This article is an in-depth exploration of the merger of science and spirit in the Gnew Paradigm. It offers a definition, and a tool kit for optimizing navigation of the Gnew you, in the Gnew World.
"Man had Truth, but he found Error,"-Albert Pike, 33rd degree, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, prepared for the Supreme Council of the Thirty Third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States: Charleston, 1871.
Panpsychism, or something like it, is making a comeback. Believed to be the oldest religious modality, some version of it was ubiquitous amongst ancient peoples. And in a sort of nod to the Alpha and Omega concept of the God of the New Testament, it seems in the end that we had it right in the beginning…
Scientists in fields ranging from physics to evolutionary biology are finding that Heisenberg was right when he famously quipped "The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.” The “god” that they are uncovering may be closer to that of Spinoza than that of the Old Testament, and may be more accurately described by the term “Universal Mind.”
God it seems, is being rebranded as pure consciousness; an all pervasive field of awareness, bound in its manner of manifestation and communication by the strictures of its own laws. This field of consciousness is that which imposes Order upon Chaos, and is even more fundamental than the subatomic particles that it directs. The exact manner in which this is achieved is yet to be fully understood, although, almost in spite of ourselves, it seems that we are getting closer. And we are getting surprises. Surprises that demand a new ontological model, one that harmonizes the the apparent antinomy of science and spirit, and suggest that these apparently disparate systems may not be as mutually exclusive as once believed. In fact, they are complementary when established in their proper relation to one another, even mutually interdependent; void of meaning in the absence of one side or the other.
Hermetic Principle #4-"Polarity"
In our haste to mitigate the continued harms and oppression of the influence of religion, we have nearly thrown the baby out with the bathwater, abandoning any inclination towards spirituality as primitive, irrational, and unnecessary. The resultant pendulum swing towards abject materialism and atheism has left us mired in a soul-draining crisis of purpose. Thankfully, there is a middle ground, one that is increasingly supported by science; a woo-free take on spirituality. Ancient mysticism and modern science, once believed to mix like fire and ice, suddenly go together like butt-cheeks. One is found to be awkward and even useless in the absence of the other.
Hermes Trismegistus-"The Kybalion," by the Three Initiates, 1908.
Researchers in astrophysics have observed that galaxies appear to organize themselves in precisely the same way as neural networks. For several years I have been trying to come to terms with entheogen inspired visions and meditation derived revelations that showed me that consciousness is the "Organizing Principle," that which imposes order upon chaotic energy, giving rise to creation, and facilitating all experience. It was a revelation that the universe was intelligent and self-organizing. But, being a layperson, I lacked the mathematical language to formulate a technical theory. A week ago a friend sent me this article:
This ostensibly confirms what I had intuited, but with a degree of technical detail that I never imagined that I would see. At least not from scientists; this is nothing new to mystics. Here is another:
Further, in addition to the correlation in developmental processes shared by galaxies and neuronal networks, the researchers noticed other striking similarities. The ratios of correlating constituent elements were nearly identical, as well. 70% of the distribution of mass in both systems play passive roles, ie. dark matter in the galaxies, and water in the brain. The number of galaxies in the known universe corresponds roughly to the number of neurons in the brain. Perhaps the most compelling observation, in terms of precision: “Our analysis showed that the distribution of the fluctuation within the cerebellum's neuronal network on a scale from 1 micrometer to 0.1 millimeters follows the same progression of the distribution of matter in the cosmic web but, of course, on a larger scale that goes from 5 million to 500 million light-years”. This observation bears a striking resemblance to Robert Anton Wilson’s assertion from nearly 20 years earlier, “Signals per seconds within the neuron corresponds to miles per second outside of the body, and time is transformed by the neurogenetic imprint just as it is by the speed of light.” (source, 8th Circuit Ascension, Wingate, Phd. Turestky, Phd.)
As Above, So Below
Over the last decade or so, we have uncovered evidence of non-neural cognition accross diverse biological systems; from slime molds and other single cell organisms solving complex problems, to basic arithmetic, memory, and other relatively complex cognitive processes in plant species. Slime molds, for instance, navigate mazes and optimize resource use, demonstrating problem-solving without a nervous system. Similarly, organelles like mitochondria exhibit adaptive behaviors, such as regulating cellular responses to stress, while some plants perform basic arithmetic, store memories of environmental stimuli, and even recognize relatives. These plant species can send signals and even medicines and defensive pheromones and other chemicals when family memebers are sick and stressed. They will give priority to their closest kin.
