Merkabah

[Skarekrow]

Precognition Discussed in a Psychology Journal

April 19, 2018
Carlos S. Alvarado, PhD, Research Fellow, Parapsychology Foundation ​

A recent issue of the journal Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice has discussions of precognition by various authors.
The discussion opens with an editorial by Erik Woody and Steven Jay Lynn (“Perspectives on Precognition.” Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2018, 5, 1–2).

They write:

“The balance of this issue consists of five articles addressing what has variously been termed precognition, precognitive ability, and retrocausal or retroactive influences . . . In the first article, Schooler, Baumgart, and Franklin (2018) address how to strike the most appropriate and productive relation between Sagan’s “seemingly contradictory attitudes,” drawing an important distinction between entertaining versus endorsing anomalous phenomena like precognition. In the second article, Mossbridge and Radin (2018b) present a comprehensive review of existing empirical research on precognition, making the case that this body of work warrants scientists being open to this possibility despite its “bizarre or counterintuitive” qualities. The next two articles, by Schwarzkopf (2018) and by Houran, Lange, and Hooper (2018), are invited critiques of Mossbridge and Radin’s (2018b) review, applying the “most ruthless skeptical scrutiny” in pointing out what these critics believe are crucial conceptual and methodological flaws in the research. A response from Mossbridge and Radin (2018a) follows these critiques.”

The editorial was followed by Jonathan W. Schooler, Stephen Baumgart, and Michael Franklin’s “Entertaining Without Endorsing: The Case for the Scientific Investigation of Anomalous Cognition” (2018, Vol. 5, 63–77.

Here is the abstract:

Johnattan Schooler

“Empirical reports in mainstream journals that human cognition extends in ways that challenge the current boundaries of science (anomalous cognition) has been viewed with dismay by many who see it as evidence that science is broken. Here the authors make the case for the value of conducting and publishing well-designed studies investigating anomalous cognition. They distinguish between the criteria that justify entertaining the possibility of anomalous cognition from those required to endorse it as a bona fide phenomenon. In evaluating these 2 distinct thresholds, the authors draw on Bayes’s theorem to argue that scientists may reasonably differ in their appraisals of the likelihood that anomalous cognition is possible. Although individual scientists may usefully vary in the criteria that they hold both for entertaining and endorsing anomalous cognition, we provide arguments for why researchers should consider adopting a liberal criterion for entertaining anomalous cognition while maintaining a very strict criterion for the outright endorsement of its existence. Grounded in an understanding of the justifiability of disparate views on the topic, the authors encourage humility on both the part of those who present evidence in support of anomalous cognition and those who dispute the merit of its investigation.”

The target article, by Julia Mossbridge and Dean Radin, was “Precognition as a Form of Prospection: A Review of the Evidence” (2018, Vol. 5, No. 1, 78–93). Abstract:

Julia Mossbridge

Dean Radin

“Prospection, the act of attempting to foresee one’s future, is generally assumed to be based on conscious and nonconscious inferences from past experiences and anticipation of future possibilities. Most scientists consider the idea that prospection may also involve influences from the future to be flatly impossible due to violation of common sense or constraints based on one or more physical laws. We present several classes of empirical evidence challenging this common assumption. If this line of evidence can be successfully and independently replicated using preregistered designs and analyses, then the consequences for the interpretation of experimental results from any empirical domain would be profound.”

This is followed by two critiques of Mossbridge and Radin’s paper, and by their reply.

D. Samuel Schwarzkopf, “On the Plausibility of Scientific Hypotheses: Commentary on Mossbridge and Radin (2018)” (2018, 5, 94–97).

“Mossbridge and Radin reviewed psychological and physiological experiments that purportedly show time-reversed effects. I discuss why these claims are not plausible. I conclude that scientists should generally consider the plausibility of the hypotheses they test.”

James Houran, Rense Lange, and Dan Hooper “Cross-Examining the Case for Precognition: Comment on Mossbridge and Radin (2018) ‘ (2018, 5, 98–109).

James Houran

“Based on a review and meta-analyses of empirical literature in parapsychology, Mossbridge and Radin (2018) argued for anomalous replicable effects that suggest the possibility of precognitive ability or retrocausal phenomena. However, these conclusions are refuted on statistical and theoretical grounds—the touted effects are neither meaningful, interpretable, nor even convincingly replicable. Moreover, contrary to assertions otherwise, the possibility of authentic retrocausation is discredited by modern theories in physics. Accordingly, Mossbridge and Radin’s interpretations are discussed in terms of misattribution biases that serve anxiolytic functions when individuals confront ambiguity, with potential reinforcement from perceptual–personality variables such as paranormal belief. Finally, we argue that research in human consciousness should be multidisciplinary, and notably, leverage informed investigators in the physical sciences to advance truly valid and cumulative theory building.”

