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''or Evolving Magico-Spiritual Techniques of Consciousness-Making'' by Manie Eagar

''or Evolving Magico-Spiritual Techniques of Consciousness-Making'' by Manie Eagar

*'''Abstract''' -  With the expansion of consciousness comes new ways of seeing reality. The hypercontextual  pretexts,  contexts  and  subtexts  created  by  the  new technologies of virtual, immersive and cyber realities create boundaryless experiences that are analogous to the archaic techniques evolved through shamanic journeys designed to transcend all human boundaries.  

'''Abstract''' -  With the expansion of [[consciousness]] comes new ways of seeing [[reality]]. The hypercontextual  pretexts,  contexts  and  subtexts  created  by  the  new technologies of virtual, immersive and cyber realities create boundaryless [[experience]]s that are analogous to the archaic techniques evolved through [[Shamans|shamanic]] journeys designed to [[transcend]] all [[human]] boundaries.  

The magico-spiritual imagination, far from disappearing in our supposedly secular age, continues to feed the utopian dreams, apocalyptic visions, digital phantasms, and alien obsessions that populate today’s ‘technological unconscious’.  The  language  and  ideas  of  the  information  society  have slipped into and even transformed the myriad worlds of contemporary spirituality. What is emerging is a networked framework for grappling with some of the impulses that are currently tearing us apart: spirit and the machine, modernity and nihilism, technology and the human. ‘We find ourselves  trapped  on  a  cyborg  sandbank,  caught  between  the  old, smouldering campfire stories and the new networks of programming and control’ (Davis 1998: 131). We are ‘beached’ between the archaic sea of our magico-spiritual ancestors, freshly emerged from our proto-modern past, and spawned into the postmodern reality of fragmented selves, networked options, downloadable digitized consumerware and ‘technologies of ecstacy’.  

The magico-spiritual [[imagination]], far from disappearing in our supposedly secular age, continues to feed the utopian dreams, apocalyptic [[vision]]s, digital phantasms, and alien obsessions that populate today’s ‘technological unconscious’.  The  [[language]] and  [[ideas]] of  the  [[information]] [[society]] have slipped into and even transformed the myriad worlds of contemporary [[spirituality]]. What is emerging is a networked framework for grappling with some of the impulses that are currently tearing us apart: [[spirit]] and the [[machine]], modernity and nihilism, technology and the human. ‘We find ourselves  trapped  on  a  cyborg  sandbank,  caught  between  the  old, smouldering campfire stories and the new networks of programming and control’ (Davis 1998: 131). We are ‘beached’ between the archaic sea of our magico-spiritual ancestors, freshly emerged from our proto-modern past, and spawned into the [[Contemporary Philosophy|postmodern]] reality of fragmented selves, networked options, downloadable digitized consumerware and ‘technologies of [[ecstacy]]’.  

<blockquote>Reality is under construction (Ernesto Barros Cardoso)</blockquote>

<blockquote>Reality is under construction (Ernesto Barros Cardoso)</blockquote>

==Fire in the Brain==  

==Fire in the Brain==  

Imagination is the essence of being human - the highest means known to the human psyche of getting into contact with the ultimate reality.  

[[Imagination]] is the [[essence]] of [[being]] human - the highest means known to the human psyche of getting into contact with the [[ultimate]] reality.  

While  the  possible  objects  for  an  imaginative  archaeology  of information  are  vast  -  ranging  from  trickster  tales  to  mystical conceptions of the Logos to divination - the first steps are the garnering of one’s personal capacity to see, imagine, and visualize in a trance or dream state, or ultimately, a technognostic state (Davis: 1998), where everything becomes but a ‘dream within a dream’, that the boundaries of reality fade and the world of the shaman, of new reality-making becomes possible.  

While  the  possible  objects  for  an  imaginative  [[archaeology]] of information  are  vast  -  ranging  from  trickster  tales  to  [[mystical]] conceptions of the [[Logos]] to divination - the first steps are the garnering of one’s [[personal]] capacity to see, imagine, and visualize in a [[trance]] or [[dream]] state, or ultimately, a technognostic state (Davis: 1998), where everything becomes but a ‘dream within a dream’, that the boundaries of reality fade and the world of the shaman, of new reality-making becomes possible.  

