Electricity and the Subtle Planes
Mar. 13th, 2021 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wbjOver at John Michael Greer's last Magic Monday, there was a rather interesting discussion inspired by someone asking if the copious electricity use in modern cities might be causing etheric effects. Since I have a high degree of natural sensitivity, and have been looking at this myself, I figure it's worth my time to describe the effects I see it having on the planes.
First, I should explain the idea of the planes for those who don't know it. The occultist divides reality into a number of different "levels", or planes, which coexist in each area. The lowest is the physical, the world of matter and energy; the next is the etheric, the world of the life energies; then there is the astral, the plane of concrete consciousness, emotion, and imagination; then there is the mental, Plato's world of forms and the level of abstract consciousness; then there is the spiritual, felt by most of us solely as the essence of awareness in the core of our beings; however there are practices to awaken us on the spiritual plane, and some people are naturally able to perceive it on occasion. As I'm in the latter category and have done practices to increase my sensitivity, I've had several experiences on this plane.
Two very important notes are in order before I begin. The first is that these are my own experiences with electricity, and input from others would be greatly appreciated, especially where your experiences are different. The second note is that what follows is an attempt to discuss the effects of electricity itself, and not any particular use of it. TV, for example, generates a lot of other effects on the human bodies from the astral on, but these are a subject for another time.
Physical: In the world of matter and energy, electricity is moving electrons. These electrons generate small magnetic fields, which might alter neurological function with unpleasant results. The main effect electricity has on this plane however is found in the massive changes to daily life: electricity enables lots of things to be done cheaper and easier (ex: refrigeration, elevators), and allows us to do some things which would otherwise be impossible (ex: TV).
Etheric: The etheric plane is heavily affected by electricity. Electricity seems to function as a cutting, shredding force on the etheric. Constant exposure to this is about as healthy for the etheric body as it would be for the physical, but there are at least two other important consequences of this: first, anything on the etheric is shredded. Our etheric bodies are strengthened by a link to our physical, and so can withstand things etheric entities cannot, leaving the etheric plane depopulated in electrified areas. The second consequence is that the etheric plane is far dirtier in areas with electricity: all the stuff ripped from our etheric bodies and those of everything else in the area remains like a miasma polluting the etheric.
A second effect electricity has is due to the fact electricity has a strong presence on the etheric plane in and of itself. Strong enough in fact that the human body registers it, and this wreaks havoc on the circadian rhythm, above and beyond the results caused by the ubiquity of electric lights in urban areas. Electricity seems to convince the etheric body that the sun is still up, making sleep far harder.
Astral: Electricity seems to have a profound dispersing effect on the astral. Creating patterns on the astral, is far harder in areas with electricity (an experiment I've done is turning my lights on or off for ritual work: they make the visualizations essential to ritual practice far harder, and when there's a blackout, the imagery, which I usually struggle with at least a little, becomes crystal clear); this effect is strong enough as well to disperse plenty of spirits, which contributes to the fact that urbanites tend to find atheism more accurate than religion: most of the entities which human beings usually interact with are not around in areas with lots of electricity. Whether they find it too unpleasant, are unable to manifest, or can't survive these conditions at all likely depends on the entity in question.
Mental: The mental plane is the world of forms and abstract consciousnesses. Any set of laws which describe reality are found here: mathematics, laws of physics, natural law, and any other set of abstract principles. This is the level of meaning, and it too is disturbed by copious amounts of electricity. The effects are similar to those on the lower planes: ideas are dispersed, scattered, and harder to grasp in areas with electricity. What this means is that understanding things, seeing the meanings and patterns underlying it, becomes harder in electrified areas, and when accomplished it becomes harder to hold onto it.
Spiritual: Here we run into the problem of the fact that the spiritual plane is very hard to describe. As it lies above the astral and mental, the levels languages work on, it transcends the categories language uses. However, it's worth trying since electricity has effects on the spiritual, or at least our ability to sense it. The first is that I find it much harder to sense the spiritual with electricity, and far easier to sense it when there is no electricity. The second is the quality of the spiritual plane when it is sensed tends to be quite different in areas with electricity. The effect is best described as being darker, duller, and colder, with the caveat that those words, indeed any words, are inadequate to describe the spiritual plane. To what extent this is merely changes to the human senses on this plane and to what extent this is a true effect is a question I can't even begin to answer.
First, I should explain the idea of the planes for those who don't know it. The occultist divides reality into a number of different "levels", or planes, which coexist in each area. The lowest is the physical, the world of matter and energy; the next is the etheric, the world of the life energies; then there is the astral, the plane of concrete consciousness, emotion, and imagination; then there is the mental, Plato's world of forms and the level of abstract consciousness; then there is the spiritual, felt by most of us solely as the essence of awareness in the core of our beings; however there are practices to awaken us on the spiritual plane, and some people are naturally able to perceive it on occasion. As I'm in the latter category and have done practices to increase my sensitivity, I've had several experiences on this plane.