Julia A. Mossbridge and Dean Radin, ‘Plausibility, Statistical Interpretations, Physical Mechanisms and a New Outlook: Response to Commentaries on a Precognition Review” (2018, 5, 110–116).

“We address what we consider to be the main points of disagreement by showing that (a) scientific plausibility (or lack thereof) is a weak argument in the face of empirical data, (b) the statistical methods we used were sound according to at least one of several possible statistical positions, and (c) the potential physical mechanisms underlying precognition could include quantum biological phenomena. We close with a discussion of what we believe is an unfortunate but currently dominant tendency to focus on reducing Type-I statistical errors without balancing that approach by also paying attention to the potential for Type-II errors.”

 

[Skarekrow]

You thought quantum mechanics was weird:
check out entangled time

​

In the summer of 1935, the physicists Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger engaged in a rich, multifaceted and sometimes fretful correspondence about the implications of the new theory of quantum mechanics.

The focus of their worry was what Schrödinger later dubbed entanglement: the inability to describe two quantum systems or particles independently, after they have interacted.

Until his death, Einstein remained convinced that entanglement showed how quantum mechanics was incomplete.
Schrödinger thought that entanglement was the defining feature of the new physics, but this didn’t mean that he accepted it lightly.

‘I know of course how the hocus pocus works mathematically,’ he wrote to Einstein on 13 July 1935. ‘But I do not like such a theory.’ Schrödinger’s famous cat, suspended between life and death, first appeared in these letters, a byproduct of the struggle to articulate what bothered the pair.

The problem is that entanglement violates how the world ought to work.
Information can’t travel faster than the speed of light, for one.

But in a 1935 paper, Einstein and his co-authors showed how entanglement leads to what’s now called quantum nonlocality, the eerie link that appears to exist between entangled particles.

If two quantum systems meet and then separate, even across a distance of thousands of lightyears, it becomes impossible to measure the features of one system (such as its position, momentum and polarity) without instantly steering the other into a corresponding state.

Up to today, most experiments have tested entanglement over spatial gaps.
The assumption is that the ‘nonlocal’ part of quantum nonlocality refers to the entanglement of properties across space.

But what if entanglement also occurs across time?
Is there such a thing as temporal nonlocality?

The answer, as it turns out, is yes.
Just when you thought quantum mechanics couldn’t get any weirder, a team of physicists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reported in 2013 that they had successfully entangled photons that never coexisted.

Previous experiments involving a technique called ‘entanglement swapping’ had already showed quantum correlations across time, by delaying the measurement of one of the coexisting entangled particles; but Eli Megidish and his collaborators were the first to show entanglement between photons whose lifespans did not overlap at all.

Here’s how they did it.
First, they created an entangled pair of photons, ‘1-2’ (step I in the diagram below).

Soon after, they measured the polarisation of photon 1 (a property describing the direction of light’s oscillation) – thus ‘killing’ it (step II).

Photon 2 was sent on a wild goose chase while a new entangled pair, ‘3-4’, was created (step III).
Photon 3 was then measured along with the itinerant photon 2 in such a way that the entanglement relation was ‘swapped’ from the old pairs (‘1-2’ and ‘3-4’) onto the new ‘2-3’ combo (step IV).

Some time later (step V), the polarisation of the lone survivor, photon 4, is measured, and the results are compared with those of the long-dead photon 1 (back at step II).

Figure 1. Time line diagram: (I) Birth of photons 1 and 2, (II) detection of photon 1,
(III) birth of photons 3 and 4, (IV) Bell projection of photons 2 and 3, (V) detection of photon 4.​

The upshot?

The data revealed the existence of quantum correlations between ‘temporally nonlocal’ photons 1 and 4.
That is, entanglement can occur across two quantum systems that never coexisted.

What on Earth can this mean?
Prima facie, it seems as troubling as saying that the polarity of starlight in the far-distant past – say, greater than twice Earth’s lifetime – nevertheless influenced the polarity of starlight falling through your amateur telescope this winter.

Even more bizarrely: maybe it implies that the measurements carried out by your eye upon starlight falling through your telescope this winter somehow dictated the polarity of photons more than 9 billion years old.

Lest this scenario strike you as too outlandish, Megidish and his colleagues can’t resist speculating on possible and rather spooky interpretations of their results.

Perhaps the measurement of photon 1’s polarisation at step II somehow steers the future polarisation of 4, or the measurement of photon 4’s polarisation at step V somehow rewrites the past polarisation state of photon 1.

