Psyché Tropes Episode 22
11pm, 27 May 2024 on Resonance 104.4 FM
Presented by Steven McInerney, Episode 22 investigates the psychovisual, and metaphysical implications that various sounds can have on the human brain. But first, we must go back in time, three hundred and fifty-nine years.
In 1665, Dutch Physicist Christian Huygens, famous for visualising the wave propagation of light and for his observations on the rings of Saturn, made an accidental discovery while observing two pendulum clocks which he also invented a decade earlier. Connected via a wooden beam, Huygens set the clocks ticking at their own individual pace and after a short period had lapsed, both clocks would lock phases and spontaneously synchronise. Intrigued by this phenomenon, the physicist conducted a series of experiments to unlock this mysterious coupling. Through the process of elimination, he concluded that the transference of energy through the wooden beam was the force behind this crystallisation in time, becoming the phenomenon of what we call synchronisation.
This universal phenomenon occurs at every scale of nature from sub-atomic to cosmic. It uses every communication channel that nature has devised from gravitational interactions, to electrical, chemical, mechanical, biological, or anywhere where two systems can influence each other.
Tonight's episode explores a process developed in the fifties at a research facility called the Monroe Institute to study the effects of various frequencies on human consciousness. Founded by Robert. A. Monroe, the facility worked with professionals in the fields of psychology, audiology, electrical engineering, physics and biochemistry to develop a patented technology called Hemi-Sync, short for Hemisphere Synchronisation.
Hemisphere Synchronisation is a technique that synchronises the two hemispheres of the brain, creating a ‘frequency-following response’ when two different sound waves are heard in each ear. Subsequently, the brain creates a third frequency called a binaural beat. For example, If the left ear is presented with a frequency of 200 Hz and the right ear is presented with a frequency of 206 Hz, the difference between the two tones creates a perceived frequency of 6 Hz in the brain. Due to the brain’s ability to detect a waveform phase difference, it can perceive binaural beats through the process of entrainment.
When I first I heard about this technology, I was compelled to try it. I found a Hemi-Sync release titled ‘The Lucid Dreaming Series’. This series is designed to teach you how to program and consciously participate in your dreamscapes by simply listening and allowing the tones to entrain the desired brainwave states to enter into an altered state of conscious awareness. One night equipped with high-quality headphones I decided to begin the journey. At first, I was apprehensive as it felt eerie but I decided to let go of this fear and give in to the experience.
After a series of mental exercises involving memory of the senses, particularly visualisation, touch and taste, the voice slowly counted, and I was becoming relaxed and sleepy but remained conscious and aware. Just before he counted to twenty, I felt my whole body vibrating. I panicked, succumbed to fear and was back in the physical. I now knew that I had to overcome the fear of passing through in order to make this work. The fact that fear terminated the journey made me confident that at any time I felt unsafe, I could easily quit the session. With that in mind, I decided to try again, but this time, I was determined to break through.
On the next attempt, I was able to reach the vibration state with ease. One moment I was lying flat, the transition was almost seamless, like passing through a vibratory fog. The next moment, I was upright and walking. I was now conscious and aware that I was in my dream state. I was walking down a path, looking around. It was night, with pine trees to my left and my right. The lighting was subtle but allowed me to see clearly. Time felt somewhat altered or not present at all. As I walked along the path I consciously said to myself, “This feels like cinema for the mind”. I am awake in my dream at this very moment thinking these thoughts. As I approached the end of the path I saw a tall wooden house with a spire. A figure was there, sitting, looking down at me. They were youthful and feminine, yet had an aura of familiarity. Her face had avian features. I could clearly see a beak. She was non-threatening but had a sombre look in her eyes. As I looked up at her, she looked down at me. Immediately, I received a telepathic transmission that we were one and the same. At this moment my heart rate increased and I spoke out loud (distorted) "I’m awake".
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