shifting soul states

[salvaged from Key23]

A question that keeps coming up in my magical practice is how we represent different states on an energetic level. Not just basic physical, mental, and emotional states, but all the subtleties in between that make up the vast range of human experience. What are these states, how can we access them, and what are they good for?

The ancient Chinese system of the I Ching maps out a host of states through the binary interplay of heaven (yang) and earth (yin), from which arise the rest of the hexagrams. But these states are not static positions, they represent process, the movements of one state changing into the next. Likewise I imagine that our internal states are not static but are in a continual flux, feeding back on each other and adapting to wherever our attention lies. And also like the I Ching, though these states can be expressed through a smaller set of basic states (yin/ yang, the four elements, the eight gua) they are only the more recognizable positions in the grand transition of states within us and the world. And yet if we are going to map them out in any usable way breaking them down to a few simple positions will make it easier, since these can be located in the subtle energy centers of the body. Functioning somewhere in the range between black holes and point attractors these “rings of power” assert some sort of pull on the greater flow that we can notice and then exercise into use.

Many cultures and mystical traditions have attempted to map out these layers of being that somehow lay between our physical forms and the godhead within each of us, like a shield of veils or onion peels. And all have come up with their own number of primary states, locations in the body, and methods of use; none of which are wrong, but like all maps were drawn up from the limited information of any subjective experience and subject to revision as other maps come into comparison. The six latifah of the Sufi, the seven chakras of Hindi yoga, the eight trigrams of the I Ching, the ten sephiroth of qabalah, Leary and R. A. Wilson’s eight circuits or dimensions of consciousness. All these systems represent previous attempts at creating a formalized version of this map, but none of them accurately express the territory and can only offer signposts for us to follow in our own explorations of our internal states.

A few years ago I decided to start paying more attention to my internal states from the physiological level up, in order to reach some sort of metaprogrammatic control over myself and my worlds. Assuming of course that handy magical axiom that our worlds do indeed become what we choose to pay attention to. One of the first things I noticed is that everything changes us, the food we eat, the conversations we have, the cultures we live in, even the weather and the movements of the stars. We are so inextricably tied to our environments that it is hard to tell just where we end and the rest of the world begins, much less where each internal state stands in relation to the rest in their constant shifting. To this end I started using yoga and the magical idea of gnosis to create controlled situations where I could be open to awareness of the states unhampered by external influences that would only tangle the processes further. Of course gnosis, like eating or talking, changes our internal states, is in fact intended to do so, altering our perceptions of reality until we can look past it to its more subtle workings. Yoga, entheogens, meditation, sleep and sensory deprivation, sex and ecstatic dancing, there are many techniques towards this end. But while granting us more control for exploration also distance us from learning to utilize the states of the soul on an everyday level. I have found myself in some extreme and powerful places while under the influence of psychotropics, but is it possible to put myself back in those states in full consciousness? I would argue yes, it is in fact precisely what I am attempting to learn to do in one way or another. We’re talking ultimate god-mode here people, the psybernetics of the soul. Now if someone could find the perfect ratio between power and responsibility…

After a few particularly enlightening peak experiences which utterly pushed the boundaries of what I thought was possible I decided to start working with my subtle energy centers while in the state in which the world is perceived as vibrations or wavefronts of energy. I had already done much work in learning to recognize where my chakras are located, and from there it was a matter of determining their vibratory frequencies. Of course like the various maps of the layers themselves several conflicting ideas exist as to just where they each fluctuate, as in the petal arrangements of the chakras or Gurdjieff’s vibration numbers. Being a musician, I decided to use tonal harmonics to vibrate the centers manually, experimenting with mapping each one to a note in the diatonic scale starting the physical center on low C. After several months I had succeeded in being able to move my consciousness from one state to the next by intoning its note, even subsonically, while in deep meditation (and even noticed later that I am now able to sing any given note by placing my awareness on the appropriate energy center and humming). An interesting thing in using vibrations to access the layers is that it points to them being harmonics of each other, or deeper level interpretations of the same vibratory signals. Just as in music where playing one note also resounds with overtones, so to do the lower frequency states resonate with hints of the higher states, like fractals or holograms. The physical layer contains the frequencies of the emotions, identities, sociality, all the way up to the godhead, becoming much subtler unless vibrated directly, but still allowing us to recognize the sublimity of existence while in a baser state.

The other thing peculiar to using a diatonic scale is that its octave form suggests eight distinct layers (or seven layers and the higher octave of the first layer) as if the notes of RAW’s 8-dimension model were hung on the I Ching gua. I’ve always considered eight a sensible number, so that’s what I’m basing my recent maps off of. It’s in no way arbitrary, but it fits my experiences. Or perhaps they fit it, I am trying to shape my reality after all. Though at this point I am much more interested in trying to learn what we can do and how to reliably control it before putting any untrained skills to the test. So for those of you with more time on your hands (or who know how to stop it), here are some ideas for potential uses of each soul-state.

1- physiological – regulating and fulfilling bio-survival needs, physical coordination, general health
2- emotive - regulate and fulfill emotional responses (impulses), balance movements (center of gravity), awareness of reactions to external stimuli (tensions, and their release).
3- conceptual – ease of interpreting (boundaries defined), determine drive to goal states (direction/ intention), relational identity and map making
4- social – balance body community (host of selves), greater external connectivity and compassion, networking and true love
5- resonant – awareness of neurosomatic feedback / vibrational waves, heightened input/ output cycles and communication, breathing and subtle physiological control
6- psychic – awareness and manipulation of energy (electricity, auras, spirits), subtle receptivity, heightened creativity/ visualization, metaprograming, telepathy, telekinesis, and other forms of “mind control”
7- matric – morphogenetic cellular/ DNA control (healing, prevent aging), access akashic records (learning any skill, idea, etc), archetypal role playing/ storytelling
8- quantum – dissolution of self (being atoms of universe), connection to all as one, fractal consciousness, samadhi

Of course, the names and numbers are all flexible, and the uses barely suggestive of all that we are capable of. Perhaps you know more.