The power to evoke images in one’s mind - to see and believe something that is very different from what one normally sees and believes, or what one thinks one shouldsee and believe - is a process of coming to new knowledge. When one’s view of how things happen is temporarily challenged and suspended, a doorway opens - a doorway where anything seems possible. The shaman is someone who lives permanently in a state of wonder, and tries to understand these things without  fear.  With  understanding  comes  knowledge,  and  with knowledge, power.   

The [[power]] to evoke images in one’s [[mind]] - to see and believe something that is very different from what one normally sees and believes, or what one thinks one should see and believe - is a [[process]] of coming to new [[knowledge]]. When one’s view of how things happen is temporarily challenged and suspended, a doorway opens - a doorway where anything seems possible. The shaman is someone who lives permanently in a state of [[wonder]], and tries to understand these [[things]] without  fear.  With  understanding  comes  knowledge,  and  with knowledge, power.   

For the shaman, seeing is an active power and imagination is a sense, which brings information on different dimensions of reality. Common reality is as much a function of one’s imagination as dreams are. The shamanic adventure works on all levels of reality.  

For the [[shaman]], [[vision|seeing]] is an active power and imagination is a [[sense]], which brings information on different dimensions of reality. Common reality is as much a function of one’s imagination as dreams are. The shamanic [[adventure]] works on all levels of reality.  

Dreams take place outside of space and time - therefore are perceived as ‘unreal’ - a liminal arena in which no-space and notime and now-space and now-time overlaps.  

Dreams take place outside of [[spacetime|space and time]] - therefore are perceived as ‘unreal’ - a liminal arena in which no-space and notime and now-space and now-time overlaps.  

Consciousness is simply what everything is aware of - there is therefore a multiplex, a multiplicity of consciousnesses which, because of its subliminal nature cannot be independently verified and of which the range of human consciousness is just a fragmentary part.  

Consciousness is simply what everything is aware of - there is therefore a multiplex, a multiplicity of consciousnesses which, because of its subliminal nature cannot be independently verified and of which the range of human consciousness is just a fragmentary part.  

There is increasing evidence that certain mental states and activities are correlated with certain physical states in different specific regions of the brain ... there is psychophysical parallelism: conscious states somehow reflect physical states in the brain ... conscious states ... are at least correlated with (correspond to) brain states.   

There is increasing evidence that certain mental states and activities are correlated with certain physical [[state]]s in different specific regions of the brain ... there is psychophysical parallelism: conscious states somehow reflect physical states in the brain ... conscious states ... are at least correlated with (correspond to) brain states.   

<blockquote>Any scientific theory must establish a postulate of psychophysical parallelism.  

<blockquote>Any scientific theory must establish a postulate of psychophysical parallelism.  

(Barbour 2000)</blockquote>

(Barbour 2000)</blockquote>

We are consciousness-making cyborgs (part machine - part organism) there is no consciousness ‘out there’ of which we are the product, but rather consciousness emergent. The body is a vessel, a container, a vehicle for consciousness. From the aleph point of the body we shoot our arrows of sense-making, of being and becoming through the fabric of space-time ... and beyond.  

We are consciousness-making cyborgs (part machine - part organism) there is no consciousness ‘out there’ of which we are the product, but rather consciousness emergent. The [[body]] is a vessel, a container, a vehicle for consciousness. From the aleph point of the body we shoot our arrows of sense-making, of being and becoming through the fabric of space-time ... and beyond.  

The  outer  boundary  of  the  body  describes  your  physical  sensemaking capacity, as well as envelopes your experiential capacity. It is an economy  of  organs  bound  in  space-time  interpenetrated  by  the boundaryless ... your spaceship in space.

The  outer  boundary  of  the  body  describes  your  physical  sensemaking capacity, as well as envelopes your experiential capacity. It is an [[economy]] of  organs  bound  in  space-time  interpenetrated  by  the boundaryless ... your spaceship in space.