In both forward and backward directions, quantum correlations span the causal void between the death of one photon and the birth of the other.

Just a spoonful of relativity helps the spookiness go down, though.
In developing his theory of special relativity, Einstein deposed the concept of simultaneity from its Newtonian pedestal.

As a consequence, simultaneity went from being an absolute property to being a relative one.
There is no single timekeeper for the Universe; precisely when something is occurring depends on your precise location relative to what you are observing, known as your frame of reference.

So the key to avoiding strange causal behaviour (steering the future or rewriting the past) in instances of temporal separation is to accept that calling events ‘simultaneous’ carries little metaphysical weight.

It is only a frame-specific property, a choice among many alternative but equally viable ones – a matter of convention, or record-keeping.

The lesson carries over directly to both spatial and temporal quantum non locality.
Mysteries regarding entangled pairs of particles amount to disagreements about labelling, brought about by relativity.

Einstein showed that no sequence of events can be metaphysically privileged – can be considered more real – than any other. Only by accepting this insight can one make headway on such quantum puzzles.

The various frames of reference in the Hebrew University experiment (the lab’s frame, photon 1’s frame, photon 4’s frame, and so on) have their own ‘historians’, so to speak.

While these historians will disagree about how things went down, not one of them can claim a corner on truth.
A different sequence of events unfolds within each one, according to that spatiotemporal point of view.

Clearly, then, any attempt at assigning frame-specific properties generally, or tying general properties to one particular frame, will cause disputes among the historians.

But here’s the thing: while there might be legitimate disagreement about which properties should be assigned to which particles and when, there shouldn’t be disagreement about the very existence of these properties, particles, and events.

These findings drive yet another wedge between our beloved classical intuitions and the empirical realities of quantum mechanics.

As was true for Schrödinger and his contemporaries, scientific progress is going to involve investigating the limitations of certain metaphysical views.

Schrödinger’s cat, half-alive and half-dead, was created to illustrate how the entanglement of systems leads to macroscopic phenomena that defy our usual understanding of the relations between objects and their properties: an organism such as a cat is either dead or alive.

No middle ground there.

Most contemporary philosophical accounts of the relationship between objects and their properties embrace entanglement solely from the perspective of spatial non locality.

But there’s still significant work to be done on incorporating temporal nonlocality – not only in object-property discussions, but also in debates over material composition (such as the relation between a lump of clay and the statue it forms), and part-whole relations (such as how a hand relates to a limb, or a limb to a person).

For example, the ‘puzzle’ of how parts fit with an overall whole presumes clear-cut spatial boundaries among underlying components, yet spatial nonlocality cautions against this view.

Temporal nonlocality further complicates this picture: how does one describe an entity whose constituent parts are not even coexistent?

Discerning the nature of entanglement might at times be an uncomfortable project.
It’s not clear what substantive metaphysics might emerge from scrutiny of fascinating new research by the likes of Megidish and other physicists.

In a letter to Einstein, Schrödinger notes wryly (and deploying an odd metaphor):

‘One has the feeling that it is precisely the most important statements of the new theory that can really be squeezed into these Spanish boots – but only with difficulty.’

We cannot afford to ignore spatial or temporal nonlocality in future metaphysics: whether or not the boots fit, we’ll have to wear ’em.

 

[Skarekrow]

The illusion of time
Andrew Jaffe probes Carlo Rovelli’s study arguing that physics deconstructs our sense of time.

The Order of Time Carlo Rovelli Allen Lane (2018)
(PDF version here)​

According to theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli, time is an illusion: our naive perception of its flow doesn’t correspond to physical reality.
Indeed, as Rovelli argues in The Order of Time, much more is illusory, including Isaac Newton’s picture of a universally ticking clock.

Even Albert Einstein’s relativistic space-time — an elastic manifold that contorts so that local times differ depending on one’s relative speed or proximity to a mass — is just an effective simplification.

So what does Rovelli think is really going on?
He posits that reality is just a complex network of events onto which we project sequences of past, present and future.

The whole Universe obeys the laws of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, out of which time emerges.

Rovelli is one of the creators and champions of loop quantum gravity theory, one of several ongoing attempts to marry quantum mechanics with general relativity.

In contrast to the better-known string theory, loop quantum gravity does not attempt to be a ‘theory of everything’ out of which we can generate all of particle physics and gravitation.

Nevertheless, its agenda of joining up these two fundamentally differing laws is incredibly ambitious.

