An Exercise Revisited

[ecosophia]

Back in February, I posted something here about an interesting exercise I'd found in early 20th century American occult literature, the Rising Call exercise. I'd meant to post something else in a week or two. Then, as the legendary school history exam paper put it, some other stuff happened, and I'm only just picking up the threads I had to drop at that time.

The Rising Call exercise was one of the many items to come from the busy pen of Harry Gardener, a Los Angeles occultist active from the 1920s through the 1960s. Gardener was also a small-time occult publisher, and he came to my attention because his press was the one that originally released The Eye of Revelation, the booklet that introduced the Five Rites exercises to the US occult community. (My book on the Rites will be out in the fall.) Gardner seems to have been active in an odd little Rosicrucian order in the 1930s and 1940s -- not one of the major orders, and not one that seems to have left many more traces -- and that appears to be the source of the Rising Call exercise and a range of other teachings and traditions.

The Rising Call exercise is of interest to me because it works with a dimension of occultism that's been largely forgotten in recent times -- the ductless glands in the brain. Alongside the main parts of the brain -- the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the brainstem -- there are various little glands and nerve centers, mostly scattered around the underside of the brain.  These communicate to each other and to the brain as a whole partly through nerve linkages and partly through chemicals released into the bloodstream, but they have a third route. The whole brain floats in a pool of cerebrospinal fluid, which is held in by a set of membranes that line the inside of your skull.

When you're young, the cerebrospinal fluid flows freely around the brain. With age, the membranes get stiff, dead cells and assorted gunk builds up in the channels and passages that allow the fluid to flow, and so the ductless glands can no longer use the cerebrospinal fluid to get chemicals all through the brain. This is a difficulty in general, but it's especially problematic for the occultist, because that flow of chemicals from gland to gland is important in certain kinds of spiritual development; notably, certain exercises that stimulate the pineal gland won't have their full effect unless the pineal secretions can make their way through a channel at the front of the third ventricle to the pituitary gland.

This exercise is meant to get your brain fluid moving. It works by gently increasing blood pressure in the brain -- that's why you bend forward, so your head is lower than your heart -- and also by using the retained breath to put pressure inside the nasal tissues and sinuses. In effect, you're gently squeezing your brain, in order to get the fluid in motion again.

So that's the point of the exercise. I've heard from several readers who've tried it and found that it seems to be useful. I'll be interested to hear from anyone who has experiences to report.

Edit: If you're interested in the original source, you can download a PDF copy here. Keep in mind that it's most of a century old and the author has the attitudes and opinions of his time rather than ours.

Comments

Sneezing

[(Anonymous)]

I am sure it has something to do with the blood pressure in the sinuses, but every time I assume a similar position - for example when I bend over to pick something up from the floor - invariably I have to sneeze, sometimes rather violently. This didn't happen when I was younger. It started around "the middle of the journey of our life", to borrow Dante's words. Too much gunk in my brain channels? :-)

Re: Sneezing

[ecosophia]

More likely too much gunk in your sinuses. If you want to do the exercise anyway, don't bend all the way down; any lowering of the head will get some result.

[open_space]

This is an interesting line of research and it is the kind of well-being areas that interests most about the health sciences, specially since it intersects with the occult. I read some of the other sections of the Streamline Minds, interesting stuff. The Black Breath also seems useful and I couldn't help but think how it would be used as part of the work of the OSA, since it seems to focus on building healthy "complexes" by using suggestions, or, affirmations accompanied by breath.

For me I did feel an increase in mental clarity and also on getting juices flowing. It felt like a stretch for my brain, or as you say, a squeeze which brought a bright sensation.

Something that I found interesting was on the energetic level, which for some reason seems to be closely related to the mucous membranes (When I do magic for example, I usually feel inflammation coming down in my sinuses and ears). As much as I felt a squeeze on my brain, I felt energy activity on my head as well, probably because of the increased blood flow.

[ecosophia]

Gardener has a lot of interesting stuff. I've added a link to Streamline Minds to the post for those who want to see for themselves.

[open_space]

Totally recommended, I'll see if I can come up with something using the OSA system once I get to The Temple of Solomon work, since that seems to work with the thought process.