About ‘miracles’ - insofar as telling stories of ‘little things to be wondered at’ tends to divide epistemology, splitting ‘mind’ or ‘spirit’ from ‘body’, such stories will be regarded as irrelevant interruptions. Insofar as such stories enrich or modify a synthesis, they will be welcome. (Bateson 1976)  

About ‘miracles’ - insofar as telling stories of ‘little [[things]] to be wondered at’ tends to divide [[epistemology]], splitting ‘mind’ or ‘spirit’ from ‘body’, such stories will be regarded as irrelevant interruptions. Insofar as such stories enrich or modify a synthesis, they will be welcome. (Bateson 1976)  

The ecology of mind is an ecology of pattern, information, and ideas that happen to be embodied in things - material forms.  (Bateson 2000) Inside every normal person’s mind there is a certain portion, which we call the Self, which uses symbols and representations very much like the magical signs and symbols used by sorcerers to work their spells. For do we not use magic incantations, in much the same ways, to control those hosts of systems within ourselves? How else can one do things one doesn’t understand? ... consciousness: it is the part of the mind most specialized for knowing how to use the other systems which lie hidden in the mind.  Marvin Minsky (Vinge 1984)  

The ecology of mind is an ecology of [[pattern]], information, and ideas that happen to be embodied in things - [[material]] forms.  (Bateson 2000) Inside every normal person’s mind there is a certain portion, which we call the Self, which uses [[symbols]] and representations very much like the magical signs and symbols used by sorcerers to work their spells. For do we not use [[magic]] incantations, in much the same ways, to control those hosts of systems within ourselves? How else can one do things one doesn’t understand? ... consciousness: it is the part of the mind most specialized for knowing how to use the other systems which lie hidden in the mind.  Marvin Minsky (Vinge 1984)  

<blockquote>I am the knowledge of my inquiry. The Thunder, Perfect Mind(Robinson 1990)</blockquote>

<blockquote>I am the knowledge of my [[inquiry]]. The Thunder, Perfect Mind(Robinson 1990)</blockquote>

The material world and the ‘spirit world’ are interpenetrative - a realm where both coexist, where ‘our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, while all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different’ (James: 1901/1958: 228)

The material world and the ‘spirit world’ are interpenetrative - a realm where both coexist, where ‘our normal waking consciousness, [[rational]] consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, while all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely [[different]]’ (James: 1901/1958: 228)

<blockquote>. ... reality is composed of several different but continuous dimensions. Manifest reality, that is, consists of different grades or levels, reaching from the lowest and most dense and least conscious to the highest and most subtle and most conscious. At one end of this continuum of being or spectrum of consciousness is what we in the West would call ‘matter’ or the insentient and the non-conscious, and at the other end is ‘spirit’ or ‘godhead’ or the ‘superconscious’.  (Wilber 2000) </blockquote>

<blockquote>. ... reality is composed of several different but continuous [[dimensions]]. Manifest reality, that is, consists of different grades or levels, reaching from the lowest and most dense and least conscious to the highest and most subtle and most conscious. At one end of this continuum of being or [[spectrum]] of consciousness is what we in the West would call ‘[[matter]]’ or the insentient and the non-conscious, and at the other end is ‘spirit’ or ‘godhead’ or the ‘superconscious’.  (Wilber 2000) </blockquote>

<blockquote>... spirituality is referring to experiential things that happen to people that give them the feeling that there’s something much bigger than ordinary, material life. (Tart 1997)</blockquote>

<blockquote>... [[spirituality]] is referring to experiential things that happen to people that give them the feeling that there’s something much bigger than ordinary, material life. (Tart 1997)</blockquote>

==The Landscape of Mind==

==The Landscape of Mind==

<blockquote>Boundless in the sense of ‘apeiron’. For Anaximander, this conception of apeironas externally unbounded is rooted in the word’s use to mean ‘ring’ or ‘sphere’, on whose surface one may travel for an indefinite period of time without coming to a bounding line (Rohr 1995).</blockquote>

<blockquote>Boundless in the sense of ‘apeiron’. For Anaximander, this conception of apeironas externally unbounded is rooted in the word’s use to mean ‘ring’ or ‘sphere’, on whose surface one may travel for an indefinite period of time without coming to a bounding line (Rohr 1995).</blockquote>

For the shaman, all the territories of mind - bound and unbound constitute a landscape to be traversed and explored by a multiplicity of techniques and approaches - literally that an archaeology of mind is available to us and an ecology of consciousness can be evolved from these recorded experiences, through a variety of practices, and related experimentation.   