Alongside and inspired by his work in quantum gravity, Rovelli puts forward the idea of ‘physics without time’.
This stems from the fact that some equations of quantum gravity (such as the Wheeler–DeWitt equation, which assigns quantum states to the Universe) can be written without any reference to time at all.

As Rovelli explains, the apparent existence of time — in our perceptions and in physical descriptions, written in the mathematical languages of Newton, Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger — comes not from knowledge, but from ignorance.

‘Forward in time’ is the direction in which entropy increases, and in which we gain information.

The book is split into three parts.
In the first, “The Crumbling of Time”, Rovelli attempts to show how established physics theories deconstruct our common-sense ideas.

Einstein showed us that time is just a fourth dimension and that there is nothing special about ‘now’; even ‘past’ and ‘future’ are not always well defined. The malleability of space and time mean that two events occurring far apart might even happen in one order when viewed by one observer, and in the opposite order when viewed by another.

Rovelli gives good descriptions of the classical physics of Newton and Ludwig Boltzmann, and of modern physics through the lenses of Einstein and quantum mechanics.

There are parallels with thermodynamics and Bayesian probability theory, which both rely on the concept of entropy, and might therefore be used to argue that the flow of time is a subjective feature of the Universe, not an objective part of the physical description.

But I quibble with the details of some of Rovelli’s pronouncements.
For example, it is far from certain that space-time is quantized, in the sense of space and time being packaged in minimal lengths or periods (the Planck length or time).

Rather, our understanding peters out at those very small intervals for which we need both quantum mechanics and relativity to explain things.

In part two, “The World without Time”, Rovelli puts forward the idea that events (just a word for a given time and location at which something might happen), rather than particles or fields, are the basic constituents of the world.

The task of physics is to describe the relationships between those events: as Rovelli notes, “A storm is not a thing, it’s a collection of occurrences.”
At our level, each of those events looks like the interaction of particles at a particular position and time; but time and space themselves really only manifest out of their interactions and the web of causality between them.

In the final section, “The Sources of Time”, Rovelli reconstructs how our illusions have arisen, from aspects of thermodynamics and quantum mechanics. He argues that our perception of time’s flow depends entirely on our inability to see the world in all its detail.

Quantum uncertainty means we cannot know the positions and speeds of all the particles in the Universe.
If we could, there would be no entropy, and no unravelling of time.

Rovelli originated this ‘thermal time hypothesis’ with French mathematician Alain Connes.

The Order of Time is a compact and elegant book.
Each chapter starts with an apt ode from classical Latin poet Horace — I particularly liked “Don’t attempt abstruse calculations”.
And the writing, translated from Italian by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell, is more stylish than that in most physics books.

Rovelli ably brings in the thoughts of philosophers Martin Heidegger and Edmund Husserl, sociologist Émile Durkheim and psychologist William James, along with physicist-favourite philosophers such as Hilary Putnam and Willard Van Orman Quine.

Occasionally, the writing strays into floweriness.
For instance, Rovelli describes his final section as “a fiery magma of ideas, sometimes illuminating, sometimes confusing”.

Ultimately, I’m not sure I buy Rovelli’s ideas, about either loop quantum gravity or the thermal time hypothesis.
And this book alone would not give a lay reader enough information to render judgement.

The Order of Time does, however, raise and explore big issues that are very much alive in modern physics, and are closely related to the way in which we limited beings observe and participate in the world.

Nature 556, 304-305 (2018)

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-04558-7

 

[Skarekrow]

So here is a new book for the reading list!
I am currently enjoying it immensely!

The book review for this month is:

Fringe-ology:
How I Tried to Explain Away the Unexplainable - And Couldn’t

By Steve Volk

"More than seventy percent of Americans believe in paranormal activity.
But even with a family-ghost story lurking in his own background,
seasoned journalist Steve Volk has been like most of those millions of Americans— reticent to talk about his experience in polite company.
If so many of us have similar stories to tell, why are we so reluctant to take them seriously?

Paranormal claims don’t traditionally sit well with reporters, but Volk decided to focus his gimlet-eyed tenacity on a new beat:
the world of psychics, UFOs, and things that go bump in the night.
It’s a rollicking ride as Volk introduces us to all sorts of fringe-dwellers, many of them reluctant to admit to their paranormal experiences:
a NASA astronaut-turned-mystic, a world-famous psychologist who taught us about dying and then decided death may not exist at all,
and brave scientists attempting to verify what mystics have been reporting for millennia.
Volk investigates what happens in the brains of people undergoing religious experiences,
learns how to control his own dreams, and goes hunting for specters in his family’s old haunted house.

