Lewis actually writes about the veil Tom mentions in this post in Out Of The Silent Planet, but he claims it's put there by dark forces to isolate the Earth.
“What if our neural architecture was preventing us from taking the idea of a conscious sun more seriously?” I believe it totally is! Luckily, we have our dream space which is the easiest, most accessible way of humans to play in the more right brain “school” of experience, as long as they’re willing to remember their dreams and bring back what they experienced into waking life for contemplation!
I really enjoyed this article and will listen or read Sheldrake’s piece. Thank you!
Definitely a solid 9.5 on the Woo-meter. And beautifully done!
The panpsychism of the Sun is such a fascinating lens. While I still find myself tethered to the idea of consciousness as something emerging from synapses firing in carbon-based brains, I’m deeply intrigued by the thought that maybe the brain isn’t the source of consciousness, but more like a receiver. If that’s true… well, then consciousness being more pervasive, even star-borne, becomes much less far-fetched and more awe-inspiring.
Also, even setting consciousness aside for a moment: the sheer fact that stars like our Sun are the only known origin of carbon (through nuclear fusion of hydrogen and helium), and thus, for the very existence of all carbon-based life... is wild in and of itself. You and I are literally made of stars, whether the stars are aware of it or not. That alone feels like something worthy of reverence.
Thank you for this luminous and mind-expanding piece. Keep up the woo!
Thank you Glenn! I was merely trying to echo the Sheldrake original. That isn’t proving a case but asking questions that really opened my mind! I feel that’s most of the point.
It reminds me of the article I wrote before https://chiwijournal.substack.com/p/flowism-my-philosophy-of-living "One day, I browsed my Dad's treasures and found one book rather fascinating. The Life of Friedrich Nietzsche by Daniel Halévy (The Chinese translation version of that book called Friedrich Nietzsche: I am the Sun《尼采传：我是太阳》) triggered me because those are the only few words I could recognise at a young age. I felt excited, like Archimedes leapt out of the bath and rushed home naked crying, "Eureka! Eureka!" I thought I had found the universal truth: the Sun is this bearded and weird-looking guy!
My family made fun of me for secretly telling everyone, "Do you know the Sun has a name called Ni Cai (Nietzsche's pronunciation in Chinese)?" and how I regarded myself as a detective scientist who decodes the identity of the Sun. Silly, right? That childhood mystery followed me for ages until I learnt at school what metaphor is and who the real Nietzsche is."
At that young age, I was fascinated with the Sun and Nietzsche, and now it makes sense. It felt as if something consciously drew my curiosity toward them.
That's amazing and hilarious. I looked back through my work at how many references there were in my work to the sun right in front of me over the past few years. Then yesterday's synchronicity of somebody pitching me Sun Pharma and TARO Pharma when I was writing about the Sun's relationship to Tarot (in the footnotes...)
Beautiful reflection on sun-consciousness. That McGilchrist experiment is wild! Also, from your description, it sounds like the Ra material has some strong resemblances to the Corpus Hermeticum (1st to 3rd c. CE). The Hermetic cosmology also has a creator, a Logos, and a system in which human consciousness descends through the sphere of the stars, then the various planets before incarnating in a physical body. As the soul descends, it's imprinted with the characteristics of the various planetary spheres (as reflected in the astrological natal chart), which helps determine our individual temperament and destiny. Even if you look at it as a metaphor, it provides a map for relating to the intelligence(s) of the cosmos in a way that modernity has mostly lost. I wrote a piece about the Corpus Hermeticum here: https://chriscordry.substack.com/p/the-book-that-ignited-a-renaissance
I have no idea what to make of astrology at all. But writing this piece made me truly appreciate the number of forces that may even be totally outside our umwelt that could be influencing us. Why not from massive planetary bodies?!