For the [[shaman]], all the territories of mind - bound and unbound constitute a landscape to be traversed and explored by a multiplicity of techniques and approaches - literally that an [[archaeology]] of mind is available to us and an [[ecology]] of [[consciousness]] can be evolved from these recorded [[experience]]s, through a variety of practices, and related [[experiment]]ation.   

In a broader sense, the farther reaches of the conscious and unconscious  mind  are  being  increasingly  scientifically  and experimentally explored through a variety of psycho-deconstructive and integrative techniques - from the shamanistic ‘manufacturing of reality’ by deconstructing boundaries of sense-making reality, to the reality and consciousness-making of artificial intelligence, studies into animal and plant sentience, and psychonautic explorations into other ‘dimensions’  of  reality  and  consciousness  constructs.  It  is  a netherworld, a ‘twilight zone’, of either or neither that has attracted, and been navigated by generations of psycho-spiritual seekers and mind explorers in the form of shamans, artists, poets, philosophers and  the  modern-day  high  priests  of  science  and  latter-day  cyber shamans.   

In a broader sense, the farther reaches of the conscious and unconscious  [[mind]] are  being  increasingly  scientifically  and experimentally explored through a variety of psycho-deconstructive and integrative techniques - from the shamanistic ‘manufacturing of reality’ by deconstructing boundaries of sense-making reality, to the reality and consciousness-making of artificial [[intelligence]], studies into animal and plant sentience, and psychonautic explorations into other ‘dimensions’  of  reality  and  consciousness  constructs.  It  is  a netherworld, a ‘twilight zone’, of either or neither that has attracted, and been navigated by generations of psycho-spiritual seekers and mind explorers in the form of shamans, artists, poets, philosophers and  the  modern-day  high  priests  of  [[science]] and  latter-day  cyber shamans.   

The  concepts  of  mind  and  consciousness  overlap  greatly.  The concept of mind is used here in the sense of mindscape, mindmap or landscape of the mind, to be mindful of something, in the mind’s eye in short, our sense-making ability. Consciousness is the awareness, and sensate  experience,  of  being  in,  travelling  through,  traversing  the landscape of the mind. From this follows our sense of reality ‘out there’, outside of our ‘bound bodies’, outside of our skin so to speak, enclosed within liminal space.  

The  [[concepts]] of  mind  and  consciousness  overlap  greatly.  The concept of mind is used here in the sense of mindscape, [[mindmap]] or landscape of the mind, to be mindful of something, in the mind’s eye in short, our sense-making ability. Consciousness is the awareness, and sensate  experience,  of  being  in,  travelling  through,  traversing  the landscape of the mind. From this follows our sense of reality ‘out there’, outside of our ‘bound bodies’, outside of our skin so to speak, enclosed within liminal space.  

Consciousness is simply everything that we are aware of - there is therefore a multiplex, a multiplicity of consciousnesses which, because of its subliminal nature cannot be independently verified and of which the range of human consciousness is just a fragmentary part.  

Consciousness is simply everything that we are aware of - there is therefore a multiplex, a multiplicity of consciousnesses which, because of its subliminal nature cannot be independently verified and of which the range of human consciousness is just a fragmentary part.  

To travel through this landscape into which it was deposited, the body, and its sense-making tool, the mind, also produced a mirroring, reprogrammable,  data-sifting  capacity  to  enhance  its  chances  of survival and with the added ability to conjecture, to imagineer beyond the boundaries of the physical body and the sense of self - into the future, whilst looking back onto lessons of the past for as far as its memory banks will allow.  

To travel through this landscape into which it was deposited, the body, and its sense-making tool, the mind, also produced a mirroring, reprogrammable,  [[data]]-sifting  capacity  to  enhance  its  chances  of survival and with the added ability to conjecture, to imagineer beyond the boundaries of the physical body and the sense of self - into the future, whilst looking back onto lessons of the past for as far as its memory banks will allow.  

For the last few tens of thousands of years, it is clear that this sensemaking capacity has evolved to the point where the mind within the body can literally project beyond itself and its physical locale in the landscape - both the inner (the mindscape) and the outer (the realm of physical objects - both animate and inanimate) whilst traversing the temporospatial world. Some things made sense - was within the grasp of  the  senses.  Most  things  did  not  and  became  the  realm  of mythmaking.

