IV.  CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS

A.  ARCHETYPAL TOPOLOGIES:

Active participation in the realm of the imagination is central to psychology, alchemy, magick, and physics.  Many, but not all of the imaginal modes involve the concept of topology or topography.  Within the context of the topological fantasy, the various forms of ordering (Tree of Life, the Diamond Body, the V.E.M., etc.) provide a comprehensive means of ascertaining the values of any system of experiences.

Topology is the science of fundamental pattern and structural relationships of event constellations.  It was discovered and developed by the mathematician Euler.  He discovered that all patterns can be reduced to three prime conceptual characteristics: to lines; points where two lines cross or the same line crosses itself; and areas, bounded by lines.(1)

While active invoking of images is essential to the practice of QBL, it is best to balance this through a detached observation/participation in the rising and passing away of phenomena.  Topographical models are paradigms, but they should not be considered ultimate truths, but as allowing access to imaginal realms. While topography is a useful tool, it is also an archetypal perspective.

For example, I suggest that a perspective which sees the necessity for 'archetypal topographies' is just one among many.  We must not be drawn into literalism at such a profound level.  As I mention above, Casey seems to imply a single natural ordering for a particular purpose, within a specific archetypal influence.  Examination of the variety of such attempts to pattern and group archetypes is itself a valuable exercise in exploring archetypal imagination.  What kind of consciousness is it that perceives in terms of organization, integration and preferred positioning of Gods?  Generally, the attempt to discover a unifying wholeness or impose a distinct pattern onto archetypal groupings is a procedure dominated by the archetype of the Self.(2).

QBL is a single philosophical system which accommodates both monotheism and polytheism.  These topologies may be used in conjunction with a polytheistic orientation in which consciousness circulates among a field of powers.  Each god, or complex is sovereign in its domain.  There is a circulation in which there are no preferred positions.

The danger in identification with the archetype of the Self is persistent belief in it as the "only" reality.  Archetypal images of order (mandalas) counter disintegration.  However, there is sometimes a psychic value in disintegration.  It brings immediate awareness of distinct separateness among the pantheon of archetypal forces.  Both attitudes, monotheism and polytheism, represent forms of living reality in the phenomenal world.

Topology offers a descriptive basis for both meditation and exploration of the imaginal realm.  The importance of the act of decision for behavior or transformation lies mainly in the fact that by it the individual changes his position.  A "path" is a change of position within a field which otherwise remains sufficiently constant.  It is an abbreviated representation of a sequence of situations.

A path permits changes between regions.  This is both conceptual and physical change.  The actions which are represented in the life-space as regions are coexisting manifolds which possess a certain degree of differentiation.  These "regions" are the spheres of the Tree of Life.

The imaginal paths of the Tree of Life are linked to the concept of locomotion.  They require "working" by the aspirant in a process in time.  The psychological region in which these processes occur determines the dynamic condition of the individual.

Pathworking is a form of "loco-motion," akin to the "illumined lunacy" Hillman describes as the royal marriage, the pre-requisite for the Stone.  It is 0, THE FOOL who makes the journey through the winding paths of the Tree of Life via Tarot imagery.  He is nowhere (now-here) because of his ability to makes quantum leaps.  He is everywhere at once, until we make an observation by using the cards.  He is thus gripped by only one story at a time, which contains many images and its own inherent rhythm.

When one changes position, different loco-motions are now possible and impossible.  Even when a region is still attainable, the course of the path followed has changed fundamentally because of the new point of departure.  This part that you are now is "where you are at."

THE FOOL is a breath-spirit, and Anima is a breath-soul.  This relates them intimately to the airy realm of imagination.  Just as the Fool circulates around the paths of the Tree, anima circulates throughout every cell of the body.

The attributions of these entities leads us in a definite direction: they both focus attention on the breath.

The importance of breath in human life and mystical meditation is not to be underestimated.  The use of breath control has a long-standing tradition in magical and yogic practice.  There is a relationship between meditation states and rhythmic breathing.  If we look further into our Qabalistic modeling, we should find the heart playing a prominent role in this process.  This is, in fact, the case.
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(1) R. Buckminster Fuller, OPERATING MANUAL FOR SPACESHIP EARTH,
(2) Peter Bishop, "Archetypal Topography,"  SPRING 1981, Dallas, Spring Publications, 1981. ______________________________________________________________________________

B.MEDITATION AND RESONANCE EFFECTS

(This paper is from THE HOLISTIC QABALA, a series of 11 books, written by Richard and Iona Miller.  It has also appeared in print in "Psychedelic Monographs and Essays," Volume Four, Summer 1989)

The use of psychedelics or empathogens traditionally involves effectual  traits or nuances which can parallel endogenous mystical or cybernetic landscapes.  This piece presents an introduction to current descriptions common throughout all three fields.  A promise of increased comprehension so far as metaphor, symbol and effect surrounding these and other cross-correlative fields is reviewed and annotated.

