Electricity and
Human Consciousness

                                                                                                                            by Markus Osterrieder (GERMANY)

(Translated from the German by Hilde Stossel (AUSTRALIA)

In addition, electromagnetic fields possess an inner spiritual quality that must not be allowed to take hold of the human being completely. And exactly as electrical and electromagnetic phenomena display their effectiveness outwardly in physical matter, they have an inward influence on the moral constitution of human beings who have not taken protective measures against them.

With regard to the order of life-processes, the structures of matter (molecules, cells), as well as the higher members of a human being, seem to a large extent to be organized through the oscillations of sunlight and of supersensible forces, which Rudolf Steiner has called "etheric." Although 19^th century physics indicated that light was merely a magnetic wave, quantum physics has shown that the connection between light, electricity and magnetism is far more complicated. (What the Greeks of antiquity had already known by virtue of its moral impact.)²

Rudolf Steiner once described electricity as light in a sub-material state, or as light that destructs itself within matter, or again as disintegrating light³. In this connection he strongly emphasized the importance of this insight for the inner life of the human being: "The greatest contrast to electricity is light. And to consider light as a form of electricity is to mix good and evil."⁴ It is well known that the oscillations of certain electrical frequencies in even small quantities and for short durations have consequences that, although difficult to measure, are detrimental to health. But far less attention is paid to the question as to what extent electrical phenomena influence a human being's thinking, feeling and willing. Here is a source of danger for humans that is not to be underestimated.

Never throughout the evolution of human consciousness were we so closely united through our physical bodies with the world of matter in relation to our thinking, feeling and willing. It is precisely this development of consciousness, producing a new world of technology, that is responsible for the earth being enveloped in a dense fabric of artificially produced electromagnetic radiation; altogether a situation that has not previously existed in the evolution of our planet.

The interior of the earth emits natural micropulsations of approximately 10 Hz (Hertz); that is, 10 oscillations per second. Lightning creates fields in a frequency range of 10 to 20 KHz (thousands of oscillations per second). At the other end of the spectrum, light has become visible with billions of oscillations. Between the two fields described there are those areas of the spectrum that only started to fill up with artificial radiation at the end of the last century through human intervention. This began with electric power supply systems around 50/60 Hz to ELF frequencies (ELF = extremely low frequency) in a spectrum of 0 to 100 Hz), often used for military purposes (or, rather, as non-lethal weapons) and on to medium, short and ultra-short waves, to TV frequencies and the domain of microwave frequencies. (Much data concerning application of the latter are also secret, as they, too, were researched and used for military purposes.)

On the one hand, electromagnetic forces interact with the geomagnetic field enveloping the planet as a protective sheath. On the other, they interact with the interior of the earth that constantly emits particles with either a positive or a negative electrical charge, ions and other related forces. There is an assumption of a rotating core of liquid iron in the interior of the earth that envelops the planet in a magnetic dipole field, similar to that of a bar magnet. The magnetosphere varies from month to month, depending on the moon cycles. It does not rotate, but stands firm in space. Accordingly, every point on earth is exposed to a constantly changing magnetic field with unchanging magnetic declinations towards the two magnetic poles, while its daily variations control the biological rhythm. There is electrodynamic interaction between the surface of the earth and the ionosphere by way of micropulsations in the 10 Hz area; in other words, the ELF channels⁵.

In November 1917, in St. Gallen (Switzerland), Rudolf Steiner spoke about the important future task of establishing a new geographic medicine. That is to say, a medical geography:

Only gradually does this problem penetrate the consciousness of academic natural science. A pioneer in the field of electromedicine, the American physician Robert Becker, first formulated in 1963 the theory that the natural, geographically determined magnetic environment presumably has an influence on human behaviour.⁷ We are dealing here not only with the medical consequences of the interaction between natural radiation, artificially created radiation and body electricity⁸, but also with the very real influence on soul and spirit-related forces.