For the last few tens of thousands of years, it is clear that this sensemaking capacity has evolved to the point where the mind within the body can literally project beyond itself and its physical locale in the landscape - both the inner (the mindscape) and the outer (the realm of physical objects - both animate and inanimate) whilst traversing the temporospatial world. Some things made sense - was within the grasp of  the  [[senses]].  Most  things  did  not  and  became  the  realm  of [[myth]]making.

For the ancient questing shaman this became a matter of life and death - knowing the cycles of time, the times to hunt, the times to seek shelter, when to mate, when to move across this dangerous foreign landscape in which he and his tribe were located - meant pushing the limits of what he or she could do with their sense-making tool, the mind. And the short answer is, much as we experience today, most things do not make sense and do not seem to have the same humanlike bound-within-a-body purpose as we enjoy it.  

For the ancient questing shaman this became a matter of life and death - knowing the cycles of [[time]], the times to hunt, the times to seek shelter, when to mate, when to move across this dangerous foreign landscape in which he and his tribe were located - meant pushing the limits of what he or she could do with their sense-making tool, the mind. And the short answer is, much as we experience today, most things do not make sense and do not seem to have the same humanlike bound-within-a-body [[purpose]] as we enjoy it.  

The environment from which we are spawned itself is a vehicle for shaping boundaries on the edge of space and time and the quantum flux, at the exact boundary where extropy and entropy meets. This balancing act of the bound and the boundless1 has moulded us inside our skins for purposes of survival and imbued us with a lifespan, similar to our android protagonist Roy in the SF movie Blade Runner, with a limited lifespan, for such are the cycles of time.  

The environment from which we are spawned itself is a vehicle for shaping boundaries on the edge of space and time and the [[quantum]] flux, at the exact boundary where extropy and entropy meets. This balancing act of the bound and the boundless1 has moulded us inside our skins for purposes of survival and imbued us with a lifespan, similar to our android protagonist Roy in the SF movie Blade Runner, with a limited lifespan, for such are the cycles of time.  

For we are hunters of time, bound in dimensional space, attempting to make sense, interpret, conjecture, speculate, and roll the dice again as we go along. Such is the nature of our being (here).  

For we are hunters of time, bound in dimensional space, attempting to make sense, interpret, conjecture, speculate, and roll the dice again as we go along. Such is the nature of our being (here).  

Our challenge to such thinking is - can we ever know enough? Have we reached the boundaries of our sense-making capacities? The human is far too curious a monkey (the Eastern philosophers accuse Western thinkers of having a ‘monkey mind’ and for good reason - our curiosity is insatiable). Is there a point where one would ever close off all avenues of query and relax into a state of simply being. I do not think so. In many ways many histories of mankind have been written, and will simply  become  footnotes  in  the  broader  tapestry  of  knowing,  of expanding mindscapes and landscapes, of history and sense-making that we ourselves have yet to traverse.  

Our challenge to such [[thinking]] is - can we ever know enough? Have we reached the boundaries of our sense-making capacities? The human is far too curious a monkey (the Eastern philosophers accuse Western thinkers of having a ‘monkey mind’ and for good reason - our curiosity is insatiable). Is there a point where one would ever close off all avenues of query and relax into a state of simply [[being]]. I do not think so. In many ways many histories of mankind have been written, and will simply  become  footnotes  in  the  broader  [[tapestry]] of  knowing,  of expanding mindscapes and landscapes, of [[history]] and sense-making that we ourselves have yet to traverse.  

At issue here is - do we lack the sense-making capacity to see, feel and be conscious of meaning beyond our physical selves, and beyond the cycle of life and death. This is the Sisyphean task of the shaman as he/she grasps beyond the immediate realm of the now into the realm of the witches; the twilight zone, the liminal space between the worlds; the world of peripheral vision on the boundary of sense-making.  

At issue here is - do we lack the sense-making capacity to see, feel and be conscious of meaning beyond our physical selves, and beyond the cycle of life and death. This is the Sisyphean task of the shaman as he/she grasps beyond the immediate realm of the now into the realm of the witches; the twilight zone, the liminal space between the worlds; the world of peripheral vision on the boundary of sense-making.  

