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Vancouver, Montreal researchers use magic to explore consciousness

By on February 14, 2015 in Mystery, News, Science 0
Pablo (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Pablo (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Bethany Lindsay at the Vancouver Sun:

Can questions about something as fundamental as the existence of free will be answered with a simple magic trick?

It may sound strange, but a new study from researchers in Vancouver and Montreal uses magicians’ mind tricks as a gateway to exploring human consciousness and decision-making.

In a street magic experiment, lead author Jay Olson asked 118 strangers to pick a random card as he riffled through the pack, intentionally showing one card for longer than the rest.

The results were remarkable. Ninety-eight per cent of people picked the target card, and an impressive 91 per cent believed that they had made that choice freely, without any influence from the magician.

“It was pretty cool,” said co-author Ronald Rensink, a psychology and computer science professor at UBC. “This would seem to be supporting the view that your conscious mind doesn’t really decide.

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The Mystic Tunes Of Motopony

By on January 11, 2015 in Art, Music, News 0

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Let’s face it, there is a lot of bad music available these days. So it is very refreshing when you find a band that not only lays itself there but does so in such a beautiful way. Daniel Blue’s voice shimmers with the sincerity of a young Dylan. Having been recorded at Abbey Road, this little EP turns and squeezes all the parts of your being that seem to only come to Life through the inexpressible and elusive elixir of music and yields the solace of a still life image.

Download their EP free here.

Watch Motopony’s New video here:

… Read the rest

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Gabriel D. Roberts Gives THE QUEST FOR GNOSIS For Free

By on January 9, 2015 in News 0

Disinfonauts! Have you ever gotten frustrated trying to explain a really big and important idea like gnosis? Well have no fear, because I’ve put this handy little two minute crash course out for that express purpose! Not only that, but I’m giving away digital copies of my book, The Quest For Gnosis on my website!

Be sure to visit gabrieldroberts.com/bookstore for a FREE PDF of my book, The Quest For Gnosis and share the gift!

… Read the rest

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Beliefs In Ghosts And Gods Might Be Based In Early Evolution Of Brain

By on May 21, 2014 in News 16
Caveman_8

PIC: PD

The Nature Spirits told me to share this with you.

Notions of gods arise in all human societies, from all powerful and all-knowing deities to simple forest spirits. A recent method of examining religious thought and behaviour links their ubiquity and the similarity of our beliefs to the ways in which human mental processes were adapted for survival in prehistoric times. It rests on a couple of observations about human psychology. First, when an event happens, we tend to assume that a living thing caused it. In other words, we assume agency behind that event. If you think of the sorts of events that might have happened in prehistoric times, it’s easy to see why a bias towards agency would be useful. A rustling of a bush or the snapping of a twig could be due to wind. But far better to assume it’s a lion and run away.

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The White Witch of Los Angeles

By on March 23, 2014 in News 8

The following is from the new book, THE QUEST FOR GNOSIS, available now.20120125_123912_Alec_Singer_majik_500

Some people come into your life who simply exude something so kind and generous, a glow of goodness, Maja is one of those people. A brilliant author, orator, radio host, mother and snappy dresser, Maja does it all with a soft and strong grace. I’ve had the pleasure of attending many of Maja’s Magic School sessions at the legendary Theosophical Society’s Besant Lodge and have learned a great deal from her insights. She delivers a message that confirms the presence of magic in the world, but pulls no punches when discussing the how’s and why’s of the world being so messed up. It is a privilege and an honor to have her grace the pages of this book and I think after you see our conversation, you will adore her as well.

GDR – Maja, what does the term Gnosis mean to you in the classical sense and what does it mean in the present practical sense?… Read the rest

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A Chaos Conversation: An Interview With Peter J. Carroll

By on March 21, 2014 in News 2

The following is from the new book, THE QUEST FOR GNOSIS, available now.Quest For GnosisPAPER2

Peter J. Carroll is known as one of the founders of Chaos Magic, a modern interpretation of what magick is. His books have launched a wave of thought that integrate cutting edge science and the oldest methods of ecstatic states in a manner that leaves room for each person to make their own interpretation. His views on Neo-Panthiesm have greatly influenced my own views and I hold him in the highest esteem. Author and breakthrough thinker, Robert Anton Wilson has described Peter as, “The most original, and probably the most important, writer on Magick since Aleister Crowley.”. With that, I offer up our conversation as an important meditation on our quest for Gnosis.