From his journey into the bizarre, Volk returns with a compelling argument that we need to allow for a middle space, a place where paranormal phenomena can be weird and compelling; raise crucial questions; and, quite possibly, remain unexplainable.
He rejects the polarized options the twenty-first century seems to offer us:
to passionately embrace or hotly reject, to revere only science or only spirituality.
And he underscores, again and again, that by raising our most existential questions—why are we here, are we alone in the universe, and what happens when we die?—paranormal stories are in fact a crucial point of connection.
It turns out that these “fringe” experiences strike at the core of what it means to be human."

​

This book is one of my favorites I have found on the subject as a whole so far!
The very disappointing book “Spook”, which claimed it was delving into the subject on a “scientific level” was a total bunch of BS.
Any actual “science” the author presented was early 1900’s and late 1800’s understanding of the paranormal and most if not all has been disproven or is silly to even consider now - which I believe was her objective when writing it.
I cannot say how disappointed I was with the lack of actual science and her unabashed trash talk and mean spirited “humor” on the subject and those who study or practice such things was flat out idiotic, patronizing, and showed her (the author) to be truly ignorant and closed-minded about the ideas that paranormal phenomena present.

Glad I found this gem!
Here there is REAL (current) science being presented, and not only presented but put in understandable terms for the layman.
Nothing is discounted because of the personal opinions of the author - the guilty downfall of the “Spook” author imho.
Things are questioned when they should be, and the option for the reader to take the evidence presented at face value or to dismiss is encouraged and the opinions of the author are not forced upon the reader - facts are given and it is up to you to decide how you will receive them.
Well written, very enjoyable style to read, full of very substantial facts and theories and the reasons why materialist science and/or “skeptics” like “The Great Randi” have allowed taboos and personal doubt to become a religious viewpoint in itself...just as many Atheists have fallen prey to as well.
Still only 3/4 of the way through and I can’t recommend this one more!
It has tackled many of the common (and some lesser) phenomena that fall under the title of “paranormal”, “supernatural”, or “spiritual”.
This is one I wouldn’t mind owning.
Much love!!
Enjoy!!

 

[Skarekrow]

Hmmmmm???


​

 

[Skarekrow]

 

[Skarekrow]

 

[Wyote]

This is very curious...if it’s true?

Lol if true? The real question is how effective is it and to what extent is it being used.

 

[Skarekrow]

Lol if true? The real question is how effective is it and to what extent is it being used.

Supposedly the cell phone towers sticking up around the country are part of the system.

 

[Wyote]

Supposedly the cell phone towers sticking up around the country are part of the system.

lolol I've heard that one. I don't agree necessarily, but it would probably be easy for them to be retrofitted in such a manner. And also for something actually being used for some nefarious purpose to be disguised as one.

 

[Sandie33]

Supposedly the cell phone towers sticking up around the country are part of the system.

Cute

 

[Skarekrow]

lolol I've heard that one. I don't agree necessarily, but it would probably be easy for them to be retrofitted in such a manner. And also for something actually being used for some nefarious purpose to be disguised as one.

Cute

This poor old fellow needs a companion or a cat or something...

 

[Skarekrow]

Just because.
My parents...circa late 70’s.
Miss my Dad every day...but I know he is much happier wherever he is than he ever was on this planet.
(Looking stylish!)

 

[Free]

Just because.
My parents...circa late 70’s.
Miss my Dad every day...but I know he is much happier wherever he is than he ever was on this planet.
(Looking stylish!)

The resemblance! What a lovely pair. :spreadlove:

 

[Skarekrow]

The resemblance! What a lovely pair. :spreadlove:

I can see his face very clearly when staring into a mirror for a while...this is even more profound on certain substances.
When I had that experience, his smiling face was incredibly clear I almost think it could have been him.
I certainly catch myself saying something, or acting in a certain way, or thinking that he would have liked this or that, I still feel guilty if I forget his birthday or their anniversary...which is silly I know.
If I ever need his advice all I have to do is think of him and I know exactly what he would have said...he was very blunt but not in a mean way, had more integrity than anyone I have ever known.
He had a confidence about him and a smile that said “I love you”.
He always bought a pack of dark beers for me in case I came by to visit even though he liked Budweiser.
A great cook...he made some fantastic food!
Once for Christmas he drove up into the mountains (we lived in Bakersfield...about an hour and a half to two hour drive) that night at like 10pm and shoveled the back of his truck full of snow...came home at 3am or whatever time, and shoveled it onto our front lawn in a giant pile!
He wasn’t super outwardly affectionate, but he showed it in ways like that...not that he didn’t still hug us or anything.
I feel regret that he had to face the terrible shit he did after he was drafted to Vietnam...then worked his ass off for the rest of his life in the oilfields, though he moved up the ranks and was a foremen of some sort when he died.
He was going to retire the next year from when he got sick.
If that isn’t some shit...wow...yes, yes, life...we know you aren’t fair.
His Father...my Grandpa died that summer...then in October my Dad had a seizure at the movie theater and had a brain tumor that was successfully removed, but proved to be an adenocarcinoma...which meant it had metastasized from some other area of the body - aka, it’s stage four already and you are pretty much fucked.
He lasted until the beginning of March...he looked like he was 80 when he died at 57...he had withered away to nothing.
That was hard to see...but he seemed to be very at peace with the whole thing...never seemed afraid, or angry, or regretful, he found some kind of peace.
Once as my Mom napped, his Mom (who had already passed) came to my Mom one day as she was laying next to my Dad before he died...she came in the room and took her hand into her hands and sat next to her on the bed...she told her that she was doing a good job, that she was taking such wonderful care of him, but not to worry, because he is also being taken care of on the other side as well now.
My mom could actually feel her hands holding her hand for about a minute after she woke up just sobbing...but felt much more peaceful.
The whole immediate family was there when he passed...there was nothing magical about it...he just stopped breathing, started to gasp, then stopped.
I helped my mom take out his foley and put some pajamas on him before the coroner came.
For the last two weeks he was agonal breathing...which is usually the last couple of days in most cases...where they gasp for air...fish-mouth breathing...then they stop breathing...for 10, 20, sometimes 30 seconds, only to start gasping for air again, and repeat.
He did that for two weeks...it was so hard to be there the amount of time I was...it was so taxing mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, in every way conceivable.
After I helped my Mom I went and laid down on the couch in the family room and proceeded to get the most gigantic migraine headache.
My body just shut down...it shut me down...it had had enough.

I’m sorry that this has turned into a really depressing story about how my Dad died!!
I guess I just had to get it out...sorry you’re the victim!
But thanks for listening to my ranting and rambling....you, and everyone else who bothers!
I’ll end it there...they were so beautiful together, my mom and dad...she misses him like crazy still, though it’s been 11 years now...I’m not sure that she will ever date or find anyone else honestly...she has tried a few times...but she always just says - They don’t hold a candle to your Father.
One day, they will be together forever, I have no doubt...they are a powerful love.
I was one of the lucky kids who’s parents didn’t divorce and who would argue maybe once a year for like 10 minutes then make up immediately, lol.
I don’t take that experience for granted.
Anyhow...rambling again!
Much love!!

 

[Free]

Thank you so much for sharing. I'm going through something similar with my father. The slow and painful process of advanced ALZ that has left him a prisoner in his own body. Complete aphasia and motor paralysis because his brain is consumed by plaque and can no longer communicate with his body or mind. Being there at the end of it all really is taxing in every way possible, I know exactly what you've been through. And I'm sure we also share the view that no matter how difficult, it's exactly where we want(ed) and need(ed) to be.
What a beautiful moment your mother had. Even in the painful sadness and loss that comes with death, there is still so much beauty in life to be found. I hold the same belief that although I don't know what the after is, I hold onto the conviction that love between us earthlings is transcendent and we'll see one another again, in whatever form.

They don’t hold a candle to your Father.

What a wonderful testament to his being. It says it all, really. We should all be so lucky in love.


Your ramblings are the best, please don't ever stop. All my love to you, @Sensiko, and yours. ❤

 

[Wyote]

This poor old fellow needs a companion or a cat or something...

omg I am dying "and the zombie scientists developed a microwave laser to cook the meat and feed the zombies"

 

[Skarekrow]

omg I am dying "and the zombie scientists developed a microwave laser to cook the meat and feed the zombies"

Well...brains obviously taste better cooked...I hear they are working on an A1-Sauce ray currently.

 

[Skarekrow]

On the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
by Tim Maroney​

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is one of the chief rituals of Western Magick.
It has been with us at least since the Golden Dawn of the nineteenth century, and it has penetrated into all the many Golden Dawn spinoffs, including Neo-Paganism.

Yet there is still no widely available, clear instruction.
The directions of the magical orders are mere mnemonics for those who are assumed to have personal instructors.

To formulate my personal approach to the ritual, to aid any others who may be considering practicing the LBR, and to satisfy the idle curiosity of any gawking onlookers, I have put together this short discussion of the ritual and its symbolism and performance.

A. Intent of the Ritual
The real action of a magick ritual takes place in the mind.
Ritual is a form of moving meditation.

The effect is also primarily psychological.*
The LBR is a tool to facilitate meditation.