...If the manas is to preform its proper task of controlling senses, it must reflect the ideal pattern that is laid up in the heavens of Buddhi.  Only when that pattern is reflected in its mirror has it the standard of reference by which to judge...nor should we think that the possession of such a divine standard by which to judge attainment is far above us; one to which we may aspire in some dim future.  Here and now the Pattern is within us.

Sri Krishna Prem

Theoretically, the practice of meditation is intended to withdraw the personal mind from its persistent preoccupation with external affairs.  It can be seen as a form of training for the mind in switching from matter to psyche.  There is a purpose.  It is to prepare the personal nature so that it is able to reflect and express its relationship with the Universal Self.

Throughout history there have been a number of techniques used to achieve a meditative state.  The most often used first step is a form of rhythmic breathing.  If done correctly, a sequence of strong and unusual body reactions occur.  These also will eventually trigger unusual psychological states via a type of resonance effect.  A closer examination of these resonance-relationships yields information useful in improving the meditation.

Perhaps an example clarifies this:  When a subject is totally relaxed and has achieved a deep meditative state, a slow, rhythmic sine wave pattern can be registered by a cardiograph-type sensing device.  What is being measured is a standing wave in the aorta.  There is a heart-aorta resonating oscillator which affects other parts of the body, including the brain.

Resonance occurs when the natural vibration frequency of a body is greatly amplified by vibrations at the same frequency from another body.  Oscillators alter the environment in a periodic manner.  When in a deep meditative state the regular movement of the body indicates that a standing wave is set up in the vascular system, specifically in the aorta.  This standing wave affects several other resonate systems in the body, all of which are driven by this large signal.

A paper by Paul F.J. New, and several current papers, indicate the presence of a major resonate cavity oscillator located between  the heart and the bifurcation, where the aorta divides itself.  When the timing of the pressure pulses traveling down the aorta  coincide (in phase) with the reflected pressure pulse, a standing wave is achieved.  When this frequency approaches 7Hz., a progressively amplified wave form is created by resonance, resulting in a large oscillation affecting every other circuit in the body tuned to this frequency.

There is a resonance relationship to this frequency  with standing waves on the Earth's crust.  If we assume that the spherical crust of the Earth represents a condenser, then the frequency of resonance can be calculated on the basis of the equation:

                                              Resonance frequency = C/7.3R2

Where C is the velocity of propagation of electromagnetic waves and R = radius of the Earth.  This frequency has been shown to be 6.4Hz.

Thus, a harmonic frequency corresponding to the pulsation of the electrical charge of the Earth is present in heart/aorta.

The brain may be considered as a piezoelectric gel3, one converting physical vibrations into electrical ones.  Although the body movement from this heart/aorta resonance is relatively small, 0.003-0.009 mm., the head is a dense and tight structure.  By moving up and down, the skull accelerates the brain with mild impacts.  These acoustical plane waves are reflected from the cranial vault and are focused upon the third and lateral ventricles.  A hierarchy of frequencies couple this 7Hz. body movement to the higher frequencies in the ventricles.

That which is that bright within the heart; in that this man resides, innate with mind transcending death, with brilliance innate.

                                                                           Taittiriya Upanishad

In the book Biomedical Engineering Systems 4, Chapter 7 is a major work entitled "Toward A View of Man", by Manfred Clynes.  Clynes is a medical doctor working at the Research Center in Rockman State Hospital, Orangeburg, New York.  This work is considered a breakthrough in the fields of psychology and medicine, known today as the field of psychobiology (biocybernetics).

Clynes took a number of volunteers and shaved their heads, placing a series of electrodes in rosette patterns or various regions of the brain.  These included the temporal, frontal lobe section and occipital region.  In this way, not only were the brain frequencies monitored, but directional shifts in these frequencies could also be determined by the geometry of the electrodes on the scull.

The original purpose of Clynes' work was to find out how precision and order exist in brain processes; to discover what is inherently programmed in man and how he might make use of the inherent programs.

These individuals were given a number of images (form) and colors to concentrate on while their brain was monitored by computers.  Recording from opposite pairs of electrodes simultaneously, he obtained views of the electrical activity from different angles:  mathematically, a spatial differentiation of the electric vector.  What was happening literally was a mapping of consciousness.  A number of very important observations were made:

 1. Certain qualities and relationships were of greater importance to the computer than such quantitative factors such as intensity.  This meant that the brain's systems of identification  are based on differences, rather than intensity of the signal.

 2. Thin lines were found to produce characteristic evoked potentials, irrespective of size.  The form itself is transduced into another form in the brain space time which can be measured.  There is a one-to-one correspondence between the visual form of the stimulus, the response form in the brain, and the perception.