In the words of science-fiction mythmaker Philip K. Dick: ‘But I have never had too high a regard for what is generally called ‘reality’. Reality, to me is not so much something that you perceive, but something you make’ and ‘The world of the future, to me, is not a place but an event. ... a construction which there is no author and no readers but a great many characters in search of a plot’. (Sutin 1995: 204)  

In the words of science-fiction mythmaker Philip K. Dick: ‘But I have never had too high a regard for what is generally called ‘reality’. Reality, to me is not so much something that you perceive, but something you make’ and ‘The world of the future, to me, is not a place but an event. ... a construction which there is no author and no [[readers]] but a great many characters in search of a plot’. (Sutin 1995: 204)  

It is a world in which we manufacture our own reality as a conscious, knowing, active expression and manifestation of our purposeful, sensemaking self (willed existence) through the manipulation of our present reality/ies.  Each  instant,  a  personal  ‘through  the  looking  glass’ conglomeration of contexts. I become ‘my habits of acting in context and shaping and perceiving the contexts in which I act’ (Bateson 1978: 275

It is a world in which we manufacture our own reality as a conscious, knowing, active expression and manifestation of our purposeful, sensemaking self (willed existence) through the manipulation of our present reality/ies.  Each  instant,  a  personal  ‘through  the  looking  glass’ conglomeration of contexts. I become ‘my habits of acting in context and shaping and perceiving the contexts in which I act’ (Bateson 1978: 275

The path to altered states of consciousness can be strikingly similar and ubiquitous when compared to the experiences of practitioners from all over the world.   

The path to altered states of consciousness can be strikingly similar and ubiquitous when compared to the experiences of practitioners from all over the world.   

Two traditions come to mind - the approach to, and achievement of trance states of the San Bushmen in Southern Africa, and the traditions of the Amazonian ayahuasceroswho work with the sacred plants of the Amazon, specifically San Pedro and ayahuasca. These trance, or altered, states are expressed through dance, singing and artwork.   

Two [[tradition]]s come to mind - the approach to, and achievement of trance states of the San Bushmen in Southern Africa, and the traditions of the Amazonian ayahuasceroswho work with the sacred plants of the Amazon, specifically San Pedro and ayahuasca. These trance, or altered, states are expressed through [[dance]], singing and artwork.   

Modern ‘urban shamans’ have adopted some of these techniques to project  into  other,  alternate,  heightened  or  ‘all  potential’  states  of consciousness and a new technoshamanism is emerging that draws on a range of disparate traditions and far-flung cultures to create a new sense of rootedness to earthly body and spirit whilst projecting the ‘disembodied’ self into alternate realms of reality and consciousness.  

Modern ‘urban shamans’ have adopted some of these techniques to project  into  other,  alternate,  heightened  or  ‘all  potential’  states  of consciousness and a new technoshamanism is emerging that draws on a range of disparate traditions and far-flung cultures to create a new sense of rootedness to earthly body and spirit whilst projecting the ‘disembodied’ self into alternate realms of reality and consciousness.  

==Modern technologies of knowing and reality manufacture==

==Modern technologies of knowing and reality manufacture==

Excerpted from ‘Shamanism is the original neurotheology’ article on Dr. Winkelman’s homepage located at http://www.public.as u.edu/~atmxw/neur o.html.

Excerpted from ‘Shamanism is the original neurotheology’ article on Dr. Winkelman’s homepage located at https://www.public.as u.edu/~atmxw/neur o.html.

Shamanism, then, represents a series of individual performances in a dynamic complex across space and time, a going beyond (Luna and White 2000). A key aspect of shamanism from ‘both worlds’, from the landscapes of the Southern African San Bushman and the Amazonian ayahuascero, is that it is a way which embraces a deep relationship with nature.   

Shamanism, then, represents a series of individual performances in a dynamic complex across space and time, a going beyond (Luna and White 2000). A key aspect of shamanism from ‘both worlds’, from the landscapes of the Southern African San Bushman and the Amazonian ayahuascero, is that it is a way which embraces a deep relationship with nature.   

Parallel consciousness takes on another dimension for physicist Fred Alan Wolf - altering the way in which we see reality alters reality. Existence as we know it is a subset of reality which is unknowable. Our minds are tuneable to these multiple dimensions or multiple realities (Wolf 1991).  