[*Not all people would agree with this statement.
Many would say that the effect of the LBR is a fortified and cleansed area on the astral plane, which they think is as real as Hoboken, if not more so.
It doesn't really matter in practice.]

The experience of a proper LBR is pleasurable and soothing, yet energizing and empowering.
One is made at home in the mystical realm, protected from lurkers and phantasms by strongly imagined wards.

This solace from mundane experience is a precondition for more serious works of meditation or ritual, but it can also form a healthy part of the life of the mind by itself.

B. The Ritual
I'll just reprint the description of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram from Liber O, a publication of the occult order A.'.A.'.

1. Touching the forehead, say "Ateh (Unto Thee)."
2. Touching the breast, say Malkuth (The Kingdom)."
3. Touching the right shoulder, say "ve-Geburah (and the Power)."
4. Touching the left shoulder, say "ve-Gedulah (and the Glory),
5. Clasping the hands upon the breast, say "le-Olahm, Amen (To the Ages, Amen)."
6. Turning to the East, make a pentagram (that of Earth) with the proper weapon (usually the Wand). Say (i.e. vibrate) "IHVH" (Ye-ho-wau*).
7. Turning to the South, the same, but say "ADNI" (Adonai).
8. Turning to the West, the same, but say "AHIH" (Eheieh).
9. Turning to the North, the same, but say "AGLA" (Agla).
10. Extending the arms in the form of a cross say:
11. "Before me Raphael;
12. Behind me Gabriel;
13. On my right hand Michael;
14. On my left hand Auriel;
15. For about me flames the Pentagram,
16. And in the Column stands the six-rayed Star."
17. until xxi. Repeat steps (i) to (v), the "Qabalistic Cross."

[* Modern scholarship has a different take on the pronunciation of the Big Guy's name.
I use "Yahweh" rather than the "Ye-ho-wau" of Liber O because that's what the Catholic priests of my youth taught me to say, and I've never been able to shake it off.
Use whatever pronunciation you prefer, or a different name altogether.]

C. Politics of the Ritual
With practice, you will no doubt come up with your own style of performance, and your own different symbolism for ritual acts.
Different people do rituals as differently as actors play parts, even though the lines and motions may be fundamentally the same.
(The alternative is an authoritarian, dogmatic horror which is alien to the deep occult understanding of religion, but is still common in magical groups.) Slavish imitation will get you nowhere in Magick -- except, perhaps, to some high spiritual degree!

The Christianity -- or at least angelic monotheism -- of the ritual symbolism may give a start to some.
Many of us involved in occultism have strongly negative feelings about Christianity.

These are perhaps justified, but there are a few saving graces here.

First, as with any ritual, you should feel free to make it yours, to mess around with it.
If you don't start to at least play with the styles of a ritual after a while, you are probably not doing it very well.

It is perfectly legitimate to substitute cognate symbols at any time.
However, the saying in the martial arts is that one first learns another's style, and after mastering it, moves on to create one's own.

For a beginner, it will be easiest simply to use an existing ritual form in order to explore the meaning of a banishing ritual.

Given that experience, which transcends any mere set of symbols, one may devise a form more in keeping with the emergence of one's personal style. For instance, Neo-Pagans use a highly reified form of the same basic ritual in many of their traditions, but with non-Christian deities, spirits, and heros at the quarters.

Aleister Crowley wrote a new version which made the performance more dancelike, and used the names of Thelemic deities and officers rather than monotheist gods and angels.

My private version, called "Opening the Threshold", is entirely atheistic and philosophical.

In any case, of those people who so abhor Christianity, how many have looked at some of the practices of historical pagans in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas?

No religion should ever be "accepted" by an occultist.
When using any religion's symbolism, the adept should cut to its sacred poetical core and discard the political dross.

By this standard, Christianity looks about as good as any other religion.
Without this standard and by factoring in historical excesses and power plays, almost all known religions look just about as bad as Christianity.

In other words, someone who will happily use Norse gods, Arthurian heroes, Taoist immortals, Voudoun loas, or what have you in rituals, but will never touch a Christian angel, is guilty of the same narrowness he or she probably imparts to the Christians.

The Vibration of God-Names
In the LBR, the vibration of the god-names "charges" or "enlivens" the pentagrams in the air.
This is difficult to describe, but easy to recognize.

There is a feeling of presence in one of these charged warding images -- though not necessarily a feeling of true externality or separate intelligence.
We are told to "vibrate" the names.

The description and illustration of the "vibration" given in Liber O have been known to mislead people into hilarious postures.
What the picture most resembles is the skulking monster from the movie The Mummy.

