, and Sophia must unite to fight the evil and save the town. They must find an ancient book, a book that is under the guard of the last surviving member of an order thought to have been wiped out. Seth will have to come to terms with his destiny, no matter what it is, and whatever it costs him to save Sullen Falls.

Sullen Falls by Frank Julius Palumbo is gripping roller coaster of a read. This is one of those books that, once it grabs your attention, it’s difficult to put down. I found it a little slow to begin with, but it soon picked up pace. Before I knew it, I was in the thick of it, watching a terrifying tale unfold. The plot was complex, yet easy to understand and follow, the character development was excellent, giving enough background to let you know the characters, but not so much that it was too much. There was plenty of action and the story went into enough detail to keep you hooked and wanting to read more. Fans of the horror genre will find this story very much to their liking and I will be looking for more along these lines from Mr. Palumbo

Rating: 5 out of 5

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite Sullen Falls by ...

Sullen Falls by Frank Julius Palumbo is a riveting story where readers are introduced to Seth Covington who had left the Sullen Monastery five years ago. Seth goes in search of meaning in his life, but finds himself back in town where he realizes that not only has the place become evil, there is also a threat to the life of his lover, Sophia. Running parallel to the story of Seth Covington is the story of the Coughlins, whose idea of vacationing in Sullen Falls is to create a bond between parents and their teen kids. But then Sullen Falls is gripped by an evil force that threatens to transform the entire universe into hell. There is a way to defeat the evil force, but will Seth, Sophia, and the Coughlins be able to discover it and save Sullen Falls?

Laced with horror and fantasy, the plot pulls readers into Sullen Falls. It's not the usual kind of horror novel. All the characters are well portrayed and readers can feel the evil lurking in Sullen Falls. Whether it is the nightmare that the Coughlins face or the unexpected appearance of a comet that brings Seth back to Sullen Falls, readers will be gripped by the horror and the eeriness that permeates the plot. The author's writing style is fluid, giving the story a good pace and movement. The narration is detailed and descriptive, making the scenes vivid for readers. The plot is impressive and the author has handled it well, keeping the suspense going.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Reviewed by Tracy A. Fischer for Readers' Favorite

In a very dark, creepy and scary tale, Sullen Falls by author Frank Julius Palumbo is certainly a tale that most readers would not tackle after dark. It would be safer to read it at high noon, in your room, with all the lights blazing! Follow the story of the inhabitants of Sullen Falls, a small secluded town with a dark history. Unbeknownst to those who live there, an evil and malevolent force lurks beneath them, one that is ready to wreak havoc at any moment. Seth is a young man who has struggled to find himself since leaving the monastery in town five years ago. He finds himself coming home, feeling drawn by an unusual comet. He realizes the great threat of the evil force, and he's determined to protect Sullen Falls, especially his former love, Sofia. Joined by a family with teenaged children, the Coughlins, Seth and Sofia must do their best to defeat a force they don't quite understand in order to save as many as possible. Will they be successful? You'll need to read this book to find out!

I so enjoyed Sullen Falls. Author Frank Julius Palumbo has done an incredible job in creating characters that his readers will relate to, connect with, and truly come to care about, thinking of them long after the book is finished. If that isn't a hallmark of a great author, I'm not sure what is. And his dark and twisting tale is simply horror at its best. Any reader who loves a fantastically written scary tale should absolutely read this book. I highly recommend it, and look forward to reading more from the very talented author, Frank Julius Palumbo, as soon as I possibly can!

Meditation and Neuroplasticity

It Will Pass

A student went to his meditation teacher and said, “My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I’m constantly falling asleep. It’s just horrible!”

“It will pass,” the teacher said matter-of-factly

A week later, the student came back to his teacher. “My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It’s just wonderful!’

“It will pass,” the teacher replied matter-of-factly.

The above story, written approximately two thousand years ago by Zen masters, is meant to point the student towards enlightenment. Enlightenment being that state of mind where the one who has attained it, is not affected by the roller-coaster ride of human emotions and is marked by the absence of desire and suffering. The aspirations and miseries that most people experience in life do not play havoc with the constant state of mind a Zen master has achieved. The Zen master sees these events as if he/she is watching a television film. For the average person, the television character’s pleasures and tribulations within the scene are viewed objectively from safely outside the setting in which the movie is taking place. The Zen master too will experience the events in his/her life as an observer, not impacted by the desire or sufferings of his ego, watching his/her fate unfold without interference from preconditioned attitudes. Not affected by his/her successes or failures, the Zen master maintains this constant state of mind, allowing the creative force of the universe to flow through them. How many great teachers in history have shown how this limitless energy, once tapped into, caused a change in their environment? The author need not elaborate on this.

