Two Ways of Looking at the World

It occurred to me that there are essentially two fundamental ways of looking at the world around us. There is the perspective that everything is connected and there is the perspective that everything is separate and distinct. It's my feeling that this is the primary issue that science and occultism differ on that gives rise to so many other disagreements.

In all schools of occultism everything is predicated on a fundamental connection between all pieces of the universe. How can the stars and planets influence earthly events or gemstones and plants add their virtues to a spell? Everything is connected by virtue of being a part of the same creation. This same connection is what allows the magician to draw power from the Akasha or command a spirit in the name of a deity. This connection is necessary to everything considered to be magical. The whys tend to be more important than the hows in this way of thinking.

The scientific method is all about separating and isolating things to observe how they work on their own and then combining these observations to predict how things will work together. It focuses on the obvious causality of objects bumping into each other and an action causing an equal and opposite reaction. This way of gaining knowledge assumes no inherent connection between all existence in the way that the occult sciences do and focuses entirely on a "strings and pulleys" modality. It excels at finding the hows but does little to answer the whys.

So which is superior? Neither in my opinion. Each has it's positives and negatives. The connected view asserts a deep connection between all things but very rarely goes so far as to flesh out the specific rules of these connections or interactions. A "good enough" attitude carries far and as long as something works there's not a lot of reason to question or explain it. The separate view is pretty good at discerning the physical virtues of a given thing on its own but neglects that in Nature everything is constantly interacting with everything else. Nothing exists in a perfect vacuum. Because of this the scientific understanding is not necessarily true to life and the very nature of the scientific method excludes it from being able to observe things on a more holistic level, without isolation.

This being the case, I can see potential value in a synthesis of these two approaches. Applying occult philosophy to scientific exploration and applying the scientific method to metaphysical operations would only serve to broaden our horizons and expand our understanding. Isn't that what it's all really about anyway? I am not naive enough to expect this idea to be taken seriously by mainstream academia though. I offer it as inspiration to fellow occultists and magicians who are looking for a way to refine and develop their art. Take a cue from science and explore and record. Try something new and document it. Actually, I find it easy to take occult inspiration from scientific knowledge of a given process or substance.

Those of a scientific mind may still be able to appreciate the fact that everything is made of the same stuff (matter and energy) and did ultimately come from the same place (the beginning of the universe). It's truly profound regardless of one's paradigm and I think it captures the feeling of awe that drives both scientists and occultists.

Broadening Our Horizons

Lately I've been looking into areas of mysticism that I normally wouldn't consider digging into. An example is sacred geometry. I recently picked up a book about sacred geometry and numerology and I've been slowly working through it. I was inspired to look into the subject because it's not something I've been exposed to a lot. In occultism there are a lot of geometric figures and sacred numbers but it isn't always obvious why those are important. I felt that I owed it to myself to gain a deeper understanding of why those things are fundamental to certain practices.

This brings me to something I feel is important in all areas of life whether you're interested in mysticism or not. We should always be broadening our horizons and learning new things. We should always be striving to experience and understand things. Life is about learning and we should never stop learning. Sometimes this means getting outside of our comfort zone or forcing ourselves to tackle something that is difficult for us. In the end we will most likely benefit from the experience of learning a new skill or studying a new subject.

I've found that everything is connected and not just in a mystical sort of way. In academia, fields of study tend to blend into one another. In the sciences everything interweaves to paint a bigger picture of how physical reality behaves. If you study something long enough it's likely it will lead you in unexpected directions. This being true, it's only a matter of time before your studies or practices lead you to something you normally wouldn't bother with or even consider. This is part of gaining a deeper understanding and should be embraced.

Follow your intuition the next time you're shopping for books or looking for a new hobby. You might be surprised at what you're lead to.

Benevolent Space Brothers? Maybe not.

Some new tinkering with Drake's equation suggests that we could be alone in the universe.

Are We Alone In the Universe? New Analysis Says Maybe

Can you imagine how profound it would be if we were the only intelligent species in the entire universe? I don't really think we'd ever be able to determine that for certain until we were able to investigate every inch of the universe and I don't think that's likely anytime soon (if ever). Our galaxy alone presents a daunting challenge for anyone hoping to get in touch with other intelligent life. Isn't it still interesting to think about the implications of either outcome though?

