
These trialogues are from a series of lively, far-reaching discussions between Rupert and his close friends Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna, that took place between 1989 and 1998, in America and England.
These three-way conversations began in private after their first meeting in 1982. Encouraged by their similar fascinations and complimentary views, and inspired by the synergy of their ideas and styles and the input of differing areas of expertise, the three friends continued to meet and explore new areas of thought. Throughout their public trialogues, which began in 1989, they maintained the spontaneous, playful and intrepid spirit of their private talks, and were thrilled that these explorations inspired further discussions amongst their audiences. Their trialogues and friendship have been a source of great inspiration and stimulation for their own lives and work.
In their first set of public trialogues, held as a workshop at Esalen in 1989, they explored aspects of the world soul from the perspectives of chaos, creativity and imagination, and discussed many topics including: light and vision; the psilocybin mushroom; the unconscious; entities; the resacralization of the world; the reform of the educational system and the Apocalypse.
Their second series of trialogues examined evolution in all its forms, through new topics that included: grassroots science; psychedelics, computers and mathematics; psychic animals; the World Wide Web; celestial intelligences; the nature of time and the evolving mind.
Edited transcripts of many of their first series of trialogues are published in the book Chaos, Creativity, and Cosmic Consciousness (originally published as Trialogues at the Edge of the West), and many of those from their second series can be found in The Evolutionary Mind.
Terence McKenna was an ethnopharmacologist, shamanologist, and author, known for his theories on plant hallucinogens and the novelty wave, and the bardic skill with which he conveyed his ideas. Sadly Terence died aged 53 on April 3, 2000.
Ralph Abraham, PhD, is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, author, and pioneer in the fields of Chaos theory, computer graphics, visual mathematics and dynamical systems.
- Latest Conversation Between Rupert Sheldrake and Ralph Abraham
A conversation with Ralph Abraham in London in December 2015. We discuss recent consciousness research, and in particular a conference in India at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore, and a symposium in England on psychedelics, focussing on the visionary effects of DMT and ayahuasca.
Paddy Rose Price was the trialogues editor.

The Trialogues
- 1. Cast of Characters 50 min
- 2. The Evolutionary Mind 1hr 3min
- 3. Superintelligent AI: Speculations From 1998 1hr
- 4. Fractal History at the Edge of the Millenium 50 min
- 5. Creativity and the Imagination Part 1 45 min
- 6. Creativity and the Imagination Part 2 44 min
- 7. Form from Chaos, Energetic Flux, World Soul 45 min
- 8. Creativity and Chaos 42 min
- 9. Chaos and the Imagination Part 1 45 min
- 10. Chaos and the Imagination Part 2 44 min
- 11. Light and Vision Part 1 44 min
- 12. Light and Vision Part 2 45 min
- 13. Disincarnate and Non-human Entities78 min
- 14. The Unconscious Part 1 44 min
- 15. The Unconscious Part 2 42 min
- 16. The Resacralisation of the World Part 1 44 min
- 17. The Resacralisation of the World Part 2 42 min
- 18. Education in the New World Order Part 1 43 min
- 19. Education in the New World Order Part 2 33 min
- 20. The Apocalypse 1 hr 23 min
- 21. Grass Roots Science Part 1 44 min
- 22. Grass Roots Science Part 2 48 min
- 23. Saving the World Part 1 42 min
- 24. Saving the World Part 2 28 min
- 25. Gender Issues Part 1 49 min
- 26. Gender Issues Part 2 42 min
- 27. Cannabis Part 1 39 min
- 28. Cannabis Part 2 38 min
- 29. Crop Circles Part 1 39 min
- 30. Crop Circles Part 2 47 min
- 31. Psychedelics and the Computer Revolution Part 1 45 min
- 32. Psychedelics and the Computer Revolution Part 2 38 min
- 33. Fields, Brains and Chaos Part 1 39 min
- 34. Fields, Brains and Chaos Part 2 42 min
- 35. A Report on Crop Circles 56 min
- 36. Psychedelics and Mathematical Vision - Part 1 36 min
- 37. Psychedelics and Mathematical Vision - Part 2 min
- 38. The Immediate Future and the Millenium - Part 1 44 min
- 39. The Immediate Future and the Millenium - Part 2 43 min
- 40. The Heavens 1hr 30 min
- 41. Utopianism and Millenarianism - Part 1 44 min
- 42. Utopianism and Millenarianism - Part 2 44 min
- 43. Hazelwood Introductions 38 min
- 44. Homing Pigeons Part 1 46 min
- 45. Homing Pigeons Part 2 45 min
- 46. Time - Part 1 44 min
- 47. Time - Part 2 45 min
- 48. Fractal Boundaries and Dischaos 1 hr 25 min
- 49. Angels, Entities and the Heavens 42 min
- 50. Hawaii Part 1 42 min
- 51. Hawaii Part 2 42 min
- 52. The World Wide Web - Part 1 42 min
- 53. The World Wide Web - Part 2 38 min
- 54. Scepticism Part 1 40 min
- 55. Scepticism Part 2 44 min
- 56. Morphogenetic Family Fields Part 1 46 min
- 57. Morphogenetic Family Fields Part 2 31 min
- 58. Mini Trialogue Questions and Answers Part 1 49 min
- 59. Mini Trialogue Questions and Answers Part 2 1hr 2 min
An introduction to the first series of public trialogues held at Esalen, California in 1989. Morphic Resonance, the novelty wave, chaos mathematics, and their roles in the paradigm shift. The vision of nature as alive, and a new understanding of the soul of the world. The three masks - evolutionary creativity, the cosmic imagination and chaos. Insights into the nature of time. The practical application of chaos theory to the problems of the world. The human soul as a reflection of the world soul.