Two very important notes are in order before I begin. The first is that these are my own experiences with electricity, and input from others would be greatly appreciated, especially where your experiences are different. The second note is that what follows is an attempt to discuss the effects of electricity itself, and not any particular use of it. TV, for example, generates a lot of other effects on the human bodies from the astral on, but these are a subject for another time.
Physical: In the world of matter and energy, electricity is moving electrons. These electrons generate small magnetic fields, which might alter neurological function with unpleasant results. The main effect electricity has on this plane however is found in the massive changes to daily life: electricity enables lots of things to be done cheaper and easier (ex: refrigeration, elevators), and allows us to do some things which would otherwise be impossible (ex: TV).
Etheric: The etheric plane is heavily affected by electricity. Electricity seems to function as a cutting, shredding force on the etheric. Constant exposure to this is about as healthy for the etheric body as it would be for the physical, but there are at least two other important consequences of this: first, anything on the etheric is shredded. Our etheric bodies are strengthened by a link to our physical, and so can withstand things etheric entities cannot, leaving the etheric plane depopulated in electrified areas. The second consequence is that the etheric plane is far dirtier in areas with electricity: all the stuff ripped from our etheric bodies and those of everything else in the area remains like a miasma polluting the etheric.
A second effect electricity has is due to the fact electricity has a strong presence on the etheric plane in and of itself. Strong enough in fact that the human body registers it, and this wreaks havoc on the circadian rhythm, above and beyond the results caused by the ubiquity of electric lights in urban areas. Electricity seems to convince the etheric body that the sun is still up, making sleep far harder.
Astral: Electricity seems to have a profound dispersing effect on the astral. Creating patterns on the astral, is far harder in areas with electricity (an experiment I've done is turning my lights on or off for ritual work: they make the visualizations essential to ritual practice far harder, and when there's a blackout, the imagery, which I usually struggle with at least a little, becomes crystal clear); this effect is strong enough as well to disperse plenty of spirits, which contributes to the fact that urbanites tend to find atheism more accurate than religion: most of the entities which human beings usually interact with are not around in areas with lots of electricity. Whether they find it too unpleasant, are unable to manifest, or can't survive these conditions at all likely depends on the entity in question.
Mental: The mental plane is the world of forms and abstract consciousnesses. Any set of laws which describe reality are found here: mathematics, laws of physics, natural law, and any other set of abstract principles. This is the level of meaning, and it too is disturbed by copious amounts of electricity. The effects are similar to those on the lower planes: ideas are dispersed, scattered, and harder to grasp in areas with electricity. What this means is that understanding things, seeing the meanings and patterns underlying it, becomes harder in electrified areas, and when accomplished it becomes harder to hold onto it.
Spiritual: Here we run into the problem of the fact that the spiritual plane is very hard to describe. As it lies above the astral and mental, the levels languages work on, it transcends the categories language uses. However, it's worth trying since electricity has effects on the spiritual, or at least our ability to sense it. The first is that I find it much harder to sense the spiritual with electricity, and far easier to sense it when there is no electricity. The second is the quality of the spiritual plane when it is sensed tends to be quite different in areas with electricity. The effect is best described as being darker, duller, and colder, with the caveat that those words, indeed any words, are inadequate to describe the spiritual plane. To what extent this is merely changes to the human senses on this plane and to what extent this is a true effect is a question I can't even begin to answer.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-15 04:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-15 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-15 05:05 pm (UTC)Interesting though, that JMG lives in a city, and I'd hazard a guess that he can tune into the spiritual at will. Electricity is probably something that can be transcended.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-15 05:31 pm (UTC)As for JMG, I'd be amazed if he couldn't tune into the spiritual plane at will; I'm fast getting there, and while electricity makes it harder, it does not make it impossible. I think that doing spiritual practices in a modern city is a lot like running with a weighted vest: it's a lot harder, it takes a lot more training to do well, and you tend to be a lot slower while doing it, but take the vest off and you can outrun anyone.
Fascinating
Date: 2021-03-15 06:49 pm (UTC)Another thought that popped into my head is how difficult it is to see stars in the city versus the country. In rural areas, one can see the band of the Milky Way. In my area of suburban Illinois, you can barely see Venus when she is out because of smog. Electricity is a form of subtle plane pollution much like smog on the meat plane is what I am thinking.
Re: Fascinating
Date: 2021-03-15 09:30 pm (UTC)Yes, the difference between ebooks and a physical book is one of the things which makes me think there's effects on the mental plane. I will read ebooks, but anything I need to think about (ex: any of my occult books) I vastly prefer to have a paper copy. I also find the same thing with writing: anything I need to think about, I find it's better if I handwrite rather than type, despite the pains associated with editing offline.
As for the night sky, I think that there's a lot lost because we can't see the sky properly. Part of it is smog, part of it is electric lighting, but I've found that looking at the planets has a major spiritual component. Of course, I've done more than most to attune myself to them, but even so, I think they are major presences and literally losing sight of them is a major loss.