Magickal Musings

 

Life, the Universe and Everything

In order to fully understand and engage with any system of religion or magick, it is necessary to have an understanding, in your own mind, of how reality functions, for if you do not, then how can you hope to manipulate it? You might well drive a car without any knowledge of its inner workings but if it does stop functioning you really need some knowledge in order to get it to work again. So our starting point will be a discussion on how the Universe works, how it might have come into existence and where the Gods and other non physical entities fit into the scheme of things.

Here we find our first stumbling block, and we having even started yet! However, this stumbling block easily crumbles when faced with the flexible mind, which I'm sure you must possess. I have studied many different belief systems and, along with discoveries from quantum physics (don't panic!), have been able to come to the very liberating conclusion that:

Nobody knows the truth about the nature of reality. Nobody ever has and nobody ever will. (probably). 

There I said it. Read it again and use it as the foundation stone for your entire belief system. If everyone excepted this the world would be a much more peaceful place as religious intolerance would no longer exist.

What we have, in fact, are different 'reality tunnels' through which we all view different aspects of reality. A reality tunnel is a narrow view which obscures everything. They do not stop you from seeing the truth but instead, they create your own personal truth. There is one huge reality tunnel called consensus reality, through which the vast majority of the population view the world, and which determines the colour of trees, the nature of gravity and the shape of bananas. Then there are cultural tunnels, political tunnels and of course,religious tunnels. The latter are the ones that make people believe that their religion is the only valid one. I wonder how many reality tunnels you occupy?

From quantum physics, which is the study of the mechanics of reality at the smallest level, i.e. sub-atomic, we have some very intriguing discoveries and theories which can go some way towards explaining how magick and other 'supernatural' workings can be achieved. It can also aid us on our journey towards personal truth.

On a very basic level, it tells us the following:

1. Atoms are made of a nucleus containing, among other sub-atomic particles, positively charged protons and neutrally charged neutrons. This nucleus is orbited by a number of negatively charged electrons. The number of electrons is the same as the number of protons in order to maintain balance and the exact number determines the common element of the atom. For example, Hydrogen has one electron while Oxygen has eight.
   
   The distance between the nucleus and the outer orbit of the electrons determines the size of the atom in the same way the outer orbit of Pluto might determine the size of our solar system. Now here's the thing. The space between the nucleus and the electron orbit is relatively large. No, surprisingly large! To use an analogy – if the nucleus were the size of a cherry and the cherry were to be placed in the centre of the dome of St. Paul's cathedral in London, then the orbit of the electrons would be outside of the dome. This means that most of an atom is empty space. In fact they are roughly 99.9999999999999% empty space!Since everything in the Universe is made of atoms then it follows that everything in the Universe is composed of empty space so might be some form of illusion.
   
   So why do things seem solid and have a tangible physical existence? Think about it!
   
   
2. The fundamental particles which make up atoms, mainly electrons, protons and neutrons, are called quanta and it has been shown that if two quanta come together then are separated, they act as if they are still connected, no matter how far apart they are. Whatever happens to one is instantly known by the other. This is called Entanglement and may well explain many of the mysteries of life (and death!).
   
   
3. Reality is even more mysterious, because of being composed of quanta, which it turns out, behave in a very thought provoking way. It has been shown in experiments such as the Double-Slit experiment, that quanta are not always particles with a definite position in time and space, but are sometimes just waves of energy with a probability that they might manifest as a particle somewhere, sometime.

The experiment shows that when observed or measured, they are particles and when not, they are waves, like the ripples on a pond after a stone has been thrown in.
To simplify this, when you look at them they have a tangible existence and when you don't they,well....don't. The upshot of this is that on some level, reality only exists because it is being interacted with by consciousness, meaning that we create our own reality. Sounding like magick yet?

This means that if you are in a room on your own and you close your eyes then the room around you will dissolve into waves of energy with the potential to be the room again. Try it. It works! ;-)

This is an over-simplification but you get the idea.

OK, so with that in mind and with your brain suitably inflamed with possibilities, let us now have a look at how it all started. The following theories suit my own reality tunnel and help to explain, to me, how things might work. I am not telling you these theories in an attempt to convince you that they are true but to stimulate your own creativity and thought processes.

 

It is important to come up with some ideas of your own that you feel comfortable with but remember to modify it whenever ideas come along to challenge it. Don't get stuck in the tunnel! Remember, there is no knowable Cosmic truth, only the truth that is personal to you and everyone has a truth which is just as valid as yours. :-)

The Pseudo Scientific Quantum Explanation

Before this Universe began, there was of course, nothing - the void as it has been called. This is why even the best past-life regressors have been unable to remember any existence prior to this point. It just wasn't there. That doesn't mean that it didn't exist in some other Universe but since our focus is on this Universe, we'll assume it isn't important right now.

Now, out of this void there appeared a quantum awareness which was made of nothing but itself. We may call this The Source. This awareness,having become bored with just standing around doing nothing, decided to move an infinitely small distance to the left.

Since, of course, there was nothing else available in the void to compare this experience with, the awareness became very excited and decided to move about some more. It moved right. It moved left. It moved up. It moved down. Then finally it moved back to where it started, because it felt safer there.