However, this state of mind is not a product of culture or teaching but of the practice of mindfulness itself. Mindfulness is a state of mind where the individual has no thought of the past or the future. There is only the present. Like now. Take a moment and focus your attention on the air going in and out of your nostrils. Nothing else. The past plays no part in your current experience, and the future holds no anxiety. This practice is far more challenging than one would think to maintain for any length of time. But the practice itself causes the effect of a calm and steady mind. By that, I mean mindfulness changes the actual structure of the brain. This phenomenon is called Neuroplasticity and is a relatively recent understanding of how the brain functions and adapts.

There are several profoundly important areas of the brain that are physically changed by the practice of mindfulness, areas of the brain that control the overpowering or even superhuman traits of those great men and women who have gone before us. Images of the brains of subjects and control groups were taken before and after using a magnetic resonance imaging, (MRI). The subjects were instructed to perform a mindfulness technique that would have been practiced for at least eight weeks before the study. In one study, it was shown that the amygdala, a structure which has increased activity during stress and becomes denser during prolonged stress, did the opposite when subjects practiced mindfulness. For those people who meditate daily, the amygdala had significantly less activation during stress and had become physically less dense overall. This insinuates that people who meditate will not suffer the dire effects that stress has on the body overall, i.e. high blood pressure, immune deficiencies, depression, and a host of other ailments.

The amygdala is shown above. There is a significant decrease in density and activity during stressful events for people who meditate daily. Additionally, other studies have shown that there is an increased in grey-matter density in the hippocampus, which is associated with learning and memory.

In another study, people who meditated forty minutes a day developed thicker cortical walls than non-meditators. Studies have shown that as a person ages, the cortical walls become thinner. The thickness of the cortical wall is associated with memory, attention, and decision-making. The conclusion was that the brains of people who meditate daily aged much more slowly than those who do not. Along with the above, meditators have shown increased thickness in the sensory regions, demonstrating that daily meditation leads to an increase in sensory awareness. See diagram below.

SW Lazar, a German scientist, is quoted as saying,

“With a rapidly aging society, it becomes increasingly important to counter normal age-related decline in cognitive functioning. Growing evidence suggests that cognitive training programs may have the potential to counteract this decline. On the basis of a growing body of research that shows that meditation has positive effects on cognition in younger and middle-aged adults, meditation may be able to offset normal age-related cognitive decline or even enhance cognitive function in older adults.”

The prefrontal cortex and the auditory and sensory cortex are shown above. Increases in the density and size of these areas occur with the practice of daily meditation. Additionally, an increase in Myelin, the coating of brain nerve cells, has been documented. A decrease in Myelin may result in depression, dementia, and schizophrenia, and attention deficit disorder.

In Hugh G. Byrne’s book, “The Here-and-Now Habit: How Mindfulness Can Help You Break Unhealthy Habits ...” he describes two distinct states of self-awareness. The first is the ‘narrative-focus,’ or extended self-referencing and is the default mode for humans. This state primarily is associated with negative thoughts about oneself, mind wandering and rumination about the past and the future. Typical everyday experiences. The second state is called the ‘experience-focus,’ or momentary self-referencing and deals with seeing those daily tasks in life as moment to moment events and any emotional feelings as transient. The experience-focused state is entwined within and lost in the narrative-focused state making our life experience filled with past influences impinging upon the present moment and future prospects, and vice versa, creating a whirlwind of emotional turmoil. However, Byrne’s states that with the daily practice of mindfulness, the experience-focus can become the dominant state, separating the once combined neural pathway into two distinct neural networks. Now, after the divide, the narrative-focus is accessible only with intent. Having the experience-focus become the dominant state of mind is crucial in the development and evolution of the human condition because one such area of the brain that shows an increase in activity and thickness as a result of the daily practice of mindfulness is the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is associated a person's personality and expression, decision making and social behavior. Additionally, it is involved in the prediction of outcomes, expectation based on actions, the determination of what is good and bad, future consequences of current activities, and controlling urges.

