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O.A.K.: Book III-Sphere 9: YESOD, The Moon; Section 4

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THE HOLISTIC QABALA: A CONTEMPORARY GUIDE TO MAGICK

by Philo Stone (aka Richard and Iona Miller), 1982, 2002

BOOK III: Sphere 9: YESOD, the Moon

YESOD: Table of Contents INTRODUCTION PART II. YETZIRAH, THE ASTRAL OR EMOTIONAL PLANE BOOK III: YESOD, The Sphere of the Moon 1. PHILOSOPHY 2. PSYCHOLOGY 3. ASTROLOGY & ALCHEMY 4. ORIENTATION & EXERCISE a. Some Thoughts on the Phenomena of Astral Projection b. Seasonal Timing and Tides (Equinoxes and Solstices)

4. Orientation/Exercise
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE PHENOMENA OF ASTRAL PROJECTION By Richard Alan Miller, Physicist. 1974,2002 The phenomena known as Astral Projection or Out-Of-The-Body Experience (OOBE) has become increasingly important to the research direction and study of the paranormal. An Out-Of-The-Body Experience is now defined as one in which the subject appears to view the external world from some position other than that of his or her physical body. Traditionally in the field of Parapsychology Out-Of-The-Body Experiences are grouped into two main types, 'parasomatic' and 'asomatic'. The parasomatic type of experience is that in which the subject appears to himself to be located in a duplicate body, more or less resembling his physical body. In the second type of experience, the asomatic, the subject does not appear to himself to be associated with a body, rather he or she is just a disembodied consciousness or a 'pin-point of presence'. It is important at this point to consider the definition used. Namely, once
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a structure or classification is structured, the way in which the data is gathered immediately sets up limits in which the phenomena can be studied. It would seem almost unnecessary to point out that the "mystical tradition" underlying most of the major religions have certain similarities. In surveying these coincidentals, the phenomena of astral projection is one of the most overt. Psychical phenomena exert a strong influence on the foundation of religious heritage. The appearance of astral projection among them is probably the most common of the various genres. As an allusion to Dr. Robert Crookall's classic, Study and Practice of Astral Projection, the late Professor Hornell Hart states: "Initiates into ancient mystery cults clearly included the deliberate production of astral projection. . .Catholic saints and Quaker ministers have reported undergoing such projection." The Egyptian script Peret-emheru speaks of the Ba and Ka (often incorrectly thought to be analogous to each other), which are ancient suggestions of what we call the astral and fluidic bodies, respectively. Qabbalism also has a parallel. In the Zohar, reference to the silvery "astral cord" is made. Referring to this allusion, A.E. Waite writes: "When the good soul is preparing to leave this world, and while it is suspended from the body only at the larynx, it beholds three angels to whom it must confess its sins." Even Christianity is not exempt from this phenomena. St. Paul's description of the astral body and the Old Testament reference to the astral body are classics (1 Cor. 15:44, and Ecclesiastes 12:6), and the appearance of Peter's double before Rhoda may be found in Acts 12:14-17 (A.V., King James version). One of the most significant esoteric scripts discussing astral projection is the Bardo Thodol, somewhat incorrectly translated as the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Bardo Thodol states that the initiate, during the altered state of consciousness, can produce mind-body separation. This seems to have a bearing on those prolific instances where LSD voyagers (who experience a journey very close to the bardo trip as described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead) appear to have such projection experiences. One such incident was related to the author by an LSD user who, during the trip, discovered that his consciousness was not in his body, but next to it. The most asked question about the out-of-body experience is: How does one know that they are simply not dreaming? A more fundamental question to ask, however, would be to counter-question: How does one know that the waking experience is real? To answer the first: the subjective out-of-body-experiences differ from the typical dream state principally in the following ways: 1) There is continuity of some sort of conscious awareness. 2) Intellectual and/or emotional decisions are made during the
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experience. 3) Multivalued perceptions occur via sensory inputs or their equivalents. 4) There is a non-recurrence of identical patterns. 5) The experience of time duration, based on long-term memory. The most certain statement that can be made by the subject is that when the condition exists, he/she is as aware of "not dreaming" as when he/she is awake. Dr. Robert Crookall has advanced a theory linking astral projection to survival. He agrees with Professor Hart that the survival of the human personality after death is nothing more than the permanent projection of the astral body. He sees various degrees of projection involving two distinct portions of the human psyche. One, he sates, is conscious but immaterial. The other portion is unconscious and, although immaterial, has some objective existence. In OOBE either or both of these portions may be projected. Dr. Crookall's beliefs have some interesting parallels in the Ba and Ka concepts of the ancient Egyptians. They believed that the Ka was a "double" of the individual and that is was composed of very tenuous matter. It was supposed to live for some time after death and both the process of embalming and various funerary practice were intended to ensure that it lived on in the tomb. If the required practices were neglected the Ka was thought to emerge from the tomb to haunt those responsible. The Ba was the soul of the Egyptians. It was conscious but immaterial. In life it was contained within the Ka. In death it left both the Ka and the body. There is some scientific evidence to support this concept. Dr. Duncan McDougall of Haverhill, Mass. arranged to have dying patients placed on a sensitive weighing apparatus. He found that there was a weight loss of from two to two-and-a-half ounces at the moment of death. The data could not be explained except in terms of something having left the body. Two Dutch Physicists, Dr. J.L.W.P. Matla and Dr. G.L. Zaalberg Van Zelst report similar observations and data. They further reported that the proposed "astral body" appears to have a specific weight of 12.24 mg., that it responds to gravitation, and that it appears to be composed of particles that are small, heavy, but very widely separated. Dr. Charles Tart, University of California at Davis has been conducting bio-physical measurements on individuals who can astrally project at will. His research indicates that out-of-body-experiences occur in conjunction with a non-dreaming, non-awake brain wave stage characterized by predominate slowed alpha activity from the brain and no activation of the autonomic nervous system. OOB experiences seem to occur during a rather poorly developed Stage 1 pattern of sleep which was dominated by