And…all of that is just the tip of the iceberg….evidence in favor of quantum consciousness has emerged in the form of evidence that anesthetics act in quantum channels in brain microtubules to prevent consciousness. (Craddock, T. J. A., Hameroff, S. R., Ayoub, A. T., Klobukowski, M., & Tuszynski, J. A. (2015). Scientific Reports, 5, 8559. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08559 ). Another study found that anesthetics increase electron spin in flies, with different patterns in anesthesia-resistant mutants, suggesting a connection to anesthetic action.
Using density functional theory, they showed that anesthetics perturb the highest occupied molecular orbital of a protein model (a nine-residue α-helix), aligning with the Meyer-Overton relationship (anesthetic potency correlates with lipid solubility). They proposed that these electron spin changes disrupt electron currents in cells, which may be critical for nervous system function and consciousness. Though the latter study remains controversial, its findings gain significant support from converging evidence across multiple fields. (Craddock et al., “Anesthetics act in quantum channels in brain microtubules to prevent consciousness,” 2015, https://www.nature.com/articles/srep08559)
This rabbit hole is expanding rapidly and constantly. Mutations that appear to be context aware that surpass even epigenetics to fully account for have been observed in several species. These adaptations appear to have occurred in response to human . Elephants are devlving trunks, rattlesnake populations are ditching their rattles, and there is even an acacia that may have ceased producing a tannin that has driven overharvesting to the point of near extinction.
There is, of course, no way that a rattlesnake would know that it’s rattle is getting it killed, or an elephant that thier tusks put them in danger. This implies that there is something that is context aware that has oversight in the process of evolution. How this is possible could be explained by Michael Levin’s work in bioelectricity and morphology. Bioelectricty and Biological Blueprints
The bullet point of this presentation is that concepts like the existence of a Universal Mind, an afterlife, reincarnation, precognition, telepathy, and transconscious information reception, are less and less incongruent with scientific theory. In future articles and videos we will dive deeper into this subject, and I will keep us abreast of new developments.
"Science is always rediscovering odd scraps of magickal Wisdom and making a big fuss about its cleverness."-Aleister Crowley
It is consciousness that directs the wiring of the brain. It is one of the Great Mysteries of existence that this could be so. But it is. When we learn, when we think, when we experience, physical changes occur in the brain that reflect the mental processes that catalyzed them. When we observe the reflection not only in form, but also in process, at work in both the development of neuronal structures and galaxies, the logical extrapolation is obvious. It is the same funda-mental force that facilitates the imposition of order, whether in micro or macro. That force is consciousness. The universe is thinking.
And this brings us to the real subject of this blog: Gnosis.
Gnosis is an organic process. It is authentic. It is the result of increasing receptivity to this funda-mental force that we call consciousness. It is not a clumsy attempt at adhering to a set of outdated rules conceived by some patriarchal committee that sought political and/or economic power through the contrivance of a religion. Gnosis occurs because consciousness, if unpolluted by doctrinal delusion, and left unrestrained by dogma and misdirection, informs the minds that it shapes in accordance with Natural Law. Geometry. Symmetry. Harmony. The tendency of all systems is toward equilibrium, which is truth. The All is an equation balancing.
It is true alchemy of the soul. The "lead" of experience is transmutated into the "gold" of higher consciousness. The L.V.X. of the Western Mysteries.
One becomes a hollow tube that brings down fire from heaven.
This is the crux of the power of the Gnosis. It is a direct expression of the blueprint of creation.
Spiritual experiences of any kind tend to reorient the focus of individuals away from the self, towards the collective, from fear-based to love-oriented existence. The experience of coming to awareness that the Universe is conscious, that we ourselves are eternal consciousness, and that we are truly One Soul temporarily divided for the sake of experience changes everything. We are simply the sensory organs of the Universal Mind. People that have had this type of experience directly are far less likely to kill, harm, or steal. There is little joy in self-harm, or self exploitation. For most people, anyway.