In such a case a human being can get carried away and commit acts that appear to come from a different “ego,” an internal “double.” Over the last 200 years many artists have tried to come to grips with the constantly increasing influence of the double, of which they were dimly aware in one way or another.⁹

In any case, this knowledge of the relation between earth's magnetic forces, geographic medicine and human behaviour (including thought and will impulses) is critical knowledge for every statesman of the future. For instance, the maps drawn by modern Western geopoliticians like Zbigniew Brzezinski or Samuel Huntington, on which they depict “'geostrategical fault lines” or zones of a possible "clash of civilization," show a strange (but not arbitrary) resemblance to maps that represent the magnetic declination chart of the earth's electromagnetic field.

For example, the zero meridian of the magnetic declination runs, with slight fluctuations, almost exactly through Europe on the old fault line of Greek-Orthodox and Latin-Catholic civilizations (Western Ukraine, Transylvania, Bosnia-Herzegovina/Serbia). Cultural divisions and misunderstandings are to a large part nourished by sympathy and antipathy, and in most cases these stem from instinct; that is, subconscious will-forces. If it is kept as a secret, such aknowledge can be misused to manipulate or to agitate the population of certain regions in order to further power politics and "the short road to global supremacy" (as Brzezinski puts it). Once it is laid open, it can be used in a truly mediating Christian sense for the welfare of the whole of humanity.^9a

It is generally known that a magnetic field is produced by electric currents that can be measured by magneto-encephalograms (MEG) from a distance of up to one meter from the head.¹⁰ The magnetic field of human beings and that of higher animals interact closely with the magnetic field of the earth.¹¹ According to Rob Baker, the human magnetic organ is situated in the bones of the sphenoid/ethmoid sinus, directly in front of the pituitary gland. This organ is obviously able to feel the earth-magnetic north alignment.¹² A further highly sensitive electromagnetic point in the human brain is in the domain of the pineal gland. The electric direct-current system in the brain that acts on the consciousness reacts sensitively to very weak frequencies in the ELF (extremely low frequencies) channel. These effects show up only in the particular ELF domain that would apply also to natural micropulsations of a terrestrial magnetic field.

In 1945 intensive research was carried out, especially in the USA and the Soviet Union, into guiding and controlling consciousness by means of electric impulses. This satanic type of brainwashing (one cannot call it otherwise) and rape, and/or deprivation of the free will is frequently called Mind Control. Causing a sensation, these experiments came to public notice at the end of the sixties when the neurologist Dr. José M.R. Delgado of the Centro Ramon y Cajal Hospital in Madrid and the Yale University School of Medicine published his findings in the book “Physical Control of the Mind: Towards a Psychocivilized Society.”

We know of ESB's potential for mind control largely through the work of José Delgado. One signal provoked a cat to lick its fur, then continue compulsively to lick the floor and bars of its cage. A signal designed to stimulate a portion of a monkey's thalamus, a major midbrain center for integrating muscle movements, triggered a complex reaction: The monkey walked to one side of the cage, then the other, then climbed to the rear ceiling, then back down. The animal performed this same activity as many times as it was stimulated with the signal, up to sixty times an hour. However, these actions were not performed blindly. The creature still was able to avoid obstacles and threats from the dominnt male while carrying out the electrical imperative. Another type of signal made monkeys turn their heads or smile, no matter what else they were doing, up to twenty thousand times in two weeks. As Delgado concluded, "The animals looked like electronic toys."

Delgado stimulated brain activity in his patients with ESB (Electronic Stimulation of the Brain) in the ELF domain, especially in the amygdala and hippocampus. Funding for the project came predominantly from the American Office of Naval Intelligence, a CIA cover agency (the CIA being especially interested in this form of warfare) after it became known that in the years 1960-1965 the US Embassy in Moscow was exposed to radiation from electromagnetic fields and microwaves created by the Soviets, with the result that various physical and mental disorders occurred among the staff.¹³