To the modern eye, it is remarkable how truly unclear a photograph can be.
I didn't learn how to vibrate a god-name until I signed up with yet another occult order and was taught it in person.

I wouldn't wish the ensuing experience on anyone, so here is a description which I hope will be adequate in print.

Vibration phase i -- The Sign of the Enterer (1-4)

1. Stand upright. Blow all the air out of your lungs. Hold your arms straight out at your sides.

2a. Close your eyes and inhale nasally, imagining that the breath is the name.
The exact nature of this imagination differs from person to person.
Thus, you imagine yourself inhaling the name into your lungs.

2b. As you inhale, sweep your forearms smoothly and deliberately up so that your fists rest on your temples.

3. Imagine the breath moving down through your torso slowly, and through your pelvis, your legs, and finally to the soles of your feet.
(Don't do this so slowly that you are hurting for air when the name reaches your feet!)

4a. The instant the inhaled vibrational name hits the soles of your feet, imagine it rushing back up and out.

4b. Simultaneously, throw yourself forward, thrusting your left foot forward about twelve inches (or thirty centimeters) and catching yourself on it.
Your hands shoot forward, together, like a diver.
You bend forward at the waist so that your torso winds up parallel to the floor.

4c. The air in your lungs should be blown out through your nose at the same time, but imagine the name shooting out straight ahead.

Steps 3-4 are known as the Sign of the Enterer, or of Horus.
This symbolizes powerful active energy.

The Enterer should be something of a "rush”.
The vibrational name is projected outwards into more tangible manifestation -- in this case, in the pentagrams of the LBR, which are charged by the force of the projected god-names.

It is highly inadvisable to omit the portion of step(4b) which reads "catching yourself on it.”
But again, I have no desire to infringe on your freedom of choice.

Vibration phase ii -- The Sign of Silence (5)

5. Finally, withdraw into a standing position, left arm hanging at your side, right forefinger on lips, left foot pointing ninety degrees out from the body.

Step 5 is called the Sign of Silence, or of Harpocrates.
This Egyptian god was mistakenly believed (at the turn of the century) to pertain to silence, because his finger or thumb was touching his lips.

This gesture is now believed to be a symbol of childhood; this correction appears in the World card of Crowley's "Book of Thoth" Tarot deck.
Harpocrates was the god of the Sun at dawn, and so symbolizes wonder, beauty, potential, growth.

So, step 5 may be done in this academically corrected light instead.

However, the "hush" gesture of the Golden Dawn Sign of Silence is adequate for the modern occultist, even if deprived of A Divine Identification.
It is a common gesture, at least in the European culture, meaning silence.

Silence perhaps balances the ultra-active Sign of the Enterer better than does the more scholarly positive/active "Sign of Harpocrates the Rising Sun", and silence is surely no alien concept to mystics.

The Invocation
The pentagrams are given form by the drawing, life by the vibration, identity by the four-part prayer of steps (x) to (xiv).
Some people do very elaborate visualizations of angelic guardians on each of (xi) to (xiv).

Because of my tragic personal deficiencies, I am content with strong feelings of presence, identity, and divinity in each of the four directions.

A horizontal cross is built up step by step as you say, "Before me Raphael", etc, with you at the center; and the position of your arms forms a vertical cross, a renewal of the Qabalistic Cross from the start of the ritual.

You may feel a quite peculiar rising and expansion when both of these crosses are formulated.
One has become the center of the geometry of the space, and it is like a little world in itself, cut adrift from the mundane currents of everyday experience.

Steps (xv) and (xvi) are when the real banishing takes place, during "For about me flames the pentagram, and in the column stands the six-rayed star.”
A great pulse of force is emitted during these steps, imposing the personal will on the space and clearing it of all hostile influences.

After this is done, the invoked "archangels" maintain the banishing effect, guarding in all four directions.
Of course this talk of angels is all bullshit -- the importance lies in the psychological effect.

Whether there "really is" an archangel standing there keeping out inimical spirits is not important.
The "feeling of cleanliness" is what matters.

Concluding Cross
The final Qabalistic Cross is an affirmation of the completeness and symmetry of the ritual, and also a new self-consecration.
This is more efficacious than the previous Cross because it is done in a banished environment.

One is now ready to do a formal invocation, an evocation, a meditation, or whatever the overall purpose may be.
The LBR is a preliminary ceremony, although it has a beneficial effect in itself.

It can profitably be done as a stand-alone ritual, but you should move on.
The LBR should keep away the horrible ickies that turn so many novices away from Magick.

Its mastery is a first step to adeptship.

 

[Skarekrow]