The above traits are all fine, and any one of us would lik e to have a superior capacity to judge what is right and wrong, or to control of unwanted urges. However, the real reason for the prefrontal cortices significance is due to a paper written by Elisa Filevich, a researcher at the Centre for Lifespan Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Using an MRI, Elisa Filevich discovered that the subjects capable of having lucid dreams had an enlarged anterior prefrontal cortex, (located in the front portion of the prefrontal cortex, approximately where the mysterious third eye would be on a person’s forehead) and was highly active during the lucid dreams. Hence, the above studies show that daily meditation does increase the thickness and activity in the prefrontal cortex and that the prefrontal cortex is associated, if not critical, for the ability to have lucid dreams.

Additionally, the practitioner of mindfulness does not have to engage in the practice for extended periods of time. Results have been documented in as little as eight weeks. If you read my previous article on the out of body experience and how lucid dreaming and the purging of the subconscious mind through meditation techniques can produce an actual state of separating the consciousness from the physical body, you will see that for humanity to evolve to higher states of consciousness, one must meditate. The Zen master in the above story is a product of his practice. He sees the emotional states of his student as an impediment to Enlightenment but not because the Zen master was taught that, but because that is how his brain now functions. I believe that once the experience-focus or momentary self-referencing becomes the dominant neural network, the practitioner becomes the observer, allowing that person to connect to a consciousness that is greater than his, i.e. his Higher Self, or the Christ within. The Zen master stands outside of his experience, watching his fate unfold, allowing the Christ Consciousness to rise to the forefront of his experience. When this takes place, the will of the Higher Self dominates, and life flows unhindered by obstacles and detours, allowing the true will to be revealed. Additionally, this is where synchronicities, a theory published by Sigmund Freud’s apprentice, Carl Jung, flourish, and thoughts can be observed creating reality. Synchronicities can be defined, as per Merriam-Webster Dictionary, as ‘the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as in similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality.’ (I will elaborate on Carl Jung’s theory of synchronicities in a later article.)

The practice of mindfulness is a tool that can be used to change the foundation of human thought and bring Humanity to the brink of an enlightened state. The method is simple, just watch your breath going in and out of your nostrils, in and out, in and out…and let the infinite wisdom of your higher self to take control.

Gard, T., Hölzel, B. K. and Lazar, S. W. (2014), The potential effects of meditation on age-related cognitive decline: a systematic review. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1307: 89–103. doi: 10.1111/nyas.12348

Lazar SW, Kerr CE, Wasserman RH, et al. Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. Neuroreport. 2005;16(17):1893-1897.

Filevich, E., Dresler, M., Brick, T.R., Kühn, S. Metacognitive Mechanisms Underlying Lucid Dreaming. The Journal of Neuroscience (2015) (DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3342-14.2015)

All of us have Darkness Within, some more than others. For those of us who seek to purge the stain of humanity’s evolutionary stagnation, and free the mind from its prison of human flesh, read on. But beware, for once the ride has begun, you won’t get off, and only you will hear your screams.

The out of body experience or astral projection is the sensation that your consciousness is separated from your physical body. This alternate body can comprise an exact duplicate of the physical body, or it may entail a ‘floating eye’ perspective, much like a person may have when they are normally dreaming or having a lucid dream. However, there is an immense difference between these three dream states. Many people have difficulty differentiating between nocturnal dreams, the kind we all have, and the precursor to astral projection, lucid dreaming. In lucid dreaming, which is rare, the individual can control the visions and change their dream environment, while having full use of their cognitive functions. However, the imagery is comprised of subconscious wishes and terrifying apparitions. There is no real world interaction. The fully conscious individual cannot breach the tightly woven fabric of the physical universe and cannot enter higher realms of existence. The third dream state, much rarer and challenging, if not impossible for some to achieve, is the Out of Body Experience or Astral Projection. Here, the individual separates his/her consciousness from their physical body, slicing through the fabric of matter, to experience the physical universe directly or travel the astral planes, where gods and demons reign.