Parallel consciousness takes on another dimension for physicist Fred Alan Wolf - altering the way in which we see reality alters reality. Existence as we know it is a subset of reality which is unknowable. Our minds are tuneable to these multiple dimensions or multiple realities (Wolf 1991).  

From her online ‘Immersense’ exhibition notes: http://www.immerse nce.com/immersenc e_home.htm.

From her online ‘Immersense’ exhibition notes: https://www.immerse nce.com/immersenc e_home.htm.

==Em-bodi-ment (mind/body alchemy)==

==Em-bodi-ment (mind/body alchemy)==

==Manufacturing reality==

==Manufacturing reality==

‘Experience Design: And the Design of Experience’ by Erik Davis. Paper published on the Internet at: http://www.techgnosis.com/experience. html. This piece will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Australian magazine Arcadia.

‘Experience Design: And the Design of Experience’ by Erik Davis. Paper published on the Internet at: https://www.techgnosis.com/experience. html. This piece will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Australian magazine Arcadia.

Altered states of consciousness are real, and as our media technologies get better at drawing us in and out of them, artists and other non-coercive proponents of the human spirit (or whatever you want to call it) need to become familiar with these states, not simply as a source of inspiration, but as modes of expression, communication, and confrontation itself. By recognizing that the material that we are now focused on is not technology but human experience itself, then we take a step closer to that strange plateau where our inner lives unfold into an almost collective surface of shared sensation and reframed perception  -  a surface on which we may feel exposed and vulnerable, but beginning to awake.  

Altered states of consciousness are real, and as our media technologies get better at drawing us in and out of them, artists and other non-coercive proponents of the human spirit (or whatever you want to call it) need to become familiar with these states, not simply as a source of inspiration, but as modes of expression, communication, and confrontation itself. By recognizing that the material that we are now focused on is not technology but human experience itself, then we take a step closer to that strange plateau where our inner lives unfold into an almost collective surface of shared sensation and reframed perception  -  a surface on which we may feel exposed and vulnerable, but beginning to awake.  

#Barbour, J.B. (2000), The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics, New York: Oxford University Press.   

#Barbour, J.B. (2000), The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics, New York: Oxford University Press.   

#Bateson, G. (1976), ‘Invitational Paper’, CoEvolution Quarterly,  http://www.oikos.org/batdual.htm. Bateson, G. (1978), Steps to an Ecology of Mind, London: Granada.  

#Bateson, G. (1976), ‘Invitational Paper’, CoEvolution Quarterly,  https://www.oikos.org/batdual.htm. Bateson, G. (1978), Steps to an Ecology of Mind, London: Granada.  

#Bateson, G. (2000), Steps to an Ecology of Mind, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Calvino, I. (1993), Time and the Hunter, London: Picador.  

#Bateson, G. (2000), Steps to an Ecology of Mind, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Calvino, I. (1993), Time and the Hunter, London: Picador.  

#Carroll, P. (1987) Liber Null and Psychonaut: An Introduction to Chaos Magic, USA: Weiser. Connerton, P. (1989), How Societies Remember, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Davis, E. (1998), Techgnosis: Myth, Magic and Mystery in the Age of Information, UK: Serpentstail.  

#Carroll, P. (1987) Liber Null and Psychonaut: An Introduction to Chaos Magic, USA: Weiser. Connerton, P. (1989), How Societies Remember, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Davis, E. (1998), Techgnosis: Myth, Magic and Mystery in the Age of Information, UK: Serpentstail.  

#Davis, E. (2000), ‘Adventures in Inner Space: Meet the Psychonauts’, first published in the Drugs Issue of American Feed Magazine, 6 November 2000. Paper can be found on the Internet at http://www.techgnosis.com.

#Davis, E. (2000), ‘Adventures in Inner Space: Meet the Psychonauts’, first published in the Drugs Issue of American Feed Magazine, 6 November 2000. Paper can be found on the Internet at https://www.techgnosis.com.

#Eagar, M. and Potgieter, E. (2002), ‘Exploring the contours of mind & consciousness through  Magico-spiritual  techniques’,  in  NeuroTheology:  Brain,  Science, Spirituality & Religious Experience, California: University of California Press.   

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