In his conclusion, Delgado summarized his findings by saying that "movement, emotion and behaviour can be controlled by electrical forces, and human beings can be controlled like robots with the touch of a button." The patients reported that their behaviour had changed against their will because they lacked the strength (will forces!) to resist the electrical signal. "Since the brain controls the entire body and all mental processes, electrical stimulation of the brain could be developed into an important method of planned manipulation of human behaviour."¹⁴ Delgado elaborated his point of view in sentences like the following: "We need a programme of psychosurgery for political control of the mind. Everyone who deviates from the given norm can be surgically mutilated.... The individual may think that the most important reality is his point of view. This lacks historical perspective.... Man does not have the right to develop his own mind.... We must electrically control the brain. Some day armies and generals will be controlled by electrical stimulation of the brain."¹⁵

In Spanish Cordoba Delgado demonstrated his theory by way of popular entertainment. He implanted hair-like electrodes into the interbrain of a bull that were to control its behaviour by acting as receivers of electrical stimulations: "Afternoon sunlight poured over the high wooden barrier into the ring as the brave bull bore down on the unarmed matador, a scientist who had never faced a bull. But the charging animal's horns never reached the man behind the heavy red cape. Moments before that could happen, Dr. Delgado pressed a button on a small radio transmitter in his hand and the bull braked to a halt. Then he pressed another button on the transmitter, and the bull obediently turned to the right and trotted away. The bull was obeying commands in his brain that were being called forth by the radio signals acting as electrical stimulation to certain regions in which fine wires had been painlessly planted the day before."¹⁶

Delgado's research has long since found adherents. Experiments are carried out with implants capable of achieving a great variety of results, as well as with direct radiation from microwaves, ELF and other high-pulsating electromagnetic rays or fields designed to manipulate the memory, control behaviour, or temporarily incapacitate. The victims suffer long-lasting damage to the health of the organ affected, are driven to insanity by “voices,” develop compulsive behaviour, carry out certain tasks against their inclination, etc. The latest experiments point in the direction of filtering the “'imprint” of concrete emotions in the brain with the aid of electroencephalograms (EEG) and specific computer software to synthesize the relevant frequencies and amplitudes as emotion signature clusters and store them on computer. And, if needed, to clone them into other brains by stimulus transfer.¹⁷

Pineal Gland

On the other hand, the bean-shaped pituitary gland lies on the bottom of the interbrain and is connected by a stem to the its third ventricle. It is the central organ for hormonal regulation, controlling and influencing all other hormonal organs which report back to the pituitary gland. The posterior lobe belongs to the nervous system. In the anterior lobe, glandotropic hormones are produced that control the sexual life, especially the activity of lactation, the ovaries (or the female menstrual cycle) and the testicles. According to Robin Baker, the real magnetism-perceiving organ of a human being is situated in front of the pituitary gland. The nasal parts of the optic nerves leading from the eyeballs to the brain cross over in front of the pituitary cone at the entrance to the brain. This crossing of the optic axes provides an important anatomical basis for taking hold of the self-consciousness. It is also a point in the region of the pituitary gland where contemporary human beings normally experience their centre of waking consciousness. The pituitary glnd is in contact with the etheric forehead chakra, the so-called two-petalled lotus.

Consequently, both these glands in the head region of a human being are in various respects interwoven with the etheric sphere of light, as well as with the subterranean sphere of electricity. In this regard, contemporary humans have the option to either consciously develop their morality with the aid of altruistic acts of will penetrated by love, or yield to base inclinations and instincts laced with uninhibited selfishness that can pour into them. This is not without consequences for the future development and function of these two glands. In this context, Rudolf Steiner drew attention to the fact that an etheric stream of light flows through the human being, linking heart and blood stream to the pituitary gland. In certain moments, it makes manifest (for the one who has developed such a supersensual perception) a person's moral principles and qualities.²¹

A multitude of forces, effective at a variety of levels, are normally integrated into the whole structure of a human being in such a way that even effects of catabolic forces, in the right place, are beneficial to the human household as a whole. In this connection, one only has to think of the physiological digestive process that, with juices and acids in their proper place, performs a life-preserving function in the gastric and intestinal tracts. However, in the event of a perforated stomach this process can initiate death. Similarly, there also are forces in the human etheric and astral configuration that reveal their destructive properties as soon as they come into a different constellation of forces to that initially intended for them; or worse, are projected outward.²²