I believe that these three states of the sleeping mind are not independent of one another but lay on a continuum of personal growth and achievement. That is to say, as he/she evolves their consciousness, by a variety of means, their dreaming states will also advance, ending with the ability to separate his/her astral body from their physical body at will. There is nothing like the feeling of your mind, consciousness, astral body, soul, or whatever your particular culture chooses to call it, as it rises out of your sleeping form, fully awake and aware, with all of his/her memories intact. But now, free from the constraints of the world of matter, you are set to explore the universe, to travel to higher planes of existence, and perhaps, meet your Higher Self, the Divine spark, your Holy Guardian Angel, the Christ within you. (I use the term, Christ, not in a Christian sense, but as a commonly understandable meaning for a fully evolved soul in the material world, i.e., Christ Consciousness). Alister Crowley was quoted as saying, “It should never be forgotten for a single moment that the central and essential work of the Magician is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.”

All of us have had dreams that provoke profound states of anxiety. We sometimes wake to say, “Thank God it was just a dream.” Better yet are dreams of pure hedonistic pleasures, the kind when upon waking, you lay still hoping to return to your forbidden desires. Science has long questioned the reason why humans, and for that matter, animals, dream. One theory purports that dreams are practice for daily living, a trait that would have come in handy to primitive humans cowering in a dark cave at night, dreaming of hunting or trapping. Others believe that dreams stem from subconscious desires, where they can be safely enjoyed without harm coming to the physical form. Or that that fears and threats experienced throughout the course of the day, bubble up from suppressed regions of the ego to play itself out, thus relieving the physical body of the harmful effects of stress. All these theories are valid, yet to my knowledge, none has proposed that dreams, and their progressive stages, are stepping stones to the next phase of Humanity’s evolution, which is the ability to separate his/her consciousness from the physical body at will.

Herein is the key. We all experience the alternate reality of the sleeping mind, whether

you are a saint or a sinner. However, I believe it takes a more spiritual seeker, or mystical explorer, to have a lucid or second dream stage. (The two italicized designations are used loosely). With lucid dreaming, the individual may wake in his/her dreamscape or may rise out of his/her physical body as in astral projection. However, the difference is in the content of the experience; what a person sees, hears, or engages in. In the normal or first dream stage, the subconscious mind shapes the experience, preventing lucidity from occurring or causing its premature termination. Wicked things and slashing monster may attack, tsunamis could drown you, or death may occur, shocking you awake. Yet with practice, (practice of a particular kind), the individual in the lucidscape can learn to control the events, and with a flick of the hand, demons turn coward, tsunamis part their waters, and death is no longer feared.

With stage one dreams, no proof is needed for we all experience them. This is different with lucid dreaming. Many have claimed to be able to control their nocturnal fantasies, yet, for one who has experienced the ability, their claims are clearly a fabrication of the false self to lift the ego and create a sense of ascendancy. However, the experience of lucid dreaming has been documented in studies and has been achieved in laboratory settings. For example, when the subject successfully awakens in the dreamscape, that individual has total control of their environment and actions in the dream world and can control the physical eye movements of their sleeping body. Having been instructed by the researcher to move his/her eyes in a particular sequence, the subject, once becoming lucid, move their eyes in the predetermined pattern, perhaps three times to the left and three times to the right. That movement will elicit corresponding eye movement in the sleeping subject as indicated by electrodes attached to the subject’s eyelids, thus confirming that the sleeping subject is lucid within the dreamscape.

Additionally, some subjects experience the lucidscape as a ‘lifting away’ from their body and observing their lucidscape as if they were standing in the real world. No waking within a normal dream occurs. The subject’s experience entails sitting up in bed, standing and gazing at their sleeping body. This could be an indication that the subject is not having a lucid dream, but experiencing the separation of their astral body from their physical body.

The difference between lucid dreaming and astral projection is in understanding the origin of what is experienced and the progress of daily practice. However, this understanding and practice do not take place in the lucidscape, but rather entails sitting on a pillow for extended periods of meditation. I believe that meditation is the key to eliminating the individual of suppressed desires and fears, thus clearing the clutter of images in the dreamscape, allowing lucidity to develop and achieved. Meditation brings the subconscious mind to the forefront of consciousness for personal examination, exposing repressed attitudes and conditioning. With this knowledge gained, he/she is no longer a slave to primitive desires or irrational fears. Without these distractions, the dreaming mind now has the ability to become aware of itself.

The practitioner of lucid dreaming, free of unfettered images, can then enter the astralscape, that dimension, which I believe, is the precursor to the physical world, giving form and substance to all matter. Called Yesod, it is the foundation of all magickal work. This tradition of thought comes from the Jewish Kabbalah, as adapted by Western occultists. The theory is that if you change a variable in the astral world, through either ritual or projecting your consciousness, then you change that variable in the physical world. Additionally, with awareness of the astralscape, the practitioner, having confronted his/her subconscious affects, may walk among the world of matter. Herein is another mystery where the tales of shapeshifting and doppelgangers originate, but that is for another time.