Right—leaving astrology per se aside, if these massive bodies in our solar system have some form of consciousness, then how can we not be influenced by them or in relationship to them in some way? That being said, Richard Tarnas’ book Cosmos and Psyche is an integral masterpiece. I need to revisit it myself at some point, here…
Interesting and provocative. Not sure i'm buying this (yet) but it did remind me of Solaris by Lem - IMO the best idea (in sci-fi books) of how alien form might communicate and affect our consciousness.
Haven't seen the movies yet (just heard that Tarkovsky's is classic).
The book, AFAIR from reading 8 yrs ago, beautifully built this feeling of being confronted by something inteligent that cannot be named, measured nor comprehended by human cognitive tools.
Something like in the last part of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I am reading Robert Temple’s book A New Science of Heaven about plasma physics. It accords very much with several out of this world experiences I’ve had. What do you make of it, please (it chimes with this latest article of yours which I much enjoyed — thanks!)
Van Gogh's "The Sower" springs to mind (speaking of someone who was locked into a higher wave of consciousness). Another mind-expanding post, Tom. Thank you.
Sam Harris spoke with his wife Annaka Harris about consciousness being fundamental to the universe, an exploration of panpsychism and the consequences if that were true.
Annaka recently produced a 10 part audio documentary on consciousness and it's place in the universe called LIGHTS ON https://annakaharris.com/lights-on/
This episode explores whether space and time are fundamental to reality or are emergent from a deeper cause.
Forgive my ignorance, but I'm curious where the antipathy comes from.
From what I've seen since I started following Sam in 2015, he explores a lot of topics that The Leading Edge would find very interesting. He explores many woo topics but keeps his bullshit detection meter very high.
Additionally, his Waking Up app has been foundational to my exploration of the illusion of self, consciousness, and meditation.
Great piece Tom. I believe that the Soul-to-Star connection exists beyond our current solar system, i.e. we can also have influence and origin beyond this existing Sun we are paired/connected with, as you said, it depends on age/stage of growth and you are currently in. That means that you, in this form, are still able to take your consciousness and temporarily connect back to previous suns (as high on the woo rating that that sounds) but I've had my own experiences that lead me to experience that belief for myself (these were also sober and more profound than other types of experiences I've had).
One implication might be that I'm not sure distance matters *that* much when it comes down to it for consciousness, whereas it does clearly for matter?
Fascinating. Tangentially, Ra makes the point that advanced tech can be faster than light travel. But then the path of advanced consciousness allows for instant travel across the universe. One requires love, the other doesn't. Choose wisely.
Reading that last quote, I thought, how many sunsets have I watched (never told it I loved it) but certainly felt joy and elation - and then got to the end of that quote and it was like a gut punch. WOW. Throughly enjoying the Leading Edge. Thanks.
There is an inventory, Malcolm Bendall, who has open sourced all of his research notes, plans and a prototype for his plasmoid generator, so we can free ourselves from our destructive energy sources. There is a model on his site of all the elements, all physical creation really, that shows the same thing, that the sun converts the aether (energy at rest) into matter (energy in motion). It is fascinating, as I am also coming around to the realization it is all just different pitch's, octaves of consciousness. Check it out, the practical application of his inventions are promising as well! Great article!
The sun has no self-consciousness, as there are no feedback loops to the sun, so no individuation. Feedback loops are the interactions that lead to consciousness (if one likes alternative expressions - the fuel of consciousness or how consciousness arises).
“In our world," said Eustace, "a star is a huge ball of flaming gas."
Aslan replied, “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Spectacular
Lewis actually writes about the veil Tom mentions in this post in Out Of The Silent Planet, but he claims it's put there by dark forces to isolate the Earth.
BTW wanted to give credit for 'woo-bicon' as well! 🤣
Some haters are saying it's a dad joke. But sadly I'm using it again.
let haters be haters! dad jokes ftw!
I was thinking about that quote throughout the article :)
“What if our neural architecture was preventing us from taking the idea of a conscious sun more seriously?” I believe it totally is! Luckily, we have our dream space which is the easiest, most accessible way of humans to play in the more right brain “school” of experience, as long as they’re willing to remember their dreams and bring back what they experienced into waking life for contemplation!