I'm not sure if it would have a humbling effect to discover we were the only ones here or if it would push our hubris over the edge.

Dr. Rupert Sheldrake is a hero.

Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, a biologist and a well-known figure in the field of parapsychology, recently did an interview at Skeptiko.com.  The interview at first deals with the controversy surrounding Richard Wiseman's latest book and his attempts to misinform the public.  However, the truly interesting stuff is in the discussion that stems from talking about the controversy in which Dr. Sheldrake goes on to give a beautiful and poignant observation of a huge problem in modern science.  What is that problem?  Dogmatic materialism and how it has stifled progress.  Dr. Sheldrake says it so much better than I ever could so I'll just link you to the interview.

Dr. Rupert Sheldrake on the Persistence of Richard Wiseman’s Deception

You can read the transcript, you can listen to the interview, or you can even download the interview to listen to later.  Whichever way appeals to you, I highly recommend that you take a look at this if you love science as well as the paranormal.  It's like Dr. Sheldrake took everything I've had floating around in my head on the subject and laid it down neatly and plainly for all to see.  He is a hero for saying what few seem to be willing to say and he has my respect for that.  I only hope that by writing about this interview here that his views and work get the attention they deserve and we can all move on to finding real answers and truly exploring reality without the limits of a particular philosophical stance smothering us.

I think it's suiting that this will be my one hundredth blog post.  It's the fact that people from all over the world are reading what I write that has kept me going with this experiment for so long.  It's my love for all of the subject matter that I cover that inspired me to start this blog in the first place and I'm very happy that I've kept writing about it.  This blog is for everyone that wonders about the strange things out there and those that want to find answers for themselves instead of just buying a ready-made explanation.  Thanks to all of you that keep coming back to read my thoughts and opinions.

The Occult Origin of Modern Science

This may come as a surprise to some, but what we know as modern science began as studies into magic and the occult.  One might not recognize this if one were to look at the current view of magic and the occult in the mainstream.  To illustrate what I'm talking about I would like to call attention to the fact that natural magic (the study of astrology, alchemy, herbology, etc.) evolved to become the natural sciences.  Allow me to explain.

Astronomy as a science owes everything to the practice of astrology.  Astrology had us looking to the heavens to discover more about ourselves.  We tracked the movements of the stars and planets, some cultures with more precision than others, and we were able to predict what celestial body was going to do what next and perhaps what that meant for us.  When the telescope was invented astronomy really came into its own and the "superstitions" of astrology were divorced from the new science.

From the study of herbs and their magical and medicinal effects we arrived at pharmacology.  Mankind has known since the dawn of time that certain plants are capable of doing certain things.  Some are foods, some are medicines, and some are deadly poisons.  Through the study of correspondences and the spirit of the plant we determined what it was capable of, both magically and medicinally.  This knowledge of plant medicines led the way to modern pharmaceuticals.  Many powerful medicines are still extracted from plants.

Alchemy is many things to many people, but the quest for the power of transformation ultimately led to the birth of chemistry.  Over time, alchemy became less about transforming the self and more about transforming metals.  From this we began to experiment and observe more closely how substances interacted with one another.  New theories emerged and the symbolism of the reactions was forgotten.  Thus chemistry was born.

Something else that may come as a surprise to the modern reader is that Isaac Newton was a bit of an occultist.  That's right, the man behind universal gravity, calculus, and so much more was an occultist.  More specifically, Newton was an alchemist.  On top of his more accepted scientific pursuits, Newton had great interest in the Philosopher's Stone.  Newton also worked with antimony and it has been said that the star pattern formed by antimony alloys inspired his ideas of light and gravitation.

There is a lesson in all of this.  "Occult" simply means "hidden" and we should not run from what is hidden.  Some of the greatest things that mankind has discovered have come from the study of the hidden aspects of reality.  As such, some might do well not to hastily badmouth occult and magical pursuits.  If the natural sciences emerged from natural magic then what mysteries might await us in the study of ceremonial magics like theurgy and goety?  How about survival studies?  Extra-sensory perception and psychokinesis?  Astral projection and out-of-body experience?  Instead of shunning modern occult or paranormal pursuits, shouldn't we perhaps be looking to them as a means to gain even more knowledge of our reality?

Wikipedia on natural magic.
More on Isaac Newton's occult studies.