According to Rudolf Steiner's investigations in spiritual science, behind the conscious sphere where memories are reflected there is a subconscious region in the human being into which a substantial destructive focus has been introduced. This destructive focus is a necessary basis for the development of rational thinking, and thereby egohood. For human intellectualism is by nature and by its impact on the physical body and physiology destructive and substance-destroying. If the force of this destructive focus ventures forth from its strictly limited domain (or worse, if it is projected outward) then, in accordance with its nature, it will reveal itself as destructive viciousness, as evil.²³ In relation to the two cerebral glands, it is of great importance that human recollective activity—that is, the imprinting of the recollection—is connected to two etheric streams that are differentiated by the greatest possible tension. These streams have their physic-sensory counterpart in the heart region, the pineal gland and the pituitary gland. "The physical organ that wants to form the memory-image is the pineal gland, while the pituitary gland is the recording part."²⁴

We can only allude here to these complicated anatomic-etheric connections. However, today such knowledge has to gradually be brought into consciousness, penetrated and comprehended.

It becomes apparent, then, how in the aforementioned cerebral regions the conscious domain in a human being's life (and the superconscious or subconscious one, respectively) penetrate each other. Therefore, disturbances caused by abnormal electrical fields can lead to permanent neurological defects and behavioural disorders.²⁵ In addition, they demand increased strength of consciousness from human beings with which to combat the negative impact on their sensory-supersensible organs. It also becomes evident how interwoven are human thinking and discerning, sensory perception, a sense of direction in dealing with time and space, as well as all hormonal and reproductive processes. In fact, mysterious connections exist between light and reproduction on one hand, and electricity and reproduction on the other. (However, these cannot be discussed in detail here.) Electrochemical processes occur in neuro-sensory activities as, for example, in the fertilization of the egg cell. In the spiral human DNA, the basic building blocks of genes, the genotype, etheric light forces and electromagnetic forces work together in a particularly complicated fashion.²⁶

Developments in biotechnology are still in the early stages. With the aid of ever more complicated computer systems, bio-industrial engineers attempt to decode the genetic information of living beings, arranging and organizing it in order to use DNA as the most important “raw material” in a new branch of science, and as a guarantee for enormous profits on the stock market. Already for Marshall McLuhan, “'prophet” of the media age, computer and telecommunication technology was nothing more than a protruding extension of the human nervous system, of the “electrical human being.” Efforts are now being directed towards transferring, in the long term, the emotional life of a human being to the world of machines, or uniting the two, because according to the bio-engineers, the body is only a temporary vessel for the information that led to its coming into being.²⁷

Discovery and application of electrical forces was unavoidable and an evolutionary necessity. However, this “release” in the electrical sphere demands from human beings themselves enhanced alertness of consciousness and increased efforts to muster inner resources by sustained spiritual work in order that the down-pressing forces connected with electricity can be countered and equilibrium restored. This is because a spiritual force is hidden in the natural energy of electricity that has the tendency to diminish human moral values, a force that attempts to drag human beings down to a less than human level leading into subnature; that is, into a morally low and spiritually dark domain. "Subnature must be recognized for what it is. This is only possible if humanity will rise at least as high in spiritual perception to supersensible supernature as it has technologically descended into subnature.... Electricity ...must be recognized for its power to lead from nature to subnature. But humans must beware of joining in the descent."²⁸

Now the open question is whether we human beings are able to keep pace with the accelerating material world, and counter-balance with our own spiritual substance and individual strength of consciousness the forces rising up from technology and natural science in order to avoid being plunged into the abyss. In the light of human evolution, resisting technological developments would be absurd and harmful. However, precisely in view of technological revolutions, now more than ever what is demanded of the human being is the conquest of spiritual apathy and self-centred delusions. The human being needs to wake up and consciously attend to individual spiritual tasks. It is true that by combating and transforming such strong opposition, humans are to a far greater degree able to contribute to universal evolution.

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