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alphoid activity and often mixed with transitory periods of wakefulness. This alphoid activity was always one to one-and-a-half cycles per second lower than normal alpha rhythm. There seems to be also no REM (rapid eye movement) accompanying these experiences. It is concluded that it is in the hypnagogic state where OOB experiences occur. There is one sleep study by Drs. Lester and Guerrero-Figueroa in which considerable alphoid activity was reported in the sleep records as a result of chlorpromazine administration. Chlorpromazine is a fairly commonly used tranquilizer known under the trade name of Thorazine. It is now being speculated that drugs which tend to slow alpha frequency might promote OOB experiences, and this could be a possible fruitful line of experimental inquiry. The author has experimented with a number of available legal herbs and found that Jimson weed when smoked works quite well for inducing OOB experiences with persons untrained in the technique. Care must be taken with this herb as it belongs to the Datura or night shade family. The active constituents are scopolamine, atropine, hyocyamine and other tropanes. If ingested, as reported by numerous Indian tribes of the Southwest, the herb can be quite toxic. It is recommended that only one to two grams be smoked at one time and prolonged use is not recommended. The herb has also been called thorn-apple or loco weed. Religion has been defined in terms of a commitment to something beyond the self (Garnett, 1942). Thus, the religious experience can be one of man's most meaningful life adventures. This powerful and profound experience is often associated with levels of awareness similar to those aspects of human existence perceived as "creative", "religious", "mystical", and/or "paranormal." The Western world has institutionalized religion and has codified religious dogma while neglecting religious experience. This neglect has many roots, among them would be Plant's emphasis on reason to the near exclusion of feeling, Aristotle's division of philosophy into science and metaphysics, St. Augustine's separation of the "body" from the "mind", as well as Descartes' division of man's inner life from his outer life. These divisions run counter to reports of the religio-mystic experience which, at its most profound, involves the subjective feelings of an integration of man's total being with the universe about him. Dr. Krippner and Dr. Ullman at the Maimonides Dream Laboratory have indicated the feasibility of experimentally inducing dream patterns telepathically. They indicate that a person sleeping is open to impressions and thoughts of others about that person, that these impressions can be and are incorporated into the main body of the dream experience. Daily experience touches on various unresolved conflicts from one's past, arousing unconscious feelings and wishes and memories to a preconscious level. Dreaming integrates and again makes unconscious the aroused
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feelings, wishes and memories from the past, along with those aspects of the recent experiences which have stimulated or touched upon the material from the past. In the dream process, each person uses his characteristic defense to deal with the particular aroused feelings and impulses. If the new experiences are growth-promoting in nature, i.e., correct previous distorted wishes or fears, a modification in ways of dealing with the previously unconscious material may result when the dream brings the new experience into relation to the past. Thus, dreams can be used to predict future events in that they program attitudes and behavior patterns. In light of the above, a new model for the nature of consciousness begins to develop. Astral projection apparently requires an altered state of consciousness similar to Stage 1 of sleep. There also appears to be some very subtle but important differences between Stage 1 of sleep ahd that required for an OOB experience. Those differences can be discussed physiologically, vis. the EEG, the tape recorder, the rating scale, statistical procedures and the like. However, with some of the new research available, the concept that the brain is a transducer of information becomes useful. Dr. Gowan's work at the University of California at Northridge on the Collective Preconscious indicates that there is a possible body of information or knowledge which is available with slight adjustments in tuning, or alteration of consciousness. This concept could be applied to such ideas as pre-natal memory, language and other observed paranormal phenomena. This body of information is a universal one which does not require a time/space co-ordinate system, rather it functions on a more holistic level as the dream telepathy studies might indicate. Astral projection appears to require a state of consciousness which does not use a space/time co-ordinate system. Rather, OOB experiences are those where space and time are not critical for the assimilation of information. The point seems to go back to the occult concept that your awareness is everywhere, but your consciousness is a limited or special case of awareness. Astral projection is apparently a special case of ESP (extra-sensory perception) where the information is brought into consciousness via certain special co-ordinates, i.e., OOB experiences. The real point is that the information was already present but needed some mechanism to be experienced on a conscious level. The development of those mechanisms over other possible ones available form the new field called Noetic sciences. The real issue or question which now arises is: Why have we chosen a particular co-ordinate system over another to call this system a "normal" astral projection, religio-mystical experience, and dream state as deviant from a "normal" state may hold the key to another stage in the development of Man. b. Ritual Timing and Seasonal Tides(top)
