If I remember correctly, she studied atmospheric physics and worked for NASA. What was fascinating was that in her childhood, seeing the Human Energy Field was normal for her. That ability then faded as she aged, but it is my belief that subconsciously she chose her course of study to understand her childhood gift. What I also liked was that instead of using physics to explain the phenomenon, she chose esotericism, which back in the 80s was not really New Age yet. I gained a lot of insights from her work. She also introduced me to the world of Bioenergetics (Freud -> Reich -> Lowen), in which body structures based on emotional tensions throughout life, especially in childhood, form character structures which partially help us understand the Schizoid, Oral, Psychopathic, Masochist and Rigid (also known as Hysteric) personalities.
I think I may have heard of Persinger, but never studied any of his work.
Possibly. I invented my own meditation as a kid, and it worked - those transcendental experiences, I later forgot - only to recall them in my early 20s, but I'm sure they guided my path to physics and philosophy.
oh, I'd trace New Age back to Theosophy ;-) so is not that "new" lol
Really?! That far back? If you're talking about tracing then I can probably agree, as it was Theosophy that helped further spread Eastern Philosophies into the States. I always found them to be a creepy bunch. I read Isis Unveiled years ago, but found it a really difficult read. Mind you, this was before my shift, so I still was not ready for this kind of material.
IMO, it is the deliberate inclusion and distortion of Eastern philosophy that marks out the terrain of "new age", hence I'd start it with Theosophy. It's the pretense that it is "deep" when all I see is "deep fog". lol. As you say, is horrible to read, deliberately foggy, whereas original texts are much clearer. The last 40 years or so have seen many very good translations of, say, Tibetan Buddhist texts - mainly because it is the first time we have truly bilingual individuals.
As a counter-example contemporary with Blavatsky, Gurdjieff can also be impenetrable, but I find his crazy-wisdom more intelligible than Blavatsky's pseudo-serious works. His "4th way" bears some similarities with Dzogchen, which exists as a network of individuals without a formal "religious" structure.
I absolutely agree! Never really looked at it that way. Oh, and the deep fog was probably as a result of all the hashish the Madame smoked before writing! 🤣
The irony is that I was studying Ancient Egypt at the time, and so was fooled by the title Isis Unveiled. It seems that Eastern wisdom and philosophy has been exploited for decades upon decades, both by Theosophy and secret societies.
I tried to study Gurdjieff years ago, but I suppose I'm that kind of middle-way (for lack of a better term) type of person who does not like to go too far into any field. In other words, too much science and you lose me; likewise, too much philosophy or esotericism, and you lose me.
But it is said that the origins of the Enneagram (another Typology system I dipped into) goes back to Gurdjieff. The problem is that those who surrounded Gurdjieff (a Dynamic Assertive) were not Adaptive Assertives or Adaptive Supportives, so the Typology of 9 Personalities revolves more around different aspects of the other Life Energies. Plus, a group of psychiatrists, way back, went to an Enneagram presentation and hijacked the model when they realized that some of the personalities were based on certain psychological profiles. Anyway, getting too far off topic! 😎
I never got into any of this stuff until my late 20s. I was a street kid who cared little about study or religion. As I mentioned elsewhere, that all changed when I came across the Natural Life Energy model. I may have heard of things before that time, and even had some unusual experiences, but never to the point of creating a paradigm shift for me. These days I find it almost impossible to meditate, which often troubles me.
mmm... I hear that from many people - not just formal meditation, even clarity of thought seems to be affected. Depends where you live - how many EMF signals surround you, both phone and wifi. Hence I like caves ;-)
A "paradigm shift" first requires an important question. What was your question that the life energy model answered?
For me, I was always interested in the origins of things, hence even as a kid was fascinated by both physics and ancient human history.
This sounds like my situation. If I were to trace the decline of my meditations with the rise of WiFi in the area, it would match.
Why I think and behave the way I do, while others seem to be so different.
I'm also very fascinated with the origin of things. Forgive me for always inserting the Dynamic Assertive, but we are process-oriented, systems people. What has tortured me for years, with regards to the Life Energies, is the question: Who or what programmed these Energies into humanity? When and how? I suppose you can throw WHY in there as well? 🤓
See if you can find some EMF-quiet places eg caves or underground (without wifi!!)
Faraday cages can be built but take up a lot of space.
Thing is, any protection will also stop the natural frequencies. Can't recall who did the experiment, but he had a number of people live underground and, after some days, they all started feeling sick. He then switched on synthetic frequencies that matched the outside eg schumann frequencies, and they all felt better. So it isn't just that they are "natural" but that our whole EM-energetic system has evolved to work in harmony with such frequencies - even if artificial.
As per the other question, you're trying to blend together two separate theories into one - then asking "why?"
Going back to my own energetics of the nervous system, it strikes me that both DynAss and DynAgg are "expensive" organisms, in pure energy expenditure.
I suspect most others cannot live all the time with this intensity or uncertainty/ Indeed, uncertainty is far more expensive than beliefs and even control-freaks.
So... we are probably outliers - outsiders even.
Whether that is closer to the truth or further away (lol) is a moot point.
I remain unconvinced about the "life is for learning" trope - I mean, that still doesn't answer "why?"
One possibility is that the different levels, and their energies, interact with each other - not just in one direction - so that the increased power may need the physical in order to charge itself.
eg a battery does not actually store electricity inside it - it stores the potential for reactions that then create the electricity.
Yes, I am asking too many questions which should be divided. The thing is, I have practically zero data to help even approach those questions after 22 years. But you seem to have a good sense of what this theory entails.
Excellent observation, but these two Energies are also incredible generators of energy, so what they spend they quickly regenerate. Adaptive Aggressives also expend a lot of energy, but they consume it from others, along with what they naturally generate.
Dynamic Assertives... absolutely... outliers and outsiders.
Wow, I didn't know that they stopped the natural frequencies!
I have some places out in nature that I go to detox a little, but I don't do it often enough, considering how much the WiFi is increasing here.