This is, perhaps, the first physical description of the field of an archetype.  It is a geometrical, structuring and has uniqueness.

 3. The process of inhibition is as important for transducing the external world as is excitation.  Concentrating on specific lines of geometry does not constitute the changing stimulus, but their steady presence systematically and radically alters the response to another changing stimulus.

 4. Changes in intensity of a single color produce very simple response shape. Light and darkness (as opposites) show no evidence of being different values of the same variable.  Rather, they seem to be the result of stimulating and also of inhibiting different receptors.  Thus, the evoked potentials to light and darkness in no way may be said to be positive and negative, respectively.  White, for example, appears in this view as the result of mutual inhibition of color.

 5. These experiments clearly imply an inherent form of organization and not a random learning of nerve nets.  It is possible to mentally recognize and perceive the stimulus within the first portion of the invoked potential.  Portions responding (in the brain) which occur later than 0.3 sec. are seen as systematic processes, or tuned circuits to those responses to specific in-coming stimulus.  This is a form of resonance in the brain to specific geometry.  This could also lead to the formation of memory.

 6. Every perception has a unique counterpart as a space-time code form in the brain.  These space-time shapes are evidence of relationships between the external world and its representation in the brain.  They act like keys to "unlock" specific parts of our brain, often being observed below psychological threshold levels (subliminal).

Clynes literally mapped fields in the human brain.  A computer was able to identify and reproduce those geometrical figures from what that human was concentrating on, either as a geometric form or color.  The individual did not even have to look at the pattern but simply concentrate "in his mind's eye."  A standing wave means that the wave is not changed, but is holding itself steady in one certain geometrical thought.

If quantum mechanical properties of matter are actually the conscious property of matter, then one would predict that all phenomena where quantum wave explanations are important, the phenomena could be interpreted better in terms of consciousness.5

Our planet is surrounded by a layer of electrically charged particles called the ionosphere.  The lower layer of the ionosphere starts about 80km. from the Earth.  This charges layer is known to reflect radio waves.

Since this is a highly charges layer, the ionosphere forms a so-called capacitor with the Earth.  This means that there is a difference in electrical potential between the two, the Earth being negatively charged and the ionosphere being positively charged.  This potential varies somewhat but is around 200 volts/m.

This is a fundamental type of electrical generator.  The solar winds, interacting with the upper atmosphere rotation, act as a collector and brushes of a generator.  The lower atmosphere can be seen as a storage battery for this gradient potential.

This electromagnetic field around the Earth can be viewed as a stiff jelly.  When our bodies move and vibrate, these movements are transmitted to the environment.  These fields not only impinge on our body but they also affect the charges inside our body.  When we are standing on the ground, under normal conditions, we are grounded.  Our body then acts as a sink for the electrostatic field and we actually distort the force lines somewhat.

Our body also has its own electrostatic field about itself.  These field-lines are the result of the various biochemical reactions in the body.  This resultant bio-field couples us to the isoelectric field of the planet.

A "tuned system" consists of at least two oscillators of identical resonance frequencies.  If one of the oscillators starts emitting, the other will be activated by the signal very shortly.  Because the coupling is ideal, they will respond to the tiniest signals and begin to resonate.

In 1957, W.O. Schumann6 calculated the Earth-ionosphere cavity resonance frequencies.  His works were updated over the years and the figure now used is at 7.5Hz.  As indicated previously, the micromotion of the body is about 6.8 to 7.5Hz.

It is obvious that when one is in deep meditation, it is possible for the human being and the planet system to start resonating.  There is a transfer of energy.  It is no coincidence that this frequency is in the theta region of brainwaves, the state of maximum regeneration.

Information is embedded in a field, rather than just being a field.  A field is thus an abstract quantity of information; relationships between this point and that point in the universe.

Astral temples are set up to evoke a certain correspondence effect, like a resonance.  These temples are like a physical matrix, one with specific geometrical form and color.

The visualization, in turn sets up a particular EM resonance in the brain.  The reverberation pattern is most explicit.  Clarity is all important.  Distortion minimizes the resonance effect and reduces any amplification to connecting other "tuned" oscillators in the body.

Techniques of extending this harmonious resonance have been known for thousands of years.  These are the different meditative techniques.  Most slow down the metabolic rate of the body so that much less oxygen is required to keep the body going.

As one becomes proficient in meditation, the breathing becomes so gentle as not to disturb the resonate state of the aorta.  An automatic process develops in which the lungs and the diaphragm regulates the heart-aorta system so as to keep them well-tuned.  This helps extend the resonant behavior even with shallow breathing.

In conclusion, the following points should be made regarding the resonant effects available through meditation:

 1. There is a heart/aorta resonance which links up with a number of other critical oscillators, including several in the brain.  It starts at the heart.