"What are you but my reflection? Who am I to judge or strike you down?"-MJK, Tool "Push It"
Doctrinal study does not engender this kind of spiritual experience. In fact, for most people, it actually precludes it. While religion offers dogma, the Gnosis offers catmas, which are relativistic meta-beliefs.
Faith is buried (it was a stillbirth, after all), and uncertainty is embraced, but with the caveat that an ever expanding receptivity will be gained. It is in the Unknown, in the space between the beat, that opportunity for creation, the expression of freewill, can find its fruition.
Wise Words from "The Beast"-The Book of Lies (so falsely called), 1913
People that experience some form of Gnosis tend to live for life, liberty and love, not just for themselves. They know that the universe will provide so long as they remain on the Path. With this abolition of the old Aeon's selfish, fear-based, modality of existence, a new type of human that takes responsibility for itself, lives in harmony with hi/r higher purpose, and with that of the Collective, does as it whilt, and yet harms none, emerges.
Humans are not secondary beings; we are conterminous with Deity. Co-creators. We are a fragment of the Greater Consciousness, which is all anything can be. No part is greater or lesser, more divine, or more sacred, than any other part. The toenail of a leper is as much The Most High God as any Pope or vestal virgin. This is the fundamental divergence of Hermetic, Gnostic, and Magickal, practice with most other spiritual practices. There is no reason to prostrate oneself. We do not grovel when we pray.
Our Will is sovereign, and equal to that of the Most High, because our Will is but an extension of Its own.
Assuming that the True Will is known; this is not the same as the will that informs our day to day desires, our moment to moment impulses. In the parlance of the old Aeon, this is the distinction between the Will of God, and the will of man. It is our fundamental task to ascertain this True Will, and then to constrain all of our energies towards this singular purpose. This is our sovereign right, and our duty.
There is no other success.
Pope Jackson "Praise Jesus, Motha'fucka'. Betta' not be no motha'fuckin' devils on this mothafuckin plane!"
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children."- Samuel L. Jackson, quoting from some creepy, old, self help book, in the movie "Pulp Fiction,"
The path to Gnosis, by whatever means, can be long, frustrating, and even dangerous. There are no guarantees, and the faster the method, the more risk one is exposed to.
In a kill or be killed, dog eat dog world, the thought of becoming more vulnerable, to live for the collective, most of the constituents of which live only for themselves, can seem counter-intuitive, at best. To put ourselves in a state of "chaotic vulnerability," as Dr. Leary once advised, is a crusade only of the brave. “Spirituality is for suckers," sayeth the sceptic; and although this is largely true, it doesn't have to be. If we realise that we need not abandon reason, science, or even most conventional wisdom, in order to have a spiritual dimension in our lives, we can retain some of our armor. But only the stuff that we really need.
Meditation is slow, requires much discipline, and often, despite years of dedication, the aspirant finds that he has gotten nowhere. As modern, matrix-dwelling, work-week accommodating humans, most of us do not have the time to spend the prerequisite 10,000 hours meditating in seclusion in order to reach any notable degree of enlightenment.
Many of us don't even have the 8-12 hours to set aside for an LSD trip. Thankfully, the Universe saw fit to create DMT, which lasts for only 5-10 minutes, and all but guarantees an experience of transcendental consciousness that was previously reserved for the most adept meditating monks.
Entheogens are more reliably efficacious, and much faster than meditation, but only when used properly. The potential benefits and advantages of entheogenic experiences are not necessarily automatic. Preparation is still required; fertile ground must be prepared, and the seeds once planted must still be watered (integration). Some contact with the Universal Mind is, however, all but guaranteed, and I have never known anyone, no matter how stubborn their disposition, not to be at least marginally affected at the deepest level by a strong psychedelic experience.
Without the proper intent, the focus and presence of mind needed to guide our consciousness during the experience, and the discipline and willpower required to integrate the experiences, these substances are not guaranteed to lead to enlightenment. Or too much of anywhere at all. You must know why you are doing what you are doing.
The practice of meditation is made a most potent ally by mastering three types: stillness, focused, and pranayamic.
In the case of the first, the simplest and most well known, the mind is emptied by observation of thought, without attachment, and attention on the breath. The goal here is to achieve an experience of emptiness, peace, and clarity. This is an excellent practice before sleep.
