. Despite being from a guy who uses far too many drugs, I still find it very interesting.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 8 circuits of consciousness
from: http://www.totse.com/en/fringe/dreams_a ... rcuit.html
==== Introduction ====
"Timothy Leary's 8-Circuit Model of Consciousness
by Paul Clark
Timothy Leary came up with this theory -- or I guess model or map would be better terms -- for human consciousness. I get the impression he started working on it early in his LSD involvement, though I haven't yet been able to find where he first started talking about the ideas (I suspect there may be a reference in 'High Priest', but I haven't waded all the way through yet.)
His book on the subject was called 'Exo-Psychology', and has been republished with additional material in recent years under the title 'Info-Psychology' (New Falcon Publishing). (...)
(..snip..)
The 8-circuit model describes eight levels of function of human consciousness. Different books call these by different names -- 'circuits' (like different circuits in a computer), 'gears' (like shifting gears on a bicycle), 'grades' (like in elementary school)- you could call them 'burritos' if you want -- I like 'circuits'.
Anyhow, there are eight circuits. The lower four deal with normal psychology, while the upper four deal with 'psychic', 'mystical', 'enlightened', or perhaps even 'tripped-out' consciousness. The strong point of this system is that it integrates the two so well. Most theories deal with one or the other, but not both -- mundane psychology with no consideration of transcendant experience, or mystical foo-fa-ra with octaves and rays and spiritual this or that but no grounding in nitty-gritty down-to-earth surviving in the human jungle.
The first four 'normal' circuits are influenced very much by modern psychology, especially Adlerian developmental stuff. Part of the idea is that as you grow up from infancy, the various circuits are activated and begin to function, and you take an 'imprint' from the conditions at the time."
==== The heart of the theory ====
(..snip..)
Here's a rundown of the first four circuits:
1st circuit: Survival/security. Things are okay or they're not, or somewhere in between. This is connected to the first source of these things: nursing at Mom's nipple. People who take an imprint that things aren't safe all the time may compensate by eating, especially sweet things, pudding, 'nursery food' that makes them feel better for a while. This imprint is taken very early, in nursing. It's what's known in developmental psychology as 'oral'. Putting things in your mouth is always fun!
2nd circuit: Territorial/Emotional. This is a very particular definition of 'emotional'- are you feeling up or down? Are you on top of the world or down in the dumps? This is related to basic primate pecking order stuff- who's the big tough dog and who's the little submissive dog? Later, when you get your own turf where you can be a little king, you can defend it against others by throwing *** at each other (in the form of words, lawsuits, horn honking, or however you prefer to 'dump on' people).
This one is full of stereotypes- all the examples I gave were kinda male, yet every female knows there's just as much game-playing between women. Women traditionally have been made submissive to men, but in many cases that's not the case, and in any case there's a lot of passive-agressive ways the tables are turned in each direction. This corresponds to the '***' stage, and the first imprints are taken during toilet training- this develops greatly when the kid starts playing with other kids and finding out where they stand- big kids are always telling little kids what to do.
3rd circuit: Conceptual. This kicks in even before school- kids are hungry to learn. This circuit is the ability to make mental models of things, which help you 'figure things out' and 'be clever'. The imprint you take is whether you feel smart or stupid (which is different from BEING smart or stupid!)
Sometimes people who have a bad time in other circuits compensate in 3rd circuit- actually, that can happen with any of them. Note also that there are different KINDS of intelligence- verbal, mathematical, visual/spatial, musical, etc, etc... but as Robert Anton Wilson says, "...the people with the verbal intelligence have control of the language, so they call themselves THE intellectuals." My father, who is a clinical psychologist, always mentions a particular basketball player (I forget who) whom he claims is a genius in spatial/motor intelligence, regardless of the fact that the guy probably reads on a 7th grade level.
4th circuit: Social/Sexual. Whereas 2nd circuit deals with who bosses who, 4th deals with who is cool. What this comes down to is that depending on whether someone is cool or not, you'd let them get close to you or not, running a spectrum from not talking to someone at all (the snub) to having sex with them, with many subtle shades in between.
(..snip..)
5th circuit: Bliss/Healing, Neurosomatic Feedback. When 1st circuit security gets great enough, it becomes bliss, as one becomes aware of one's sensation of pleasure and learns to generate those sensations at the source. This is the SF brainbox that directly stimulates one's pleasure centers, only the box is also your brain! This feedback loop gets going, and one may remain in the state until kicked out for some reason (the world makes demands, or the chemical that boosted you into the state wears off).
Ever seen a picture of a meditating yogi in bliss? In this state, you realize you can make yourself feel bliss just as easily as you can move your muscles or keep still.
When this awareness is applied to others, the 5th circuit energy works to help their 1st circuit state- this is the principle of healing. Alli believes charisma is connected to 5th circuit, though I suspect it has to do with the others as well.
6th circuit: Psychic. This is awareness of the great information network in which we swim.
The connection to 2nd circuit is not so obvious- I became aware of the connection following a series of dreams, in which certain traumatic events of my youth were replayed, but in ways that made it obvious that the real issues were current things that had nothing to do with the old stuff. The old stuff was stuff I'd worked to uncover and work out, and I'm pretty certain there wasn't much undealt trauma left. Why was I dreaming about it? I realized that the current situation provided the flow of anxious energy, but when that flow arose, it followed the same channel cut by the old trauma, just like a flash flood will follow an old dry riverbed.
Emotions seem to run in channels in the mind, metaphorically speaking, and in the same way psychics speak of 'channeling' material from outside. This is as far as I can put it into words- I'm no master of any of these upper four, I just offer this in case it will help someone else's insight.
7th circuit: Mythical Intelligence. This is the realm of the shaman, of spirit animals, Gods and Goddesses. It is the Dreamtime. 3rd circuit draws models of specifics in the conscious world. 7th circuits draws models of the patterns of archetype that make up the unconscious world. It does this by telling stories that illustrate the patterns that arise from these archetypes. When 7th circuit awareness is working, one realizes how these patterns are being played out, and instead of just acting in the world, one is at the same time coming into direct contact with the archetypal.
8th circuit: Out-of-Body Experiences, Factor X, and ???? This is the far reaches, and not much is really understood about it. Since 4th circuit has to do with letting others get close and even (especially in the case of sexuality) merging with them, it makes sense that 8th might have to do with overcoming the obtacle of one's physical boundaries.
(..snip..)
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I'm talking about true love, not necessarily sex...