The Holographic Universe

I haven’t been writing much lately, for a combination of reasons.  One, a change at work that may open a door of opportunity but requires right now, extra dedication (read: long hours).  Two, I’ve enrolled the doglets into some training classes.  They each go to their own class, on separate nights.  Raising littermates has been a lot of fun, but just as it was important with my two-footed children to spend time with them, separately, so it is with my lil’ Jacks.  Plus, it’s so much fun.  Perfect de-stressing after work.  And, I’m getting my exercise.  We’re doing agility!  Have you ever tried running as fast as a Jack Russell Terrier?

So, I have found that in whatever down time I do have, a new desire for more contemplative activities.  I love writing.  It is positive, creative work.   But it does require an outlay of your personal energy.  Yes, that investment is rewarded in various ways, but you still have to drum up and put the energy out there.  This past week I needed to recharge my batteries.  Read.  Reflect. Ritual.  Recognize the deities that are special in my life.

But, I reserve the right to be both female and Gemini, and so…. I’m back!  At least for the weekend.   I’ve been reading different permutations of a concept that is both the core of the practice of magic, and at the heart of some popular self help authors:  the law of attraction.

A lot of those authors over simplify some of these concepts, and it is refreshing to find new presentations that actually create an “a ha!” moment.  Which I did find this week.  I’m still reading them, and maybe will post about them at some point later on, after I’ve had a chance to thoroughly digest and understand these authors’ works.  But, their work reminded me of a book I read a few years back, which perhaps deserves a re-read, considering the road I’ve traveled since I first read the book.

It’s The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot.  The book begins with an introduction to quantum physics.  What does quantum physics have to do with Paganism, magic, or spiritual matters in general?  Turns out, quite a bit.

Just what is a hologram?  A hologram is produced when a single laser light is split into two separate beams.  The first beam is bounced off the object to be photographed, then the second beam is allowed to collide with the reflected light of the first.  When this happens, the colliding waves of light produce an interference pattern which is recorded on a piece of film.  But what do you see on that film?  Concentric rings – nothing that looks in the least way like the photographed object. But, as soon as another laser or a source of bright light is shined through the film, a three dimensional image of the object appears.  This was the first concept – the energy of the light waves captured the image of the object in a way that looked nothing like the object – until additional energy in the form of light was applied.

The concept that the entire universe functions like a hologram perhaps began with the physicist Bohm, in his study of subatomic particles.  Bohm observed that while electrons sometime behave like concrete little particles, in accordance to conventional atomic theory, sometimes they behave as though they possess no dimension at all – acting more like a wave.  This was not his only observation.  There seems to exist a strange state of interconnectedness between apparently unrelated atomic particles or events.  Not only that, but the physicist Bohr pointed out that subatomic particles only come into existence in the presence of the observer….. much as the three dimensional object in the hologram is observed only when an additional light source is applied.  Consciousness itself seems to have an effect on the subatomic world.  In fact, Bohm believed that consciousness itself is a more subtle form of matter.

This is a significant oversimplification of the first several chapters of the book,

which must be read with attention to detail to successfully lay the groundwork for what follows.  Despite this, the book is written in a manner that individuals with very little scientific background can grasp.  The essential construct is that everything in the universe is part of one continuum.  Despite the apparent separateness of the world we observe, everything is a seamless extension of everything else.  The universe is in essence, a giant flowing hologram, a collection of wave energy.  The tangible reality of our everyday lives is really a kind of illusion, a holographic image if you will – an image that was concealed in the wave patterns of energy but is now apparent.  What we appear to see and feel is referred to as  the explicate level of reality.  Underlying this level is a deeper level of reality, the implicate or enfolded order, which contains and gives birth to all the objects and appearances of our physical world in much the same way that a piece of holographic film gives birth to a hologram.

Mind you, this book was written many years before the “Matrix” movies came out….

After laying out the construct of a holographic universe, Talbot applies this model to many areas – psychology, medicine, miracles, as well as paranormal phenomenon.  For example, a number of researchers have used the holographic model to explain various aspects of the thinking process.  Just as most people perceive only the physical reality of the material world, so too do collections of thoughts, ideas, and opinions become cemented in our consciousness.  Psychiatrist David Shainberg believes that the virtual permanence of some of these patterns are often detrimental to our growth as human beings.  They can inhibit our ability to assimilate new ideas and information, create blockages in the creative flow of our consciousness, and make us feel disconnected from others.  Shainberg believes our consciousness is constantly unfolding out of the implicate order, but when we allow the same “vortices” of thought to form repeatedly (thereby assuming permanence) we are erecting barriers between ourselves and the endless positive and novel interactions we could have with the implicate order – which is referred to as “the infinite source of all being.”