GDR – If you were to attempt to give a cursory description of Magic to someone who knows little to nothing about it, what might you say?… Read the rest

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Why Isn’t There a Popular Theory of Dark Mind in Psychology?

By on February 4, 2014 in News 8

darkmindservitorThe more I’ve rocketed my personal microverse to the outer fringes with various Occult exploration techniques, the more I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re spiritually retarded as a species. And let me define what I mean by spirituality quite clearly here. Of the spirit. Dreams, visions, hallucinations, synchronicities, etc. The opposite of materialism essentially. Spirit. It’s right in the fucking word. All of our brains do this primal reality creating trick to a certain extent. And when I say that we’re spiritually retarded I’m not just using the term for insensitive comedic effect. I actually think it’s an apt metaphor. Those we derogatorily refer to as retarded are often defined by the more PC “developmentally disabled” and in a way, I think that’s what’s going on with us. On one hand we’ve developed the logical mathematic side of ourselves at a freakishly rapid clip, but on the other, we’re still starting wars based on interpretations of visions that supposedly happened thousands of years ago.… Read the rest

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Consciousness: I Think Therefore I Am, Or Am I?

By on January 21, 2014 in News 10
Pic: Atchama (CC)

Pic: Atchama (CC)

Let me just begin by stating that I was once one to subscribe to just about any belief system which claimed to have an esoteric model that could coincide with contemporary physical theory. However, as time has progressed and I grow gradually older and more skeptical, I’ve come to disregard nearly everything that mashes up buzzwords like “quantum” with any new age or occult idea. Where I once sought to justify my esoteric practices with at least some sort of reasonably functioning model of reality (perhaps due to my insecurity as a developing magician) I have come to realize that magick needs no apologetics to function within the world I exist in. While I see drawn out explanations for consciousness or paranormal occurrences such as the one seen in Peter Caroll’s “Apophenion” as useful to some who may have difficulty with the “suspension of disbelief” aspect of Chaos Magick, I feel that it detracts from the real core of the work, which to me is learning by experience.… Read the rest

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WTF Is Gnosis?

By on January 16, 2014 in News 0

Screen Shot 2014-01-16 at 9.54.15 AMI explain not just what gnosis is, but also why it is an important bridge between every single human.  It’s a term that can appropriate and blend concepts from virtually any wisdom tradition including those with scientific materialist leanings.

Hipgnosis is a unique book that focuses on the term ‘gnosis’ and its modern applications. Classically, Gnosis is a feminine Greek noun, which means “knowledge”. It is often used for personal knowledge compared with intellectual knowledge. At first glance this may seem like a trivial term, but it is anything but! For a further explanation of the term and its application, please take a moment to read my recent article at Reality Sandwich, titled, Gnosis As A Bridge Between Us:

While some may only find gnosis in between the notes of a freeform jazz solo, others may only find it watching their child at play in a park. Others of us may find ourselves deep in the mystic mystery, outside of anything familiar, touching the divine and hoping to never put our feet back on the ground.

… Read the rest
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WTF is Magick?

By on January 13, 2014 in News 37
Pic: Talisman (PD)

Pic: Talisman (PD)

In an attempt to not sound absolutely crazy to anyone who might see me mention magick, I’d like to bring some illumination of what magick is.  This may prove to be a challenge because the term itself is a moving goalpost of sorts.  To some, magick means a man on a stage sawing a woman in half as an act of illusion. Ironically, this can also be seen as a metaphor for our own subjective predilections toward illusion in all aspects of our life.

In order to explain this correctly, I must try to get you to set aside what you think you might know about actual magic and allow yourself to hear me for what I’m saying unencumbered by preset notions.

The Buddhist might say that everything is Maya (illusion) and the ancient Gnostic might say the same, but with the twist that this material construct is a kind of incubator for us to occupy ourselves why Archons feed on our thoughts and feelings without our knowing it (think, people being batteries for the machines to live off of like in the film series, The Matrix).   Whether these ideas are true, or not the metaphor that they produce is indeed powerful.  In many different ways, these concepts can be seen as true.… Read the rest

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