Therefore, lucid dreaming and astral projection are part of a continuum of awareness and training, and the experience will be dependent upon the progress and extent an individual purges their subconscious mind through meditation. Without this purging, the neophyte will travel in a world where suppressed wishes and past experiences impinge upon his/her experience, preventing the practitioner from becoming lucid, limiting it, as he/she becomes lost amongst his/her fear and desires. The seasoned dream traveler, having uncovered the subconscious, laying it bare through years of meditation, progresses unhindered by false and deleterious visions and sees the physical world as is, and if preferred, may rise himself/herself to higher plains of existence.

Writer of horror and dark fantasy with a spiritual connotation; Astral projection, occult sciences, Enochian magick . . . And sitting in half lotus for decades.

Frank Julius Palumbo was born in the Bronx in December of 1964. He has worked as a carpenter, a freelance illustrator, and is now currently involved in Law enforcement. His studies include Psychology and Neuropsychology, and he has been practicing Zen Buddhism and the Kabbalah for over thirty years.

www.frankjuliuspalumbo.com

https://frankjuliuspalumbo.wordpress.com

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The Enochian Wars: Armageddon Unleashed. Published by Eternal Press

Enochian-Wars-Armageddon-Unleashed at Amazon.com

Planet Nibiru, known to the ancient Sumerians and spoken about in their writings on stone tablets thousands of years ago, has returned from its long orbit around the sun. This time, the inhabitants, huge winged gargoyles, plan to reap that which they sowed on their last passing, leaving Mankind fighting for both body and soul. Completely devastating the Earth with global Electromagnetic Pulse Nuclear bombs, Earth is suddenly left defenseless. Thousands of rectangular ships plummet in and around New York City and begin their erratic movement towards one goal; coalescing and forming a great wall around the metropolis and creating a central tower. As New York City is brought to its knees, Jack Savage, a veteran NYPD officer and longtime dabbler in the Occult, practicing a little known form a magick called Enochian, is transformed into a being with talents similar to that of Earth's new masters. That is, the ability to separate your soul-body from your physical body at will. Savage, along with his cynical partner Gilmore Boyle and Ol’ Willie-be-Good, a homeless crack addicted Vietnam veteran, begin the hopeless quest of defeating the Harvesters of Humanity.

The title of my latest book, ‘The Enochian Wars: Armageddon Unleashed,’ has raised quite a bit of eyebrows. The term Enochian comes from the Biblical figure, Enoch. He was a source of hidden mystical knowledge. In ‘The Book of Enoch,’ it is written, “And after that I saw thousands of thousands and ten thousand time ten thousand, I saw a multitude beyond number and reckoning, who stood before the Lord of Spirits…and I learnt their names: for the angel that went with me made know to me their names, and showed me all the hidden things.” For some, this meant knowledge of a race of beings not born unto the Earth, but instead inhabit the world of spirit.

In the 16th century, John Dee, the mystic for Queen Elizabeth 1, used his seer, Edward Kelly, to contact angelic beings by scrying into a black mirror. These angelic beings were believed to be the same race of beings that appeared to Enoch. Over the course of two years, the Angel Av bestowed upon Dee the Language of the Angels, or Celestial Speech, giving him knowledge of their alphabet. From this alphabet, a hierarchy of good angels and their demon counterparts was constructed. By assembling four tablets, each containing a grid of 12 by 13 letters, these tablets became the key to Enochian Magick. Within the four tablets are the names of all known angels and demons. With ritual use, these names can be invoked and the angel (or demon) can be summoned to do the magician's will. The astral being can appear within a scrying mirror or more traditionally, a crystal ball, or the entity will appear in the astral plain, which is explained below. Once summoned, is must be banished (especially the demons) else dire consequences will ensue.

The protagonist in my book is Jack Savage, a veteran NYPD police officer. Savage, during one of his daily meditation practices, has an out of body experience and projects his soul into the astral plain. There he encounters Enav, a good Senior angel in the hierarchy of angels in Enochian Magick. The angel Enav, harbinger of the apocalypse, cryptically informs Savage of the coming threat.