A focused meditation practice used by Western magicians is to choose a very specific image, perhaps one of the tatvas, such as a blue circle surrounded by a red square. If so much as a line changes, or the shape flickers, one must reformulate the image, and restart the clock. A candle flame is often used as a point of concentration, but the practice of generating an image in the mind and maintaining in it down to the most minute detail is much more efficacious for developing concentration.
Last, but certainly not least, pranayama is easily the most difficult, but also the most beneficial of these methods. The practice consists of inhaling for a measured period such as a four-count, retaining for the same count, exhaling completely during the same count, and maintaining emptiness for the same count again. Over time, the cycles are expanded. This must be done slowly, as longer cycles, without mastery, can be harmful, potentially causing seizures and blackouts
The effect of inundating and then depriving the brain of oxygen accelerates the onset of altered states, such as samadhi, or even nirvana. When combined with a low to moderate dose of LSD or psilocybin, pranayamic meditation greatly enhances our ability to repattern the mind. One need only sit, and focus on releasing that which does not serve with each exhalation, and focus on the new imprint while retaining the oxygen, which is the fuel that the brain needs to do its work. Combining this breath strategy with the increased neurogenesis and enhanced neuroplasticity engendered by these substances can produce results that are nothing short of miraculous
Mastering one or more of these types of meditation will allow you to exponentially increase your gains from your entheogenic investitures.
Without the proper intent, the focus and presence of mind needed to guide our consciousness during the experience, and the discipline and willpower required to integrate the experiences, these substances are not guaranteed to lead to enlightenment. Or to much of anywhere at all. You must know why you are doing what you are doing.
Where there is a Will, there is a Way. But there must be a Will.
This is your brain on drugs.
The image at left shows brain interconnectivity without psilocybin; at right after psilocybin.
Brain scans like the ones featured above have established that communication between normally non-communicative brain regions occurs during a psychedelic experience. This provides a host of potential benefits, and may explain the enhanced capacity for revelation and insight provided by these states. Increasing between-network functional connectivity could disrupt the patterned use of cortical networks overly favoured under the influence of a specific pathology, such as depression, or addiction.
Neuro-scientists such as Dennis Mckenna have suggested that the transcendental experiences (what I might refer to as Gnosis-inducing) so commonly reported, and even some of the visual perceptions, occur because filters in our nervous system are deactivated by psychedelics. We perceive less than one percent of the full spectrum of light in our normal mode of consciousness, which means that most of the universe is imperceptible to us. This was an evolutionary adaptation borne of necessity, as these fractalized, morphing, energy patterns would impede our ability to perform essential tasks, such as hunting, or in the modern world, driving to work. I suspect that there is much more than just the normally imperceptible spectrums of light that entheogens reveal to our sensory apparatus in one form or another, and for me, this is where the greatest value comes. This allows us to tap into the mainframe of the Universal Mind, and to drink directly from the fountain of pure consciousness. The enhanced connectivity is just the tip of the iceberg, in my opinion. Connectivity to an even greater mind, the very source of mind, is also established.
Psychedelics are also much more safe than was previously believed. It is now known that only such persons as are predisposed to mental illness run any real risk of triggering psychosis. No link between psychedelics and mental illness
The reputation that psychedelics required as "psychomimetic," which means "mimicking psychosis," was in my opinion, rooted in the fact that these substances catalyzed experiences in the subjects that challenged the ontologies of the researchers. Some would go so far as to say that the subjects involved in the studies had achieved a kind of temporary sanity, and that they had simply exposed the psychosis of the researchers, by proxy.
Most people do not seem to give much thought to what the actual consequences of expanding consciousness might be. After a strong DMT experience, for example, many users report an “occult hangover.” Synchronicites, precognitions, and other parapsychological experiences, can occur in aggregate. After a lifetime of hearing that psychedelics cause insanity, a good number f these people think that they have “broke their brain,” when in reality the parameters of their perception have just been widened. Institutionalized gaslighting has made them question their new-found sanity.
