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ecosophia
In the nine previous posts in this series, we've talked about a disparate assortment of technologies, all of which seem to relate in various ways to the realm of being that traditional occultists call the etheric plane: the plane of the life force. Mesmer's "animal magnetism," Reichenbach's "od," Eeman's "X force," Kilner's "human atmosphere," Reich's "orgone," and the strange resonances and reactions explored by Abrams, Drown, the de la Warrs, Tansley, and others all seemed to be aspects of the same polymorphous life force. As usually happens in the early phases of any scientific investigation, however, most of these researchers pursued their work in relative isolation from one another. The rise of radionics technology was the one chief exception to that rule -- Ruth Drown picked up where Albert Abrams left off, and Drown's work inspired the later radionicists -- but even so, not until David Tansley's time did that current of exploration start to draw significantly on the broader body of etheric research. Some years before Tansley started work, however, the first movements toward a synthesis began. The most important figure in that process was Meade Layne, the stern-looking gentleman on the left. Layne was born in 1882 and became a professor of English literature, working at several different institutions, including Illinois Wesleyan and Florida Southern College. (Despite misinformation repeated in Wikipedia and elsewhere, he didn't have or claim a Ph.D -- in his day you could teach at colleges, though not universities, with a M.A., and "Meade Layne, M.A." was how he signed his name.)
He combined his academic work with a lively interest in occultism, and studied with Crowley's errant disciple Charles Stansfeld Jones as well as with Israel Regardie and William Wallace Webb; his 1945 booklet The Art of Geomancy shows an extensive knowledge of Golden Dawn occultism. (Golden Dawnies will also want to take a close look at the version of the caduceus on the image to the right.) He was also an active contributor of papers to the American Society for Psychical Research and the Fortean Society.After his retirement, he and his wife Gladys moved to San Diego, California, and like many retirees, he took up a hobby to fill his spare time. In Layne's case, that amounted to a newsletter, the Round Robin, on Fortean and occult subjects, which began publication in 1945. The response was lively enough that the next year he founded the Borderland Sciences Research Foundation (BSRF), which rapidly became a network of researchers dissatisfied with the dogmatic materialism of the day. A great deal of BSRF's early work focused on the UFO phenomenon, which seized public attention the year after the Foundation began work; Layne was among the first UFO researchers to notice that many UFOs did not behave like physical objects, and proposed that the phenomenon had an etheric basis instead.
In terms of the story we're following, however, the most important aspects of BSRF's work had nothing to do with flying saucers. Among the core interests of the Foundation's members was anything relating to the etheric plane and the life force that pervades it. Articles on Albert Abrams' and Ruth Drown's research into radionics thus found their way into the Round Robin and its successor the Journal of Borderland Sciences; so did articles on Leon Eeman's screens; so did many other related subjects, including new investigations such as Project VITIC, which explored the effects of magnets and carbon rods on the human energy field and demonstrated that these effects could be measured using magnetometers. Layne stepped down as director of BSRF due to failing health in 1959, and died in 1961. His longtime friend and successor Riley Crabb became the next director and kept the Foundation going along similar lines, publishing many books of his own on UFOs, occult philosophy, and related subjects. As a result the BSRF remained one of the leading lights of the small but active community of American etheric researchers all through the second half of the twentieth century. It still exists, though it's much less active than it once was; interested readers can consult its website here, and browse many of the articles from the Round Robin and the Journal of Borderland Sciences here.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-05-05 01:21 am (UTC)I thought you might be interested in a device called, Aurastar 2000. About 20 years ago I met a woman in a Reno occult bookstore who held readings with the device. I think it cost twenty dollars or so for a reading. She said it was a biofeedback machine.
I placed my hand into a hand-shaped depression. Inside the depression were many raised points that she said corresponded to something, I forgot what, maybe energy points.
Once it took my reading, it printed out my aura onto an image of da Vinci's, Vetruvian Man. She said I was pretty good except for the neck area and asked if I smoked, which I did at the time. She told me I needed to stop soon. Then she pointed to my side, where there was a gray "blob". She said that someone was attached to me. She determined somehow that it was my grandfather who had died before I was born and was watching over me.
I just remembered all of this because you mentioned that radionics can avoid the wrath of the monopolists if it is considered biofeedback. I found my aura image and the information about the company. It still exists, and I am not surprised that it is in Vancouver, BC and not in the USA.
Here's the website. I don't think it has changed since I went there twenty years ago!
https://www.aurastar2000.com/
Jon
tangerine tangential cactus
(no subject)
Date: 2021-05-05 02:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-05-06 12:13 pm (UTC)Thinking on this deeply, I myself have come to the conclusion that any doctor, any practitioner, any modality, can ONLY treat. It is the patient that heals. Doctors treat, patients heal.
At the same time, I would have thought that the protectionist sensibilities of the gatekeepers of standard medicine would have made them cagier about the use of the word "diagnose" than about the word "treat".
On the other hand, the Irish folk tradition of people "having the cure for X" persists everywhere, while getting written down nowhere. There are a few people that "have the cure for X" (it is always something specific, like "shingles" or "sciatica" or "toothache") around here, and everyone could tell you who they are and where to find them. Seemingly these traditional "cures" are passed down through families and somehow attach to the person themselves, as opposed to any technique or substance they use (although they do use a variety of techniques and substances). I have never heard of anyone of that nature getting into trouble with medical licencing, so, it probably helps them to stay below the radar, under a smokescreen of "only superstitious nonsense" - even though there are plenty of people who attest to solid results.
Cure. Heal. Treat. Diagnose. More to chew on...
(no subject)
Date: 2021-05-06 04:57 pm (UTC)Scotlyn) I am a HUGE fan of this line of thinking. Alan Wallace's Attention Revolution actually spends some time discussing it in the context of health benefits of breath control in meditation. The word medicine actually hints at this; Med (from media, meaning middle and implying balance), -cine (instrumental suffix, denoting something used in a preceding context), Medicine would thus be things to help restore balance. Funny thing about living creatures though, its still their balance, and they are still the ones doing it; medicine just helps. I would argue the transition to "diagnosing and treating illness" then to "health management" represent a horrific degradation of the old art. Hopefully the Irish healthcare hasn't suffered such a fate, which your story makes me think it hasn't. Cheers!
(no subject)
Date: 2021-05-08 04:04 pm (UTC)Thank you for the hint regarding the etymology of "medicine"... a theme I intend to explore further...
etheric UFO's
Date: 2021-05-05 07:10 pm (UTC)I noticed the association of UFO's with etheric energies.
Do you think he was onto something there?
Many thanks.
Fascinating posts as usual.
The Egely Wheel
Date: 2021-05-07 02:37 am (UTC)https://egelywheel.net/
They claim it measures your life force and can be spun by telekenisis.
Have you heard of this device before?