Shamanism, Quantum Physics, and the Multiverse:
The Power of Focused Consciousness
Anne Rebecca Chase, BSCS, CCHT
Mainstream science and anything falling under the category 'metaphysical' have been at odds with each other at least since the separation of church and state, and the acceptance of Newtonian physics. The skeptics claim that there is no solid data to prove the existence of any type of psi-related phenomena. This is patently untrue. There is a large and steadily growing body of data which shows definite, measurable effects of focused consciousness. The power of prayer has been documented. Even the CIA has declassified information related to its longterm use of remote viewing as a surveillance tactic. Meanwhile, in indigenous cultures throughout the world, the manipulation of consciousness and energy is a commonplace event. Every tribe has at least one shaman or medicine person. These cultures are considered by many to be less sophisticated than the technological marvelry of the Western world. But perhaps they understand the nature of reality a lot better than our 'advanced' civilation.
At the esoteric end of the consciousness-related spectrum, voodoo, sorcery, the ancient Egyption mystery schools, and modern-day alchemists all claim to use non-physical means to bring about physical results. Such modalities are generally considered to be quite marginal, if not downright quackery. But hypnosis is steadily gaining acceptance even with the medical community. The power of positive thinking is used in the business world. Visualization is used by athletes and performers to achieve peak performance. It seems to me that these techniques are simply different flavors of the same principle: that focused consciousness can, indeed, affect physical reality.
Here in the U.S., there are a number of well-respected research organizatons where highly trained, 'legitimate' scientists are performing experiments on psi and consciousness-related matters. There's a large amount of well-documented data from numerous studies and researchers that show, repeatedly, that consciousness has a measurable effect on nearly every aspect of physical reality. It's quite clear that some unexplained force is at work here. The exact nature of this force, and the media through which it is transmitted, can only be theorized at this point.
Meanwhile, in the rarefied echelons of quantum physics, the search goes on for a Theory of Everything. Our existing physics fails to provide an explanation for certain behaviors which are being observed and proven mathematically. The laws of quantum physics cannot coexist with Einstein's theories of relativity. In other words, there's a missing piece to the puzzle. Certain particles exhibit unexplained properties; the famous Double Slit experiment showed electrons, photons, and other particles to have wavelike properties, and that even a single particle seemed to create an interference pattern by itself, acting as if it were in all possible places at the same time. The first discovery of such behavior occurred in the early 1800's, yet to this day, it remains unexplained.
The universe exhibits a bizarre non-local property. Originally-paired particles appear to communicate with each other, unaffected by distance. A change of state in one particle brings about a change of state in a related one, no matter what its location. And its exact location is not measurable anyway. A central theme to quantum physics, Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle, tells us that measurement of a particle, (which could be seen as focused awareness towards it), changes the particle's state; therefore, it is never possible to know the unobserved state of the particle.
The key point I want to make is that, if focused consciousness is changing the state of matter at a subatomic level, it's reasonable to theorize that it might change it on a larger scale as well. And matter itself is far less solid than it appears, because, at a subatomic level, it behaves more like a wave than a particle. Matter is theorized to be comprised of 'probability waves' which attempt to predict the location of the subatomic particles of the matter. But the exact locations of the particles remain unknown. So matter may be much more malleable, much less solid, than it appears, which adds credence to the possibility that it could be affected by consciousness. Quite simply, the physical world as we know it breaks down in the quantum physics lab.
This means that our sensory input is giving us incomplete information about the nature of reality. Our perception of the world is limited by our senses to a narrow band within a much wider spectrum of reality. Quantum physicist Brian Greene theorizes that the universe might actually be a 'multiverse': one of countless universes, each of which could very possibly have its own unique physics, each of which might have many dimensions. Is it possible that some of these universes, having different physics than ours, could be superimposed over ours, providing a media through which information could be transmitted and received?
People all over the world are looking for answers in these tough times. Personal experiences of non-physical phenomena are far more common than most people realize. Since our culture lacks the supportive framework for these experiences of, say, an indigenous culture, people tend to keep quiet about their nonordinary experiences, compounding the overall lack of group support. But the situation seems to be reaching a critical mass, where enough people are coming out of the closet about their experiences, and enough scientists and researchers are taking on these professionally risky challenges, that the ideas are steadily gaining legitimacy.
The time is ripe. I think that our culture, while technologically sophisticated, has brought about a progressive starvation of the soul, just as surely as it's threatening the natural environment and bringing us toward possible extinction of our species.
Humanity needs a collective soul retrieval; which is, in the shaman's worldview, a reclaiming of our personal power by the reintegration of the lost parts of ourselves. Each individual who 'claims their power' will theoretically increase the power of the whole. And with quantum physics and psi research converging towards a number of reality-busting discoveries, our worldview could undergo a major transformation, resulting in humanity reclaiming long-lost parts of itself. We are bound to benefit from the undeniable knowledge that we are deeply connected to each other, to the natural world, and to the universe
In the words of renowned astronomer and physicist Carl Sagan, "Something incredible is waiting to be known." I suspect that that 'something' may turn out to be irrefutable evidence of an interconnective field of consciousness and information that permeates the universe.