Minimal risks notwithstanding, research has established that a person is exponentially more likely to correct neurological aberrations than to create them. Psilocybin, LSD, ketamine, MDMA, DMT, and a host of related compounds have shown remarkable capacity not only to induce spiritual experiences, but also to repair the bad neuro-nets that form as a result of trauma, from PTSD to addiction and everything in between. Treatments for lifelong addiction and debilitating depression are often successful with a single treatment. This is of course, part of the reason for their prohibition. Big Pharma is the second most powerful lobby in the United States, and single-dose cures are not as profitable as long-term symptom management.
"It is simply unprecedented in psychiatry that a single dose of a medicine produces these kinds of dramatic and enduring results."-Stephen Ross, the clinical director of the NYU Langone Center of Excellence on Addiction, told Scientific American in 2016.
Psilocybin has even proven capable of reanimating damaged brain cells. There is research underway that aims to resuscitate brain-dead patients that have failed to respond to other treatments. Reanimation of dead neurons was previously believed to be impossible, but has been observed in vitro, as well as in situ, when psilocybin is introduced. Psilocybin may revive braindead patients
There is a growing body of evidence that these compounds work similar miracles upon more animated, but equally brain-dead people as well.
The reason for this remarkable capacity lies in the neurophysiological changes that are affected by these compounds. Namely, neuroplasticity, which refers to the brain's ability to re-route and create new neuropathways, an ability that decreases with age, and neurogenesis, which refers to the brains ability to generate new neurons. A researcher at Princeton University told Scientific American that a 55 year old brain can reassume the sponge-like quality of that of a 5 year old after a single LSD treatment.
Reading a neuroscience article this morning I came upon this little gem: "Pupil dilation occurs when a violation of a “conventional norm,” a norm that serves to ensure coordination within social groups or institutions is observed." Full article here: https://neurosciencenews.com/neurodevelopment-immorality-17278/amp/
"I'm observing violations of conventional norms."
I am sure you can see where we are heading with all of this by now. We have the technologies (entheogens), techniques (meditation, yoga, ritual magick) and surely the motivation (facing extinction) to become fully realized beings. Once relieved of the burden of our traumas, freed from our addictions and other debilitating pathologies, we are finally enabled to transcend previously insurmountable limitations, and achieve our highest possible mode of expression.
The same force that etches our memories into the grey matter of our brains is that which organizes gases into nebulae and galaxies into spirals. The same that fuses atoms in the cores of stars, and sets planets in their orbits. It is the same that gives definition to our culture, and structure to our language. We are only just beginning to scratch the surface of the possibilities presented by the potential inherent in the reality of being connected to one conterminous consciousness. One that underlies and gives expression to all phenomena.
"So crucify the ego, before it's far too late To leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical And you will come to find that we are all One Mind Capable of all that's imagined and all that's conceivable"-Tool, Reflection
We are not lost at sea; cast adrift in eternity with no seed of purpose within us. We are avatars of a Greater Mind. Eternal, boundless; infinitely expanding at the speed of Light. We are both God and Devil, Light and Darkness, Order and Chaos. One Soul, temporarily divided for the sake of experience; for the chance of Union.
This is what happens when you wipe the webs from your withered third eye.
The Hindus believe that when Shiva's third eye opens, it destroys everything that it sees. In a similar manner, the opening of our own third eyes will destroy the old world.
We are all acutely aware that we are currently perched precariously at the edge of a great precipice, the gaping maws of fate grinning gratuitously like some demonic maggot, ready to devour our entire world; hopes, dreams, and all, in the absence of some gracious miracle.
The irony, of course, is that this chaostrophe is that miracle. And like a phoenix rising from the dust and ashes, fanning the flames of creation with its wings, drawing fuel from the Chaos of combustion, and imposing Order upon the energy that it generates by the flapping of its wings, through the force of its divine Will, we are taking flight.
We had better fly high, and we had better fly fast.
Burn baby, burn.
With entheogens and sacred plant medicines to heal our traumas and facilitate experiences of unity consciousness, yoga, meditation, ritual magick, and other disciplines to aid our focus and in the discovery and implementation of our True Will, as well as access to all types of information that is unprecedented in all of human history, we are out of excuses.
Which is good, because we are nearly out of time as well.
Where there is a Will, there is a Way.
Thank you so much, and please follow my blog, smash the like button, and click ALL of the links below.
You had me at Tool
All is mind Everything is mental.
In LVX.