At the temple of the divine: material and metaphysical aspects of health

Abstract

This is a consciousness study. It is based in the New Physics and Biology, Esoteric Spiritual Practices, Art practices grounded in the manipulation of perception. Alternative Healing Modalities, Gaian Theories, Nature Magic Traditions, Geomancy and Sacred Geometry. The couplings that I have applied happened organically as the writing progressed. I found that as I collaged and pasted the information I was gathering, common underlying threads attracted similar precepts and made them stick. For example the New Physics and the Gaia Hypothesis readily share the Cosmic Web concept, while the New Biology and Chaos theory are based in the idea of a type of resonance that acts as a formative impulse. The concept of multi-dimensional self-similarity in Form, is one of the fundamental premises of Hermetic Traditions and the work of such architects as Buckminster Fuller, Rulolf Steiner and Claude Bragdon. Though I endeavored to avoid the hypothesis model, I had assumed that my research would eventually allow me to codify a Healing Environment or Experience. While that is possible, for there are particular places, energies, forms, sounds and colors that are said to have soothing, pleasing or healing effects, formulating them into a universal experience would only provide a superficial encounter. The strongest impression that I am left with after three years of research is that a complete experience of health starts with the specific needs of the individual. I believe that the entry point for an individualised approach can be found in transpersonal experiences, through the use of meditation, hypnosis, sensory deprivation and other trance inducing techniques. It is from the mediating ground of the (unconscious) internal landscape that the individual can experience themselves in an unbounded form, and return from this transcendental encounter with the personal insights that will directly inform their choices. The chapters of this thesis: The Earth, Energy, Form, Colour and Music and Constructed Form, cover five primary areas from which the individual, once informed by altered states of consciousness, can identify a set of components with which they can best customise their unique and evolving experiences of health.