Here, I was reminded of the concept of the Seven Planes of existence, and the journey we all take through our lifetimes, as we progress to higher states of being.   Higher levels of consciousness are described in several places throughout the book, as Talbot applies the holographic model to experiences of out of body travel as well as near death experiences.

Talbot, as well as the researchers he references, embrace these as very real experiences.  In a holographic universe, a material location is an illusion.   Although we are taught that we “think” with our brains, under the right circumstances the thinking, perceiving part of ourselves – our consciousness – can detach from the physical body and travel wherever it wants to.   Talbot recounts many fascinating examples of out of body and near death experiences that various researchers have documented.

In the practice of magic, visualization is often a key technique.  Visualization is especially effective if the practitioner utilizes and focuses their own emotions and energy in the process.  What was personally fascinating to me was that the model of the holographic universe offers an explanation for why this technique can be effective.

The first examples were medical cases – cancer patients that in addition to receiving conventional modalities of treatment, employed visualization, imagining the cancer cells growing weaker and their normal cells grower stronger.  Individual instances of dramatic recovery were described, as well as studies that compared patients that were taught to use mental imagery techniques to those who were not.  In one study, the survival rate of the mental imagery group was twice as long.  Other researchers investigating this phenomenon found that the physiological effects produced by the use of imagery can be powerful.  Why would this be so?  How can an image formed in the mind have an effect on a difficult cancer?

It may be that the brain itself operates holographically.  Talbot quotes Bohm:  “Every action starts with an intention in the implicate order.  The imagination is already the creation of form; it already has the intention and the germs of all the movements needed to carry it out.  And it affects the body… so that as creation takes place in that way from the subtler levels of the implicate order, it goes through them until in manifests in the explicate.” 

Thoughts clearly can be powerful things.  Edgar Cayce spoke of thoughts as tangible things, a finer form of matter, and when in trance, told clients that “thought is the builder”, and that their thoughts created their destiny.  He was not alone.

The tantric mystics of Tibet referred to thoughts as “tsal” and believed that every mental action produced waves of mysterious energy.  They believed that the entire universe is created by the collective tsal of all beings.  Tibetan tantric texts are filled with visualization exercises, designed to perfect visualization abilities.  Persian Sufis also stressed the importance of visualization in altering and reshaping one’s destiny, and described reality as being a series of subtler planes of being, and that the plane directly adjacent to our current plane was where the subtle matter of one’s thoughts formed into idea-images, which in turn eventually determined the course of one’s life.  Is it possible that visualization coupled with proper concentration can enable us to materialize thoughts, not only as dreams or visions, but as experiences in the material realm?

This question is best answered with Talbot’s own words:  “…in a holographic universe – a universe in which the mind participates with reality and in which the innermost stuff of our psyche can register as synchronicities in the objective world – the notion that we are also sculptors of our own fate is not so far-fetched.  It even seems probable.”

Which means to me, I need to do some housecleaning in my own head.  Clean out the thought patterns that are clearly not serving me well, and make space for cleaner, clearer thinking, that will help me realize my goals in the world of form.

So mote it be.

Cross Posting: I Keep Vigil to the Fire

Teo Bishop posted an invite over at Bishop in the Grove for readers to contribute to I Keep Vigil to the Fire, offering a suggested format to write poetry in honor of Brighid.

I am an eleventh hour contributer, but I was inspired, so offered my own writings, copied below.  But you should check out all the other entries, they are wonderful.

Imbolc Poetry for a Goddess:

I keep vigil

To the fire

In my heart.

I keep vigil

Tho all seems lost

Forever dark.

I look into the deep night

For Brighid

The Shining One

She comes in silence,

And kindles the Flame

Once quenched by despair.

I keep vigil

To the fire

In my heart

I feed the flame

As a mother nurses a child

With the milk of hope.

I feed the flame

Tho storms rage outside

And the candles flicker with uncertainty.