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According to Magickal tradition, there are times for planning and times for doing. To obtain optimal effects in any working, the magician cooperates with various tides. This amplifies his effectiveness. This is not a fantasy of "control", but a matter of fine-tuning one's work through development of responsiveness to patterns. When one makes use of various "astral currents" one "goes with the flow", so to speak. There are three major types of current to which magickal effectiveness is subject. These include the Solar cycle of seasonal change, which is of annual duration; the lunar or monthly cycle is approximately 28 days long; and the circadian cycle of geomagnetic forces which influence individual behavior. Solar Cycle: The equinoxes, as most people know, are times of equal day and night (when each ar 12 hours long). More precisely, they are defined as the two imaginary points in the heavens where the celestial equator intersects the plane of the ecliptic. The plane of the ecliptic is an imaginary plane extending through the center of the Sun, the orbit of the Earth, and beyond to the band of the Zodiac. It is therefore the apparent path of the Sun on the celestial sphere. The celestial equator is an extension on the celestial sphere of the Earth's equator. Since the Earth's axis is inclined 23 1/2 degrees, the celestial equator is inclined 23 1/2 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. At two points they intersect: the vernal and autumnal equinoxes are the times of equal day and night. The great religious holy days of all faiths tend to cluster around the times of these equilibrated periods. Why? It is not known, but traditionally there is the belief in "tides" which flow through an unseen ether or medium, known variously as prana, or the astral light. As the Earth revolves on its axis, and also travels at the same time around the sun, centers of stress are set up in the electromagnetic sphere of the earth (this includes the effect of solar winds on the ionosphere and gravitational forces influencing the earth). On any part of the earth's surface, a positive current flows from East to West, in the Astral Light. So, there is a steady current, or tide, in the magnetic field of the earth which is linked to coreolis force. This coreolis force is known to effect individual organisms. As the earth moves around the sun, a magnetic current passes from the north to the south during six months, then reverses flowing from south to north for the remaining six months. The "seasonal" solar tides are the most powerful influence on magickal work, and are classified as follows: The Tide of Sowing: March 21 (Vernal Equinox) - June 21 This is the time to begin new projects; goal oriented. The Tide of Reaping: June 21 (Summer Solstice) - Sept. 23
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One receives the material rewards of the last cycle. The Tide of Planning: Sept.23 (Autumnal Equinox) - Dec. 23 One experiences the spiritual results of what is sown. The Tide of Destruction: Dec. 23 (Winter Solstice) - March 21 Old forms are broken up; time for study, introspection, meditation, contemplation, magical retirement period. Throughout history, the vernal equinox has been considered a time of rebirth; the resurrection of vegetation by the life-giving warmth of the Sun signifies new beginning...Spring. It is considered to be the most significant seasonal change in its impact biologically, psychologically, and sociologically. "Spring fever" can be considered a psychological repercussion of the biological surge in growth hormones in the human body. Whole societies undergo tremendous change during these periods. What biological mechanism can account for this change? The answer may lie in the study of the pineal gland, also referred to as the "third eye." The pineal gland was found to produce a chemical neurotransmitter called serotonin (similar in structure to LSD-25), according to a regular oscillating beat, the basis of this beat being the so-called circadian rhythm. It has been found that the pineal responds somehow to environmental light conditions, and that by altering light conditions one can extend, contract, or even stabilize the chemical production rhythms of the pineal. The fact that the pineal responds to light, even if this response is indirect via the central nervous system, has some fascinating and far-reaching conceptual applications. There are many behavioral changes which overtake animals as the seasons change, and which can be produced out-of-season in the laboratory by stimulating the appropriate span of artificial daylight. Do such seasonal changes in mood and behavior persist in humans? As indicated before, the great religious holy days seem to cluster around the 4 great divisions of the solstices and equinoxes. Is it possible that the human pineal gland (which is considered by some merely an atrophied relic of the past) still responds to these alterations in the length of daylight? Changing the balance of neurohormones in the brain may perhaps effect a greater incidence of psychedelic states (mind-expansive altered states of consciousness) in certain susceptible individuals just at these crucial times. This possibility provides an entirely new approach to our secular understanding of the religious experience, at least as it is mediates through biological factors. The pineal gland has thus been referred to as a kind of biological clock, one which acts as a kind of coupling system perhaps maintaining phase
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relations within a multi-oscillator system; a phase coordinator for multiple biorhythms. The pineal is a "cosmic eye"; it is aware of celestial rhythms not observed by the normal eye, like seasonal and lunar changes rather than daily ones. It helps manipulate the body's chemistry in harmony with seasonal changes. Serotonin can be seen as the "intensity knob" of the brain. As the level of serotonin increases, so does the level of activation of the cortex. Equinoxes and solstices are symbols of the Death/Rebirth archetypes from individual to cultural levels. The concept of world changes in outlook and sociology from Age to Age is derived from the phenomenon of the precession of the equinoxes. The volition of consciousness from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius may be even a more subtle manipulation of this pineal gland, the so-called "third eye." A good meditation for the Vernal Equinox was expressed by Dane Rudhyar when he stated: "Every living whole is a chord of relationships. The resonance of this chord is what we call 'consciousness'." Lunar Phases: New Moon-perform no magick during the dark of the moon. First Quarter concerns impregnation, inception of projects and growth, or gestation. The Full Moon contains the greatest magickal power, especially in the fall with harvest moon. Waning Quarter Phase is less powerful and is for internalization. Circadian Rhythms: Produced through the interaction of geomagnetic forces with the individual. This hourly fine-tuning is reckoned from sunrise. There is correspondence of the astral tides with the elements which repeats its sequence approximately every two hours: Spirit, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth; Spirit, Air, etc.