[(Anonymous)]

Ever since I read about it on your blog, it struck me as a fine idea, and so I added it as a post-closing gesture in my morning ritual. I can report that I feel a bit brighter upstairs as a result. Thank you.
MILLICENTLY LURKING

[randomactsofkarmasc]

I have only been doing it for about a few weeks and I have mostly been experimenting to figure out where it best fits in my daily routine. Prior to do the Rising Call, my routine was SOP in the morning (plus prayers to deities), cold rinse in the shower in the evening (and weekly Hoodoo wash), then Judson Exercise, and then remembering my day in reverse before bed. (We need to come up with a name for reverse remembering...)

I've tried the Rising Call in the morning (after the SOP), in the evening before I exercise, in the evening after I exercise, immediately before the Judson, immediately after the Judson, and right before bed.

It feels the best after I exercise, which separates it from the Judson by 30-45 minutes.

As far as affecting my ductless glands, I feel that I am processing things not differently, but perhaps a little more quickly than before? I've been working on the Lullian meditations for the Levi book. Some seemed to come easily, some not so much, but yesterday, in the middle of one meditation, I got an insight about the whole process, and it wasn't something I was even thinking about, it just sort of popped into my head. That's only happened a few times before (and before it seemed directed by a deity, and this time it didn't seem that way... so maybe I just focused on something in the astral for the first time?).

The other thing I noticed for the past two days is I catch my goofs more quickly. My job puts us on four ten-hour days in the summer, which I loathe. The first day, my brain does okay, but as the week progresses, my brain tires out more quickly and by the ninth hour of the day, I start making mistakes (and I used to not notice). Yesterday and today, the minute I said something incorrectly, I recognized it as incorrect. I don't know if that is a pineal thing or not, but I appreciate my brain recognizing the goof when it is still early enough to fix easily.

And I don't know if it matters, but about a year ago, I had a reaction to a medication that resulted in losing a lot of hair. I figured it was a karma thing, but my deities told me I needed to expose my pineal.

[(Anonymous)]

"Reverse remembering" - maybe evening/daily reflection or recollection?

Perhaps this is too broad and a more specific term is needed to convey the exact exercise as folks who frequent this site might better understand?

I love the feedback you are providing on your experimentation with the various exercises an their timing/placement throughout your day. Very informative and I very much appreciate it!

Regards,
Bert

[randomactsofkarmasc]

Thank you very much. I was worried that I was over-sharing; it was kind of you to say you appreciate it.

Ooo, reflection and recollection are good r-words, too. I feel an alliteration forming... ;-)

Tried it for 3 weeks

[(Anonymous)]

I did the exercises 5x a week for 3 weeks. I noticed two significant, immediate effects. The first was an immediate calming of mental chatter and busyness that lasted for a few minutes, at least until I started doing something else. Basically as if there had been a lot of background mental noise that I wasn’t even aware of until the exercise suddenly switched it off- kind of like when the power goes out in your house and in the sudden quiet you realize that you’ve been constantly surrounded by the little noises of all of your electric appliances and home systems, and now they’re gone. The second effect was a guaranteed clearing of the sinuses and equalizing of sinus pressure. This was unexpected but occurred so reliably that I now use the exercise for acute relief from allergy symptoms and cold congestion. Unfortunately, I did not notice anything as exciting as an increase in spiritual development, but that might be a bit much to ask for after 3 weeks… curious to hear what others experienced.

negative effect

[(Anonymous)]

I tried it a couple times, and just got a headache afterwards each time, so just stopped trying. I thought I was being gentle, but it's certainly possible I wasn't gentle enough. I'm curious enough to try again.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm working on the AODA's candidate year material and your course on Levi's Doctrine and Ritual.
The Eye of Revelation was a bit overkill - I had to stop at eleven reps last year.
The "on" effect lingers at a pleasant level.
Based on all that, do you think I should give the Rising Call a try, or pass for now?
Rhydlyd

[ecosophia]

I'd say give it a pass for now. Once you've finished the Candidate year work, you can assess things and see if you want to add it.

[ecosophia]

Thank you, everyone, for the data points!

[thinking_turtle]

Following your post I did the exercise before my lunch walk. That's 2-4 times a week, for around 4 weeks. If there was any effect, it was to subtle for me to notice.