I really enjoyed this article and will listen or read Sheldrake’s piece. Thank you!
Thanks Jen- the Sheldrake piece is just FANTASTIC. I should simply have just pasted the text and hit send.
Definitely a solid 9.5 on the Woo-meter. And beautifully done!
The panpsychism of the Sun is such a fascinating lens. While I still find myself tethered to the idea of consciousness as something emerging from synapses firing in carbon-based brains, I’m deeply intrigued by the thought that maybe the brain isn’t the source of consciousness, but more like a receiver. If that’s true… well, then consciousness being more pervasive, even star-borne, becomes much less far-fetched and more awe-inspiring.
Also, even setting consciousness aside for a moment: the sheer fact that stars like our Sun are the only known origin of carbon (through nuclear fusion of hydrogen and helium), and thus, for the very existence of all carbon-based life... is wild in and of itself. You and I are literally made of stars, whether the stars are aware of it or not. That alone feels like something worthy of reverence.
Thank you for this luminous and mind-expanding piece. Keep up the woo!
Thank you Glenn! I was merely trying to echo the Sheldrake original. That isn’t proving a case but asking questions that really opened my mind! I feel that’s most of the point.
Love this article!
It reminds me of the article I wrote before https://chiwijournal.substack.com/p/flowism-my-philosophy-of-living "One day, I browsed my Dad's treasures and found one book rather fascinating. The Life of Friedrich Nietzsche by Daniel Halévy (The Chinese translation version of that book called Friedrich Nietzsche: I am the Sun《尼采传：我是太阳》) triggered me because those are the only few words I could recognise at a young age. I felt excited, like Archimedes leapt out of the bath and rushed home naked crying, "Eureka! Eureka!" I thought I had found the universal truth: the Sun is this bearded and weird-looking guy!
My family made fun of me for secretly telling everyone, "Do you know the Sun has a name called Ni Cai (Nietzsche's pronunciation in Chinese)?" and how I regarded myself as a detective scientist who decodes the identity of the Sun. Silly, right? That childhood mystery followed me for ages until I learnt at school what metaphor is and who the real Nietzsche is."
At that young age, I was fascinated with the Sun and Nietzsche, and now it makes sense. It felt as if something consciously drew my curiosity toward them.
That's amazing and hilarious. I looked back through my work at how many references there were in my work to the sun right in front of me over the past few years. Then yesterday's synchronicity of somebody pitching me Sun Pharma and TARO Pharma when I was writing about the Sun's relationship to Tarot (in the footnotes...)
Beautiful reflection on sun-consciousness. That McGilchrist experiment is wild! Also, from your description, it sounds like the Ra material has some strong resemblances to the Corpus Hermeticum (1st to 3rd c. CE). The Hermetic cosmology also has a creator, a Logos, and a system in which human consciousness descends through the sphere of the stars, then the various planets before incarnating in a physical body. As the soul descends, it's imprinted with the characteristics of the various planetary spheres (as reflected in the astrological natal chart), which helps determine our individual temperament and destiny. Even if you look at it as a metaphor, it provides a map for relating to the intelligence(s) of the cosmos in a way that modernity has mostly lost. I wrote a piece about the Corpus Hermeticum here: https://chriscordry.substack.com/p/the-book-that-ignited-a-renaissance
I have no idea what to make of astrology at all. But writing this piece made me truly appreciate the number of forces that may even be totally outside our umwelt that could be influencing us. Why not from massive planetary bodies?!
Right—leaving astrology per se aside, if these massive bodies in our solar system have some form of consciousness, then how can we not be influenced by them or in relationship to them in some way? That being said, Richard Tarnas’ book Cosmos and Psyche is an integral masterpiece. I need to revisit it myself at some point, here…
Yeah I really need to revisit that asap.
Interesting and provocative. Not sure i'm buying this (yet) but it did remind me of Solaris by Lem - IMO the best idea (in sci-fi books) of how alien form might communicate and affect our consciousness.
