Genius Loci

Most of us are becoming aware of the fact that we live in a realm which is only partially evident to our senses. We are realizing the glorious paradox that even though the substance of matter has proven to be little more than nothing, our reality is interwoven with many more than the three or four dimensions we are usually aware of. Those of you who are familiar with the Mayan Calendar will know that our planet travels through a complex yet distinct perfusion of ambient energies in its dance across spacetime. This cyclic phase-shift holds a pattern of manifestation that thousands have begun to discover for themselves, either through time maps like the Haab, or through a direct experience of self-attunement. As far as we know, our course through this field of cosmic radiation is predetermined, but it is up to us to decide how to respond to it. It also teaches us about Genius Loci - the Power of Place.

Every part of the Universe has its own frequency and corresponding thought field which is in constant flux, and the fluctuations range from fractions of nanoseconds to aeons. In other words, every single thing has its own energy signature which is constantly evolving. Planet Earth (Gaia) has her own fluctuating energy system, the study of which is known as geomancy. Many of humanity's sacred sites, like Stonehenge and Glastonbury Tor, lie on the points or lines of this geoidal network. In fact, most of the sacred sites belonging to the temples and cathedrals of the various world religions were selected for their auspicious geomantic signatures. Many of these sites have disproportionate concentrations of negative ions, known for their healing properties, as well as peculiar absences of background radiation.

Two of the most important parameters in the Harvard Psychedelic Drug Research Project were 'Set' and 'Setting'. Dr. Timothy Leary and Dr. Richard Alpert (a.k.a. Baba Ram Das) emphasised these variables, which stood for mindset and place, respectively, as the crucial determinants of the quality of a psychedelic experience. Consciousness is a necessarily psychedelic experience. Drugs such as LSD and Mescaline merely serve as accellerators for certain natural psychocerebral processes like neural disinhibition and cerebral convection, leading to the spiritual euphoria of what has been called 'religious experience' or its dark antitheseis, the cataclysmic terror of a bad trip. Whichever part of the spectrum the psychonaut finds themselves is a result of the interplay between Set and Setting: Consciousness and Space. We are transponsive with space. In other words, where we are affects who we are, and who we are in turn affects where we are. Chemically enhanced psychedelic experience serves to open what Aldous Huxley called the doors of perception in a shortcut to what can also be achieved through the more disciplined practice of meditation. I prefer to refer to these doors as an aperture that lets in as much light as we choose or as much as we can bear. The hippie arguing with a potplant (you know who you are) therefore might not be such a rediculous concept if we accept that consciousness is inherent within every aspect of existence, from the quantum particle to the universe at large; and that our experience depends on how much information we are willing or able to share with our environment.

Zero-Point physicists have pointed out that there is a vast quantity of energy stored in every cubic inch of space, and the same is true of information. Phrases like "getting a feel for the place" or "picking up good vibes" are linguistic evidence of our experience of the mind/space (mindscape) interplay. Geomancy and Feng Shui are established disciplines for utilizing and harmonizing it. The only thing we have to pay for it is attention.