By comparison, the two breathing exercises from The Way of the Golden Section (morning exercise and solar plexus exercise) have a very noticeable effect. I do them regularly since I learned them.

[(Anonymous)]

I only did it a couple days since I just fell out of the habit (maybe time to start again). It felt like a shot of espresso with no jitters. Also, just did it again before posting and it's much less dramatic. Just a sense of calm, happiness, and energy. Luke Z

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

I had been slowly building up the 5 rites when I added the Rising Call exercises in February. In March I caught a cold/flu that caused a cough and I stopped the call and the rites until my lungs cleared. But everytime I started the exercises I would have a coughing fit that same day. It took me until late April to finally clear my lungs completely and get back on track. Things were going well until late May when I started seeing blood in my urine and was diagnosed with an unpassable kideny stone. Once again I stopped the exercises went in for a lithotripsy and am just now getting back on track.

But weirdly it feels like this time it is taking. Like maybe I needed to clear things before I could feel results. Now, to be fair, I have also cleaned up my diet (from nasty collapsing empire food chemicals) and that might be helping me get more clear as well.

I plan on keeping at it. It makes for a terrific "wake up in the morning" routine.

AV

[temporaryreality]

I seem to have a bit of an overkill nasal cycle. In spite of good breath control elsewhere (swimming and misogi breathing), when I attempt this, the non-functioning nostril is not cooperative at all.

Should I just not hold my breath very long (I can hold it for a good long while but if I then have to ex- or inhale through a closed nostril, I’m a goner)?

Or should I experiment and try the exercise with just whichever nostril happens to be functioning right then?

Or something else altogether?

[(Anonymous)]

'When you're young, the cerebrospinal fluid flows freely around the brain. With age, the membranes get stiff, dead cells and assorted gunk builds up in the channels and passages that allow the fluid to flow, and so the ductless glands can no longer use the cerebrospinal fluid to get chemicals all through the brain.'

I didn't know that. Thanks for your information!

my experience

[slclaire]

I've been doing the Rising Call exercise since you first posted it. However, I've also made two other changes in my daily spiritual practices, so I can't readily disentangle what effects resulted from what changes. I can say all of the changes together have been positive - I feel better physically and my spiritual practice is evolving in a good direction - so I continue with all of them, including the Rising Call.

Some materialist support from the godfather of melatonin research

[(Anonymous)]

JMG and company,

The godfather of melatonin research Dr. Reiter was first author on a paper published a few months ago titled "Brain washing and neural health: role of age, sleep, and the cerebrospinal fluid melatonin rhythm." You may find it very interesting!

I have done the Rising Call exercise myself and I feel great afterward!


Readers may enjoy Reiter's other work on melatonin.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00018-023-04736-5

Re: Some materialist support from the godfather of melatonin research

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this. Regrettably, since I'm not affiliated with an academic institution, I can't get a copy without paying for it.

effects of the exercise after several weeks

[charlieobert]

I've been doing this exercise daily, every morning, since I first read this post around 6 weeks ago.

First and most obvious, it makes a profound difference in my sinuses and ease of breathing. I have perpetual sinus problems with clogged sinuses, and I've been diagnosed/labeled as having Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (EDT). I had a big difference in my breathing clearly as soon as I started the exercise, and that has persisted.

Second, I am pretty sure it is helping improve my hearing. The EDT was causing muffled and distorted hearing, I couldn't sing because my voice was rumbly and distorted, and I couldn't enjoy listening to music. That took a turn for the better the week I started the exercise, and by now my voice sounds pretty much normal to me and I can enjoy music again.

Third, I think I am noticing a gradual improvement in my eyesight. I was having problems with one eye being blurry, not focusing well, and being hazy around bright light. It's been gradual, but I am pretty sure my vision is better now, both the focus and the haziness around light. I've also been taking what my daughter calls "eye vitamins" which also include marigold extract. I think those are gradually helping also, but I suspect the general effect of the exercise has been to provide a better environment for self-healing, and I think this set of issues - sinuses, hearing, eyesight - are likely inter-related.

Re: effects of the exercise after several weeks

[ecosophia]

Hmm! Fascinating. Many thanks for the data points.