I used to love the remake (controversial I know) especially the soundtrack. But hadn’t thought about it in the context of this piece!
The original is incredible but I agree the remake is also good.
Haven't seen the movies yet (just heard that Tarkovsky's is classic).
The book, AFAIR from reading 8 yrs ago, beautifully built this feeling of being confronted by something inteligent that cannot be named, measured nor comprehended by human cognitive tools.
Something like in the last part of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I am reading Robert Temple’s book A New Science of Heaven about plasma physics. It accords very much with several out of this world experiences I’ve had. What do you make of it, please (it chimes with this latest article of yours which I much enjoyed — thanks!)
Not ware of it before you mentioned it! But now very intrigued. So much we don't know about very basic concepts....
Van Gogh's "The Sower" springs to mind (speaking of someone who was locked into a higher wave of consciousness). Another mind-expanding post, Tom. Thank you.
https://samharris.org/episode/SE9C37C570B link to full episode
Sam Harris spoke with his wife Annaka Harris about consciousness being fundamental to the universe, an exploration of panpsychism and the consequences if that were true.
Annaka recently produced a 10 part audio documentary on consciousness and it's place in the universe called LIGHTS ON https://annakaharris.com/lights-on/
This episode explores whether space and time are fundamental to reality or are emergent from a deeper cause.
Oh awesome! Will have to overcome my antipathy towards him and listen!
Forgive my ignorance, but I'm curious where the antipathy comes from.
From what I've seen since I started following Sam in 2015, he explores a lot of topics that The Leading Edge would find very interesting. He explores many woo topics but keeps his bullshit detection meter very high.
Additionally, his Waking Up app has been foundational to my exploration of the illusion of self, consciousness, and meditation.
This concept is still stuck in my mind weeks later. I love the fishbowl analogy and "crossing the woo-bicon" is gold!
Dave Nadig says it was a Dad joke but sadly I’m going to use it way more….
Great piece Tom. I believe that the Soul-to-Star connection exists beyond our current solar system, i.e. we can also have influence and origin beyond this existing Sun we are paired/connected with, as you said, it depends on age/stage of growth and you are currently in. That means that you, in this form, are still able to take your consciousness and temporarily connect back to previous suns (as high on the woo rating that that sounds) but I've had my own experiences that lead me to experience that belief for myself (these were also sober and more profound than other types of experiences I've had).
One implication might be that I'm not sure distance matters *that* much when it comes down to it for consciousness, whereas it does clearly for matter?
Fascinating. Tangentially, Ra makes the point that advanced tech can be faster than light travel. But then the path of advanced consciousness allows for instant travel across the universe. One requires love, the other doesn't. Choose wisely.
Reading that last quote, I thought, how many sunsets have I watched (never told it I loved it) but certainly felt joy and elation - and then got to the end of that quote and it was like a gut punch. WOW. Throughly enjoying the Leading Edge. Thanks.
Thanks Bubba- I’ve been looking at the Sun in a new squinty way recently. It hasn’t spoken to me yet….
Fantastic article Tom.
Thanks Peter!
I would appreciate if you continue making yourself unemployable.
Have to see if I can find an 11/10 woo topic….
Yeah, hit it far out of the park!
There is an inventory, Malcolm Bendall, who has open sourced all of his research notes, plans and a prototype for his plasmoid generator, so we can free ourselves from our destructive energy sources. There is a model on his site of all the elements, all physical creation really, that shows the same thing, that the sun converts the aether (energy at rest) into matter (energy in motion). It is fascinating, as I am also coming around to the realization it is all just different pitch's, octaves of consciousness. Check it out, the practical application of his inventions are promising as well! Great article!
Awesome thanks Daniel!
The sun has no self-consciousness, as there are no feedback loops to the sun, so no individuation. Feedback loops are the interactions that lead to consciousness (if one likes alternative expressions - the fuel of consciousness or how consciousness arises).
How do you know?