I feed the flame

And see the strength of her forge

With the creation of new found faith.

I keep vigil

To the fire

In my heart.

I keep vigil

May Brighid bless

My home, my hearth, my heart.

Ground Hog's Day

Happy Imbolc everyone!  I celebrated this sabbat last night, in my own way.  It was a quiet satisfying evening, reflective, during which many candles burned, and the fire in the woodstove burned through to the wee hours of the morning.

The evening was complimented with a reappearance of the Skunk (see my previous post).  Pups and I went out to the backyard on our evening jaunt.  After “doing their duty” they went on “alert”.  They were clearly seeing something I couldn’t see, despite the light of the half moon.  I didn’t personally see Mr. Stinky, but, I have seen plenty of his tracks in the snow, around the brushy area that borders our property.  Thanks but no thanks, Mister.  My new winter coat still stinks!

I suppose I should be grateful that the evening was warm enough that skunks would roam.  Normally the beginning of February is too cold to see them come out of their semi-hibernation.  But I don’t like this warm weather now.  It’s sort of like an unpleasant bill, ok you don’t have to pay now, but it may end up being more painful to pay later.  If I am going to have huge snowbanks in my yard, I’d rather see them in January thru February.  Rather than in March, lasting into April.  (And yes, in years past, I’ve had residual snow banks up to and even beyond tax day.)

So I am happy that January is over.  There is not much good that’s happened the past few January’s.  The arrival of W2’s,  prospect of filing taxes, the need to do the FASFA’s with not much hope of good news back….yuck. 

But I am still hopeful.  I am feeling that getting skunked is actually an omen of good fortune.  Although I don’t have the final answer, things still look good on the job front.  The timing of getting skunked, so close to Imbolc and Groundhog’s Day, seems propitious to me.

Today’s traditions have their earliest roots with the Romans, who believed that the conditions the first few days of February were good indicators of the upcoming weather patterns.  However, they looked to the habits of hedgehogs for their predictions.

It was in Germany that these traditions were firmly cemented; German immigrants brought the origins of the tradition of Groundhog’s Day with them to America.  Our native groundhog (or woodchuck, as he is otherwise known) was the closest in kind to the hedgehog on this side of the Atlantic.  And since the 18^th century, if the groundhog emerges from his burrow in sunlight, and sees his shadow, then we have six more weeks of winter to endure.  If it is cloudy, and no shadow is seen, winter is over.

In 1887 a group of groundhog hunters formed the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and dubbed Phil the “one and only” official weather prognosticating groundhog.  A four day festival has evolved over time.  Phil is supposedly immortal, due to an “elixir of life”  served at the annual Groundhog Picnic.  Other than these two outings, Phil resides in the Groundhog Zoo, an annex of the town library.  All in all, not a bad life for a groundhog, who normally are targets of both their natural predators, and sometimes, frustrated gardeners……

Phil now has rivals….there’s Staten Island Chuck, and Woodstock Willie (from the Chicago area), among a few others.  I guess, why should Punxsutawney have all the fun?

OK then, what does the Groundhog have to say?  That’s the 64 dollar question on February 2.  Well this morning, I got up and went out with the dogs.  The sky was completely leaden.  Didn’t feel like snow, and it was just cold enough not to rain, but the air was not that bitter cold dry air either.  At any rate, there was no chance of any sunlight penetrating.  No chance that my local groundhog, the one who makes bad eating choices in my gardens, would see any shadow, if he bothered getting up today….

We watched Punxsatawney Phil and his keepers on TV… who declared that Phil did indeed see his shadow, and six more weeks of winter are our fate.  Although, Woodstock Willie disagreed – he did not see his shadow!

Sorry, Phil.  This year I will beg to differ with you.  And guess what.  I’ve got Mr. Stinky to back me up.  Come on, Spring!

Happy Groundhog’s Day anyways!

Crossposting: Happy Imbolc

Fellow blogger Aine posted this at The Deepest Well; it's not to be missed.  A moving, inspirational post, that perfectly captures the spirit and intent of this sabbat.  Please see Happy Imbolc
May all your candles burn brightly tonight!