 2. Specific geometries or geometrical mandalas (form and color) create resonance effects in the brain.  The pattern is repeated in the brain.

 3. Specific geometrical systems can be used as "keys" to access those specific archetypes.  Access occurs to the psyche.

 4. This linking of resonant cavity oscillators can be seen to form a common thread, going from Hadit (DNA-RNA helix) to Nuit (galactic hydrogen-helium field).

 5. By "tuning" one's meditation, it is possible to amplify and have access to the other resonant systems, in and out of the body.

The Human organism has usually been regarded as a complex arrangement of chemical elements and compounds.  The quantity and structure of these variables are our reference points for states of health.  This is the area of biochemistry and biochemical analysis.

An equally valid approach is to regard the human organism as an aggregation of electromagnetic fields which are constantly interacting and changing as are their biological equivalents.  It has been shown that the human system is an emitter of electromagnetic radiations.7

All biological processes are a function of electromagnetic field interactions.  EM fields are the connecting link between the world of form and resonant patterns.

The patterns are arbitrary forms which are non-physical.  Archetypal forms are based on inherent characteristics and correspondences.  This provides a basis for what we would call resonant phenomena in archetypal systems.  EM fields embody or store gestalts, patterns of information.

An archetype may then be seen as a specific geometrical system of standing waves occurring in the brain as a space-time shape ("key").

In living organisms, opposites receive their structure of symmetry from particular combinations of spatial and temporal aspects.  Like reins on a horse, each of the opposites of the psychological pair has its own place.  This geometric property makes them capable of being opposites.  The activity of each arm determines the quantity; the spatial identity of the rein determines the quality.  There is no monotonic (or linear)  transition from one to the other passing through zero.

A human being, immersed in the galactic hydrogen-helium field, may also utilize the pulsing feedback between man and the galaxy to build up the resonance effects, much like we would tune a radio.  These primary frequencies are multiples of the base frequency 7 Hz.

These four nucleotides provide resonant frequencies for alpha, theta, and delta (the characteristic brain states going from consciousness to deep sleep: 14-2 Hz.).  This resonance relationship can be seen to link with helium inside the body at various chemical sites.

The bridge connecting the solar system resonances and the brain frequencies seem to reside in the DNA-RNA helix.

In a paper by Oliver Reiser (8) from the University of Pittsburgh, a relationship is developed between the four helium cores in an atomic nucleus and the matrix forms on the DNA and RNA. Reiser describes them as "radiation belts of thought,"  the four "nucleotides" enter into the dynamics of these nuclear properties. A spheron is a nuclear constituent roughly spherical in shape and spaced in concentric layers.

The platonic solids are the five regular solids described by Pythagoras, now seen to form all crystal formations.  These forms later became the basis of the mathematics known as group theory.  The so-called "resonances" were specific combinations of five regular solids geometry.

"Helions" is Pauling's term for spherons when he modeled the helium in the sun, the heliosphere around the Earth, and the hydrogen-helium plasma of the galactic disc.  An optically activated molecule, such as helium, contains an electron which is coerced into a helical path by electric field.  This one-sided spiral is maintained in the intermolecular transport through protein molecules.  Note that the protein units of "spherical viruses" are packed symmetrically, in accordance with the pattern of cubic symmetry.  Once more we find our way back to Pythagoras and the Platonic solids.
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1.  Paul F.J. New, "Arterial Stationary Waves," American Journal of Roentgenology,Vol. 97, no. 2, pp 488-499.
2.  Symposium of Psychotronics, Prague, Czechoslovakia, Sept. 25, 1970. Paraphysical Laboratory Publication, Downton, Wiltshire, England.
3.   When certain crystals are stressed, they produce an electrical current.  This phenomena is known as the piezoelectric effect.  The physical body can be seen to be composed of liquid crystals and amorphous semiconductors (the gel).  When the body is stressed by a force such as heartbeat, it presses the brain on the skull and current is produced.
4.  Biomedical Engineering Systems, McGraw-Hill Books, N.Y., 1970.
5.  Cochran, Andrew A., "Relationships Between Quantum Physics and Biology," Foundations of Physics, Vol. 1, pp 235-250, 1971.
6.  Schumann, W., "Electrische Eigenshwingungen des Hohlraumes Erde-Luft-Ionosphere," Zeitschrift fur Angewandte Physik, Vol. 9, 373-378, 1957.
7.  Presman, A., Electromagnetic Fields and Life, Plenum Press, 1970.
8.  Reiser, Oliver L., Cosmic Humanism and World Unity, Diagram LII, p 463, and Diagram LIV, p 465.
9.  Pauling, Linus, "The Close-Packed-Spheron Theory of Nuclear Fission," Science, Vol. 150, pp 297-305, 1965.
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