If you’re a regular reader here, you will know I have quite a thing for brainwave entrainment. Recently I discovered the Gamma Frequency, now this is an area of the mind which hasn’t had a whole lot of research put into it. In fact there is some dispute as to just what the gamma frequency is all about. As we know, the beta frequency of around 12hz to 38hz is our everyday frequency – mixed in with a fair bit of alpha here and there. Gamma kicks things up a notch, and exceeds frequencies of over 70hz.

Now the contention is that this is a highly inspirational state of mind. It has been noted in meditators of various kinds, it has also been recorded during moments of insight, inspiration and intuition. What do I think? Well I believe that humans are more than the some of our parts – and that parts of our consciousness exist outside of what is classified the physical realm. We already know that on occasions people are able to reach ‘higher states of consciousness’. I believe that when these higher states occur it is reflected in our brainwave frequencies. In essence the frequencies are a symptom showing that something is happening – as opposed to the idea that the brainwave frequencies cause such occurrences. That said – it is pretty clear that entraining our brains to certain frequencies does indeed have an effect upon our consciousness. So maybe it is a two way process – energy shifting through the gateway that is the brain.

At any rate, the research into brainwave entrainment is an ongoing process – and one I find fascinating because it deals with the ‘hidden’ aspects of human consciousness. It faces the unknown squarely in the face, and as yet hasn’t been tied down by the conventions of traditional sciences.

In the end whether a person is interested in meditation or not, we all have a common bond when it comes to the fact that we all experience consciousness.  And the fact that we can begin alter and explore the vastness of our consciousness simply by playing a CD, really should be cause for joy.

I noticed now a glimmering flicker of light ahead, golden as fire – it played a different form of warmth upon my eyes. Yet closer, almost within reach now a presence lingered; dark, menacing…indifferent. Fear took a deeper grip, seeming to reach out from that presence; his shadowy claws – for it was certainly a He – dripping with an elemental terror.

That fear – not cold as some lay claim – entrenched into the pit of my stomach, and I paid close attention realizing that there was something I should be understanding here. The fear was within me, just as that shadowy presence was within me. Where then was this cave?

Questions…

Questions which caused the environment to disolve and the fear to recede. The cave collapsed into a spectacular nothingness and I awoke from the ‘dream’.

We carry fear within us on a constant basis, it makes up the fabric of who and what we are. Of course we don’t always recognize that fear as it is suppressed very deeply indeed. Yet it sub-consciously influences so much of what we do. Our actions are so often based upon what we want to avoid rather than what we want to achieve. Avoidance of loss, of hunger, of being at the bottom, of failure…and so on.

Many of these fears develop within our childhood, and we aren’t taught how to face them. This becomes something one has to choose to do at a later point in life; choose to face the fears, or flee them forever in denial.

There is an extreme beauty in this, because slowly we can learn to free ourselves from the things which attempt to tie us into the dark unknown. It is as though a pressure is released, and we float upwards and away – towards something bold and new. For me that is a large part of the sum for what it means to develop end evolve ourselves.

As I remember back, I recall often waking with such feelings – but I never attributed it to whatever dream I may have forgotten. Although the dream may have escaped my memories there is no reason that the emotion it evoked should not remain. So without awareness of the influence of dreams – I simply put waking in a bad mood down to ‘getting out the wrong side of bed.

Since such feelings can stay with us for a large part of the day, it seems obvious to me that dreams have a massive impact upon our thoughts, actions and attitudes. I know that I have regularly spoke to people who are unusually happy or moody and have no explanation as to why.

We live in a culture which has long forgotten the importance of dreams. At best they are viewed as manifestations of psychological issues. And even that is not a particularly common consideration.

A part of self understanding must come from recognition of the importance of our dreams and the messages they contain. In this regards sleep takes on an entirely different texture. Sleep is not just about resting and ‘recharging’, but allowing the sub-conscious and unconscious parts of our brain the opportunity to express themselves. For any good to come from that expression, we need to pay conscious attention. Dreaming then is perhaps one of the few places our conscious mind can receive direct communication from the other realms (of our mind).

In this regards I view dreaming as deeply spiritual; dreaming can become a practice…an art. But in order for that to happen our dreams must be faced, and we need to learn how to work with our dreams – rather than view them as some form of psychological side-effect.

For me, once this recognition occurred I was led into the areas of dream recall, because without that we have little or nothing to work with. And from this, we begin to unfold and evolve into entire new areas of being.

During one of those states, at a certain point the conditioning within the day-to-day conscious mind subsides, and suddenly the mind finds itself in very a free flowing state. Here, thoughts are very clear, very linear and completely structured, yet free from any impediments which the conscious mind seems to put out. Maybe you have experienced this? It is almost like the mind is reading a narrative which is very detailed and complete.