Of One Match Fires and Magic

In our house, the first person that gets home from work makes the fire in the woodstove.  Most nights, that would be me, although I work an extra shift two nights a week.  On those two nights, my husband uses a piece of one of those store bought resin fire starter blocks to get the fire going.  Not me.  I carefully arrange two of the smallest pieces of wood that I can find in the pile, and then between them place good tinder, overlaid with whatever twigs or shavings I can find in the tinder box.  My goal is to start the fire with just one match.

Hubby’s method definitely gets him on the couch in less time.  The resin does catch quickly, and burns steadily and strong enough to get the logs going.  My method requires patience.  After the initial flame catches, I carefully continue to add twigs and splinters of wood of gradually increasing size, in a crosswise fashion so there’s always plenty of air between those pieces.  If I add them too quickly, the fire snuffs out for lack of oxygen; if I am not attentive and don’t add enough as the flame starts to gain strength, it dies for lack of fuel.   A balance of the basic elements is required.

So I have to sit before my baby fire a little bit before I can add some bigger pieces and walk away.  I’ve never timed it, but it does take me longer to get the fire going than my husband.

So why do I do it this way?

Ah well, the aspiration to light a one match fire comes from two sources.  A book I read in the fifth grade, and love to this day:  My Side of the Mountain (I still have a copy).  And my treasured experiences as a Girl Scout, at camp, where I first learned to build a good fire.  Ok that’s really corny, but it’s true.  I never had the gumption to run off and live in the base of a massive tree, that’s one of the few regrets in my life.  But I can light a mean fire.  And although my fire requires more direct attendance to get it going, it actually burns hotter and starts warming the room more quickly than my husband’s fire (and he would agree with me).

I think there’s two reasons.  One is intrinsic in the way the fire is built, the fuel is added gradually, with sufficient fuel, and also adequate airspace between the fuel.  So that there is always fuel present with the oxygen, which helps the fire burn more intensely.

And then there’s the matter of intent.  What I put into making the fire, comes out of the fire.

This evening as I was sitting cross legged in front of the stove, adding the gradually bigger pieces of kindling, I began musing that building a fire was not unlike carrying out a magical working.

Many who follow a pagan path work with some form of magic at one time or another; there are many of you who are much more experienced and adept than I.  So I’m not going to go into a lot of detail, and this definitely is not a “how to” post!    I’m going to speak in the most basic of terms.

When I’m building my fire, it’s a rare night that I don’t have to go out to the wood pile and kindling box and replenish the stack by the stove.  And I usually have to clean out last night’s ashes too.  If I don’t, the airflow is not as good, and it’s harder to get the fire going.  So first, there’s preparation.  From gathering your thoughts and assembling materials, to creating a time and space to work in.  Cleansing the area and putting everything you’ll need in your grasp.

As you proceed, focus is required.  On your intention.  If the phone rings at the wrong time after I light that single match,  if I answer,  my preparations may go to waste – the baby fire will die out due to lack of attention.  Focus. Intention.  A sense of mission.

Once the focus is successfully established,  and the intention defined, energy must be built to support and carry out the intention.  When I’m building my fire, I sit there, adding one small piece of kindling at a time… gradually adding bigger pieces….building the energy….

Sure, I could use the fire starter.  Sure, I could just recite the words that somebody else wrote, and be done with it.  Not the same.  Ideally, you would use your own words, your own thoughts; but many folks have difficulty writing their own rituals.  Understood.  I have used the words of others myself.  But, I try to spend time with those words, put my own thoughts into them….then they become my own, in some sense, expressed through chanting, singing, dancing.. whatever seems right to me.,

Intention, effort, energy building.  I build my fire, I build my energy working.  So many parallels.  And then, you release the energy, the intention, to the universe, so that it can be manifested. 

Once this is accomplished, there is one last step – grounding.  Releasing the excess energy to the earth, coming to center, balancing.  Banking the coals on the fire, so that you can safely close the grid, quieting the flames so that they will continue to provide warmth, but in a safe and controlled way, as you at last head upstairs to bed. 

May you find magic in every day living.

Skunked

I got skunked last night.  Literally.

A good meal, a couple of glasses of wine, a cozy fire….predictably, I fell asleep on the couch.  It had been a long week, and I was tired.  And so when I woke up a little after midnight, I decided that if I wanted any chance of sleeping in a bit in the morning, I had best take the dogs out to pee, one more time.

I went out the breezeway door, not bothering to turn the light on.  I was on auto-pilot and besides, there was nice moonlight.  The dogs did their duty very quickly and in just a couple of minutes we turned around.