For optimal results, the aspirant combines "know-how", and "know-when."

Visit the Iona Miller Home Page

REFERENCES
1. Crookall, R., "Astral Traveling," Int J. Parapsychology, 8, NO. 3 (1966), 474 2. Davis, Pl, et al., "The Effects of Alcohol upon the Electroencephalogram (Brain Waves)." Quarterly Journal for the Study of Alcohol, Vol. 1, 1941, 626-637 3. Fox, O., Astral Projection (New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1961) 4. Garnett, A., A Realistic Philosophy of Religion. New York: Harper, 1942.
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5. Gowan, J., Development of the Psychedelic Individual, Northridge, California. 6. Eliade, M., Yoga, Immortality and Freedom, Bollingen Series LVI, Princeton University Press, 1969. 7. Engel, G. et al., "Delirium III. EEG Changes Associated with Acute Alcoholic Intoxication." Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, Vol. 53, 1945, 44-50. 8. Hart, II., "A Chasm Needs to be Bridged," J. Am. Soc. Psych. Res., 60, NO. 4 (1966), 387. 9. Heron, W., "The Pathology of Boredom." Scientific American, Vol. 196, 1957, 52-56. 10. James, W., The Varieties of Religious Experience, New York: Longmans, Green, 1902. 11. Krippner, S., et al., "Implications of Experimentally Induced Telepathic Dreams." Journal for the Study of Consciousness, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1971. 12. Lester, B., et al., "Effects of Some Drugs on Electroencephalographic Fast Activity anbd Dream Time." Psychophysiology, Vol. 2, 1966, 224-236. 13. Monroe, R., Journeys Out of the Body, New York: Anchor Books, 1973. 14. Romano, J., et al., "Delirium: Electroencephalographic Data." Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, Vol. 51, 1944, 356-377. 15. Waite, A., The Holy Kabbalah, New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1960,k p. 245. 16. YRAM, Practical Astral Projection, New York: Samuel Weiser

FOOTNOTES
1. Robert Hand, Horoscope Symbols; Para Research, Mass., 1981, p. 329. 2. James Hillman, "Silver and the White Earth", Spring 1981, (Spring Pub., Dallas). pp. 21-66. 3. Ibid.

FOR MORE INFORMAT ION For general inform ation on additional books, m anuscripts, lecture tours, and related m aterials and ev ents by Richard Alan Miller, please write to:
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In addition, y ou can v isit Richard Alan Miller's hom e page for a listing of his writings, also containing links to related subjects, and direction in the key words Metaphy sics, Occult, Magick, Parapsy chology , Alternativ e Agriculture, Herb and Spice Farm ing, Foraging and Wildcrafting, and related Cottage Industries. Richard Alan Miller is av ailable for lectures and as an Outside Consultant. No part of this material, including but not limited to, manuscripts, books, library data, and/or layout of
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