There are states of consciousness which we experience – and can readily access – that seem to cause us to enter a higher-level of cognition. In my experience such moments are free from reason, logic and other notions believed to be essential – and instead are much more about intuition and synchronistic connections. It’s something we all have access to  – pretty much all the time – yet it would appear that our conscious and largely conditioned minds tend to interfere with these natural abilities.

This is one of the reasons that meditation can be such a useful tool, it allows our minds to work at a different level; meditation needn’t be about just relaxation or personal insight. Using a theta frequency audio during meditation is also a great help in inducing these altered states.

In many ways these states of awareness are not commonly recognized as having much value. For some reason – perhaps because it is easily recognized by everyone – our common waking state is felt to be the only one of worth. This attitude creates a tendency to bury anything which cannot be backed up be logic, reason and science. Born from a lack of faith in our senses – we seem to prize outside information at a higher value, than what we can see and discover for ourselves. That is unfortunate in so many ways.

If you’ve never tried it – then give meditation a go, and if you fancy making it a bit more entertaining or need an excuse – then try out some of the many brainwave entrainment files which can be found on this site; nearly all of them will affect your meditative state in one way or another. You maybe surprised at what you discover.

As I journeyed away from my thinking mind, it receded into the distance – becoming like a tiny boat upon a massive ocean. This ‘ocean’ was all encompassing – I realized that it was my awareness. And as I moved further away from my mind/ego, the quieter my thoughts became, until finally they no longer existed – instead I experienced the total silence of ‘being’.

And still I moved ever backwards, traveling further away from my ego and into the infinite dark. I discovered that our ego’s are a central aspect to our being, they are the anchor which binds us into a vast never ending space. Without that anchor our awareness would be left to drift aimlessly within the ocean of consciousness. We would lose all identity, all knowledge and all reason.

Finally I passed through the outer shell of this seemingly unending space, and found myself once again within the center of my mind/ego. Without ever re-tracing my footsteps, I had returned to the starting point. Exactly like a fractal.

Perhaps it’s a bit trite; but I envisioned my ego as a seed seated within the fruit of consciousness. Travel far enough away from that seed, and eventually you discover the tree. The tree exists to propagate more seeds, it is a never ending cycle – a Tree of Life.

Our consciousness is vast – perhaps infinite – and has many branches. Yet regardless of its ’size’, our consciousness exists as a repository within which our minds and egos sit. And perhaps our ego/mind is the only place from which we can truly experience this physical part of reality.

The Mazatec’s hold Salvia Divinorum to be sacred, and even of a divine nature.  The leaves when consumed are psychoactive, yet they are totally unique amongst all hallucinogens.  Many of the sacred plants which tribal peoples worship often contain DMT or else inhibit the human body’s resistance to its naturally produced DMT.  Salvia is different, its hallucinogenic  properties were only isolated relatively recently; called Salvorin A it is one of the most powerful hallucinogens known.

It is also perfectly legal in nearly every country.

As with other shamanic plants – such as Ayahuasca – Salvia Divinorum is something which should be deeply respected.  It is a teacher plant which is much more than capable of providing powerful personal and spiritual insights.  It can take you on journeys deep into the very fabric of consciousness itself, just as readily as it will open your mind to every personal corner of your being.

The nature of these plants has become lost on much of modern society, suffering from a catch-all stigma; they are viewed merely as ‘drugs’ which chemically alter the brain.  Whilst that is true from a physical standpoint, the spiritual aspect of these experiences can never be understated.  These hallucinogens appear to amplify many traits of our mind and personality, so it stands to reason – at least to me – that people who are spiritually inclined will have a spiritual experience, whilst an individual of a more ‘grounded’ nature will see the experience as a chemically induced ‘trip’.  Of course it’s not so black and white or clear cut as that, but it forms a basis of why these plants and experiences are so mis-understood.

That said Salvia Divinorum as it currently stands provides a totally unique opportunity.  It is very safe, unlike with Ayahuasca you don’t need to be in the presence of a shaman or other expert.  It is completely legal almost everywhere.  It is non-addictive.  And most importantly Salvia Divinorum can be amazingly transformational in the most positive of ways.
 

The conscious mind and sub-conscious mind seem to have a fascinating interplay with each other. Whilst lucid in the hypnagogic state it is – in essence – possible to have a ‘conversation’ between the conscious mind and the sub-conscious mind. However the degree of direction you have over that conversation is proportional to just how lucid you are.

One problem I have encountered is that – as with dreaming – recollection of hypagogic states can be difficult at best. Taking a recent occurrence, I was in a deep meditative state which became hynagogic. At which point I semi-consciously entered into a conversation in my mind. However later recollection of the content of that conversation is impossible, yet the memory of the voice remains very clear.

The feeling is much like those dreams which you cannot fully recall, yet a ghost memory of them exists ever so slightly out of your reach. I am sure you have experienced this many times.