But once we got near the breezeway, my dog-lets cowered behind me.  Scaredy cats, what’s bothering you? Ah, there it was.  In the dim light, I saw a whitish object, it looked like either a plastic grocery bag or piece of newspaper trapped in the corner right by the door step.  Silly dogs.

Without taking a closer look, I swooped down to scoop the trash away…..and touched… fur!!!!

Holy crap.  We all ran back out on the lawn.  Too late – my coat had gotten sprayed.  Once inside, I wiped it off (fortunately it’s a parka, the outside wasn’t fabric) and sprayed it with Fabreeze and called it a night.  My dogs, who wisely had stayed behind me, didn’t get any of the direct spray; they carried a faint odor but nothing terribly noxious.

So we went to bed.  And when we came downstairs in the morning, the hallway where my coat hung…. Stunk.  The coat stank, and so didn’t the jeans and sweater I had had on.  After two cycles through the washing machine and now the dryer with a ton of fabric sheets in, the odor is lessened but still pungent.  Hubby is making me hang my coat out on the porch…

So as I was doing chores today, I thought to myself, I could be so totally pissed.  I mean, the coat was brand new, a thoughtful Christmas present from my family, to keep me toasty warm on winter walks with the dogs. It’s not ruined, but it’s going to be some time before the odor’s gone….

But maybe Skunk came to teach me something.  Maybe there’s something I can take away from this encounter, beyond my husband’s admonition to turn the breezeway light on before I go out…

I’ve read about, but haven’t done too much work with animal totems; I couldn’t tell you which animal is my own totem.  Maybe I have more than one; that’s an exploration I have yet to undertake.  But as far as the meaning of the skunk, I read today that “when skunk comes, opportunities will open to bring self-esteem and respect”.  And also,  “The skunk is a very powerful totem with mystical and magical associations.  It teaches how to give respect, expect respect and demand respect.  This totem helps you recognize your own qualities and assert them.”

That’s interesting, because tomorrow I am interviewing at work for a higher level (and hopefully higher paid) position.  I had put my application and resume in two months ago, at which time I was pretty much told that I didn’t have all the qualifications they were looking for.   And now they have scheduled me to interview…..

“Skunks are fearless but peaceful.  These are two wonderful qualities which you can learn from your skunk totem.”  And also, “The skunk’s stripe is the outward sign of kundalini or life force.  When you receive a skunk totem, your kundalini or life force activates or amplifies.  You must learn to use this force effectively.”  And to think I swooped down and touched the stripe unknowingly….

But skunk has some admonitions for me as well.  The skunk is peaceful, but his odor repels people.  I must be assertive, but not in a way that will turn people off….  But perhaps skunk can help me tomorrow:  “Call upon the spirit of the skunk when you need quality judgment in a situation - particularly if you're in a stressful state, or someone is pushing your buttons. The skunk will ease you out of the situation with deft and diplomacy.”

As I type, the pups are under the table, playing with one of their “skin-eeze” toys.  The black and white one.  The one that’s the skunk.   Sometimes I have a thick head, but I’m getting this message loud and clear.  That toy is traveling to work tomorrow, tucked away into my work bag.  Even if I won’t be able to wear my new coat….

Giving credit to my resources:

http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/skunk.htm

http://www.whats-your-sign.com/animal-symbolism-skunk.html

Magick Bridges

What happens when a favorite shop closes, only to reopen just a few miles down the road from you?

You get happy, that's what!

I had found this neat little shop in Portland, several years ago.  I was never a big spender there, but I appreciated it simply being there.  I went there to absorb its unique atmosphere as much as to pick up a few books, candles, and other things here and there.

It moved a couple of years ago, to a location a bit more out of the way for me.   And with gas the way it is, I did not often make a trip there, unless I had other reasons to be in the area.  Then, last fall, the shop closed.   But in January it reopened, under a new partnership, new name, and a brand new location.  I finally got the chance to go to Magick Bridges today.

I was not disappointed.  They had some of my favorite stuff... and I did spend a few dollars.  The new place has a nice atmosphere and a good energy.   Not the same as the original shop - but then again, staying the same is not always what we're supposed to do.  I liked their new place, and I'll be back there over the weekend. 

Wishing every success to Magick Bridges, because it's really nice having them so close by!