Having gained some experience in its new environment not to mention a modicum of confidence, it then decided to manifest itself as two similar but opposite quanta. One was a negatively charged primary electron and the other a positively charged primary positron. This allowed itself a sense of perspective, which is always useful. These two sub-atomic particles along with the Source formed something called an exotic atom which is very unstable and can be called Positronium.

The next action of the particles was quite interesting as they decided to collide with each other. This contact caused both particles to be annihilated in a really big bang, that resulted in two things happening. Firstly, there appeared, at the point of their contact a black hole of apparent dark matter which, for the sake of argument,we will call the Zero Point Field. Secondly the annihilation caused a wave of creative photonic energy to radiate outwards in all directions. The fabled Big Bang.

Eventually, the photonic field started to condense into different and more clearly defined energy types and thus were formed the four elemental energy types of Earth (the strong nuclear force), Air (the weak nuclear force), Fire (the electromagnetic force) and water (the gravitational force).

These four types of energy mingled and hugged and got to know each other a bit and became the quantum waveform containing the possibility of the physical Universe.

The Source awareness then moved about, at a rate of speed that can only be described as 'too fast to contemplate' within the waveform and the action of this consciousness collapsed the wave into the particle Universe.

 

Very soon after this 'creation', the Source removed itself and the Universe dissolved back into a waveform and deposited its experiences into the Zero Point Field. The energies faded away into nothingness and the whole things started again. This goes on all the time – a cycle of creation and destruction happening very quickly, with each creation slightly different from the last.

Now the same story with a more Pagan slant

In the beginning there was nothing, so much nothing, in fact, that it was hard to know where nothing started and nothing ended. Maybe it didn't. Then out of the nothing there came something – a singular consciousness with a singular thought:

'Who am I?'

This Source or The All (Mother), decided to find out and so moved in order to gain some idea of where it was. The act of movement caused the existence of two distinct aspects of consciousness – The Goddess(Maiden), who represents stillness, and the God, who represents movement. In time, the God and Goddess came together in love and respect and mated, and the Goddess gave birth to the God of Light and the Dark Goddess of the darkness (Crone).

The God of light (Sun God) was tasked with creating the elemental spirits of Earth (Gnomes), Air (Sylphs), Fire (Salamanders) and Water(Undines).

These four spirits then created the Astral world of infinite possibility.

Once the Astral world was complete, the Source descended into every part of it and manifested it into physical form. Thus the Universe was created.

The Source then withdrew from the Universe and took its new experience back to the dark Goddess who holds access to the Akashic Records – the template of creation. The Universe disappears and the cycle happens again in order that the Source can gain more experiences and evolve.

And finally I can introduce to you the Qabalistic Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is a glyph showing the creation of reality and is extremely useful for gathering and categorizing everything. Its study will show you how things are connected and will give you a great deal of insight into Tarot and magick through the use of study, meditation and pathworking. Here are the correspondences that are relevant here:

Kether = The Source, The All, Mother
Chokmah = The God, the positron
Binah = The Goddess, Maiden, the electron
Tiphareth = The God of Light, Sun God, Photonic Field, Baphomet
Daath = The Dark Goddess, Crone, Zero Point Field, Akashic Records
Geburah = Salamanders, Fire, Energy, Electromagnetic Force, Satan
Chesed = Undines, Water, Time, Gravitational Force, Leviathan
Hod = Sylphs, Air, Space, Weak Nuclear Force, Lucifer
Netzach = Gnomes, Earth, Matter, Strong Nuclear Force, Belial
Yesod = Astral world, Wave probability matrix, Quantum waveform
Malkuth = Physical reality, Particle Universe

We can, if we find ourselves inclined to do so, explain how this cycle fits into the yearly sabbats, which all take place below the Abyss:-

At Yule, the God and Goddess mate and give birth to the Sun God and Dark Goddess.

At Imbolc, the Source descends through the Akashic Records, collecting the template for creation, and delivers it to the Sun God, with whom she mates. 

At Ostara, the mating results in four children - the elemental spirits of Fire, Water, Air and Earth.

At Beltane, the elemental spirits create the astral world using the template from the Akashic Records.

At Litha, the Source joins with the Astral and gives it physicality, thus transforming it into the physical Universe.

At Lughnasadh, the first harvest occurs which sees the Source withdraw from the physical Universe, taking with it, the changes that are to be made to the template next time around. This causes reality to collapse and once again become the Astral.

At Mabon, the second harvest occurs as the Source collapses the astral world by withdrawing and gathers in the elemental spirits.

Finally, at Samhain, the Source travels to the Akashic Records where it deposits the new information into the template ready for the next cycle. This joining with the Akashic Records (Collective Unconscious, Cosmic Cloud, Zero Point Field), is why the veil is thin at this time.

These are different but related views on how reality works and demonstrate the idea of levels, like the layers of an onion. Using the quantum theory as a base one can add other levels on top to create a multi-layered and faceted system. Bear in mind that the form of the Tree which is shown is merely a convenient two-dimensional version to aid understanding. In reality everything radiates outward in a sphere from the central Source, creating reality on the surface of said sphere. It is all energy on different levels vibrating at different frequencies.

~ Shenarah