For reference the hypnagogic state becomes easier to enter with the following methods:

• Attempt to cease all conscious thinking, and simply let your thoughts flow. Everyday thinking tends to occur around the area at the front-top of the head. Relax these thoughts, and you will notice a more subtle form of non-verbal thinking occurring around the back of the head. Focus on that.
• Relax the body and lay in a comfortable position.
• Warmth is usually preferable. However, sometimes keeping a part of your body cold – such as your arms – stops you drifting completely off to sleep and increases the likely hood of becoming hypnagogic.
• Listening to quiet, soothing or tranquil music can help. Avoid anything with a heavy beat or rhythm.

Those are a few of the immediate tips which can help become hypnagogic. Becoming lucid in many respect requires a certain state of mind, for example a ‘noisy’ mind or rigid thinking can make attaining this state very difficult – so it’s best to try and practice during the periods you are most relaxed.

The truth is visions can come to anyone, anywhere at anytime…and they won’t necessarily be waking dreams – or video flash-backs. This can happen in moments when the ego releases its grip upon the mind, and can happen spontaneously or through meditative or other techniques.

One method I have been working with, is relaxing my rigidity of thinking, and this has had some interesting results as I mentioned before. More recent experiences have been very brief flashes or ‘visions’. These visions come at random times during the day, and last but fractions of a second. They are of still images which contain vast level of richness and detail. They seem as though ‘memories’ of places that exist nowhere on Earth.

The most striking thing about these visions is that they appear in the minds-eye, yet are as clear as physical vision. They don’t interrupt or even overlay regular vision, they simply appear as an addition to regular sight; it’s very difficult to put into words.

Those visions went on for about a week or so, as I witnessed all forms of alien artefacts and landscapes.

More recently, my dream-recall has been returning. Last night, before sleep in a semi- hypnagogic state, I entered conversation with either a part of my sub-conscious or maybe some other entity. The details of the conversation are all but impossible to recall, but the clear memory of the voice remains.

I will let this continue to develop and see where it heads. It is worth noting that over-analysis of these sorts of things tends to be detrimental to them. You can quite literally ‘talk them to death’, and that’s why over the years I have rarely spoken about these sorts of experiences here. But that said, the non-physical and spiritual world is one of the central themes of this site, so it is only reasonable to include my own experiences. And on top of that, learning how to open-up is a very large part of both spiritual and self-development.

Our ego’s would have us clamped down in place, working bone to metal until we grind away to nothing…because such a thing validates the necessity of our false-self. Once we learn to release what binds us, then all our senses begin to open in their fullest capacity. The only limiting factors are those which we place on ourselves, so it’s very important to consciously be aware of how our thoughts are working.

It’s a good practice to take some time out and consider our so-called beliefs and perceptions. It’s often surprising which of them are actually chains in disguise.

As I drifted into a deeper meditation a very different texture began to flow from the music. An energy began to form within my body – around the area of my solar plexus and stomach, just below my bellybutton. The energy was very warm, and emotional.At first, as part of my mind was still considering the end of movie, I felt the music to be a deeply sorrowful tribute to Maximus as he died. Shortly the feeling changed, the energy begun to permeate my entire being. It spoke of the most profound love; not the love of a man and a woman – but the love of a mother for her child, yet from an infinitely deeper source.I felt this energy begin to radiate into me, coming from neither a place I could not reach nor touch. It was at once a bittersweet goodbye, and an embracing welcome; it was utterly accepting and carried not a single vibe of judgement. The strength of this energy continued to grow, until I felt as though I could pour my entire self into it. Yet as strong as that energy was, it carried as but a caress – spreading itself open as a receptacle, containing nothing but love and compassion.

This was a feminine energy, where it resides I have no idea – but I do know that it was outside of me, yet not in a physical sense. What I do know is that it is timeless, and it exists out there beyond us – yet is painfully aware of who and what we are…and is only too willing to embrace us all.

Since the explosion of Comet Holmes on 24 October 2007, the gaseous clouds which are a part of the comet have continued to grow by such a magnitude, that Comet Holmes is now the largest object in the Solar System, larger even than the Sun.

Most traditions, metaphysical, spiritual and otherwise have often considered comets to be heralds. The stream of consciousness which permeates everything in the Universe, and of which we are linked – manifests itself in many forms. This is the basis of much of astrology; the comprehension of the influence of consciousness on man and the interstellar bodies. So the question; “What does the arrival of Comet Holmes in this form mean?” has vital relevance from this point of view.

Look at the changes going on around us and it is pretty clear that humanity is moving in two directions. The deadening of the spirit as the fascist states gain increasing momentum. And the raising up of the spirit as an increasing amount of people are awakening to an entirely different level of reality and consciousness. Keep those two points in mind has you go about your day-to-day basis, and you will begin to see many examples of both those aspects.