The out of body experience or astral projection is the sensation that your consciousness is separated from you physical body. This alternate body can comprise an exact duplicate of the physical body or it may entail a ‘floating eye’ perspective. This experience has been documented in studies entailing lucid dreaming and has been achieved in laboratory settings. For example, when the subject successfully awakens in his/her dreams, that individual has total control (with practice) of their environment and actions in the dream world and physical eye movement in the real world. Once the subject separates his consciousness or realizes he/she is dreaming, they move their eyes in the dream world in a predetermined sequence, perhaps three times to the left and three times to the right. That movement will elicit corresponding eye movement in the sleeping subject as indicated by electrodes attached to the subject’s eyelids, thus confirming their lucid experience. Some subjects experience the lucid dream as a ‘lifting away’ from their body and observing their ‘dream world’ as it is in the real world. No waking within a dream occurs. The subject’s experience entails sitting up in bed, standing and gazing at their sleeping body.

The difference in experience, I believe, is that of meditation. Meditation brings the subconscious mind to the forefront of personal examination, exposing unconscious attitudes and conditioning. With this knowledge gained, he/she is no longer of slave to primitive desires. The practitioner of lucid dreaming enters the astral world, that dimension which is the precursor to the physical world, giving form and substance. In the Kabala tradition, it is called Yesod, the foundation of all magickal work. You cause change in a variable in the astral world, either through ritual or projecting your consciousness there, then you cause change in that variable in the physical world.

Therefore, lucid dreaming and astral projection are part of a continuum of awareness and practice, dependent upon the progress and extent an individual purges their subconscious mind. Without this purging, the neophyte will travel in a world where subconscious wishes and past experiences impinge upon his/her experience, while the seasoned astral traveler, having uncovered the subconscious, laying it bare through years of meditation, walks in the physical world, and can raise him/herself to higher plains of existence.

Recent headlines have reported with awe and some even with trepidation that a new planet may orbit our sun every fifteen thousand years. This new planet, Planet X or even Nibiru, is the size of Neptune and remains unseen. In my book, “The Enochian Wars: Armageddon Unleashed,’ a new planet has entered Earth’s solar system and is close enough to appear as a second sun, yet dark and ominous. Soon, rumors of the ancient Sumerians writings emerge. The Sumerians were a race of people that emerged five thousand years BC, in an area that is today know as Iraq. Around three thousand five hundred BC, the Sumerians invented a form of writing called Cuneiform, and wrote their history on approximately seventy-five thousand clay tablets. These clay tablets speak of the planet Nibiru returning from a three thousand five hundred year orbit from which mighty gods descended. According to Zecharia Sitchin, author of several book detailing ancient mythology, these gods, the Annunaki, enslaved early man and later genetically altered their DNA, giving birth to modern man. I believe any advance race of alien entities would have the ability to project their souls and function in both the physical world and the astral world. Countless examples have been documented from angelic apparitions in holy texts, to the Greys, those little aliens who constantly abduct people, walking through walls.

Our world holds many mysteries and only the open mind can come to grasp such foreign concepts as astral projection and alien ancestors. Today, humanity explores the smallest unit with giant particle colliders and uses massive telescopes to stare past the boundaries of time to observe the Big Bang moments after its creation. But there is another universe waiting to be explored, one that does not need powerful machines or high tech gadgets. It is the universe of mind and mysticism, of introspection and contemplation. Whether these apparent real phenomena are solely personal or, in fact, quantitative has yet to be seen.

     Man exist as a point of light in an infintie void of pure potential. That is, at the core of man, in the deepest reaches of his soul, there is the Divine Spark. The Divine Spark exist solely within an unmanifested universe, pure, unblemished, and with God. The unmanifested universe is the quantum wave before it collapses. When it collapses, the physical universe is created. The Divine Spark is the cause of the collapse, granted by the grace of God. With a thought, the Divine Spark, or, consciousness without physical form, transforms the dark void of pure potential into the realization of the physical universe. Thus we are here.

     Seek the core of your being and create a world with your thoughts.   

Man's goal is to commune with himself made perfect. THAT can be done when one travels in their soul to the infinite void of pure potential.

When we are mindfull, we experience that which comes before the physical. Our minds diffuse into the quantum realm were only potential exist

Liberate your mind by freeing your soul. Seperated from the body, your soul has no boundaries, and your mind can create all that you desire.

Once your mind has created what you desire in the Astral realm, that creation will filter down, and manifest within the physical universe.