1998, UC Santa Cruz. What could have been the cause for the breakthrough in the evolution of human consciousness around 50,000 years ago? Collective memories of predation and how they may shape our minds today. The role of the imagination in our evolution. Physiological evolution and the idea of divine brain surgery. The psilocybin hypothesis. The transformation of human nature through connection with higher levels of consciousness in the universe. The universal information field and cosmic evolution.
1998, UC Santa Cruz. A discussion on the evolution of consciousness as it relates to machines. Symbolic logic, nanotechnology and the possibility of a synthetic super-intelligence. Artificial Intelligence as a part of ourselves that could shape our evolution. Virtual computers as the source of the AI. Partnership or conflict between human and machine? How much control do we have in the evolution of machine intelligence? Challenges to the premises of the AI argument. Quantum computers, machine-time and the possibilities of the World Wide Web.
The fractal idea of history, and millenia as the plateaus of history. These bifurcation periods as opportunities to influence the creation of the future. What kind of future or change are we trying to create? The need for the enhancement and spread of clarity. Psychic pets and their role in breaking the spell of rationalism. Psychedelics, the World Wide Web and psychic pets as forms of boundary dissolution. The need for change in the educational system. The problem of the rejection of mathematics.
Part I The crisis in science: collision between the permanent and evolutionary views of the nature of reality. The universe as an evolving system of habits. Did natural law exist before the Big Bang? Cosmic creativity, imagination and the womb of chaos. Chaotic sudden perturbations. The Omega Point. The ego's response to chaos. The cosmic attractor in the evolutionary process.
Part 2 How is human imagination related to the creative principle of nature? The nature of the Gaian mind. Human history as a Gaian dream. The Divine Imagination as the source of all creativity. How can we extract the message of the Gaian mind? How could the imaginations of the solar system, galaxy and cosmos be related to each other? Dark matter and the cosmic unconscious. The nature of the Logos. The personal apocalypse. The journey of language to the Divine Imagination. Natural law, ordinary reality and chaos.
Part I The chaos revolution, chaotic attractors and indeterminism in nature. The emergence of form from the field of chaos. The formative process in cooling. Is the mathematical realm of the world soul in co-evolution with ordinary reality? The potential of mathematics to aid us in our own evolution by extending our language for dealing with complex systems. Visual intuitions and the Butterfly Effect. Included in Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness first published as Trialogues at the Edge of the West Chapter 1 (page 3).
Part 2 The idea of an attractor for the entire cosmic evolutionary process. The role of the attractor in chaos dynamics. Motivation and attraction. The value of spoken language. Mathematical modelling. The relationship between mathematical models with chaotic behaviour and the chaos in life. Idolatry and models becoming reality. The feminine aspect of creativity. Included in Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness first published as Trialogues at the Edge of the West Chapter 2 (page 23).
Part I How can chaos theory and full access to the imagination aid us in our understanding of the world and in the creation of our future? Chaos in mythology. The repression of chaos, the rise of patriarchy and the fall into history. The chaos revolution. Bringing chaos tangential to the burning planet. Vision plants and shamanism. Our 'secret history' and how it relates to the Gaian mind. The creative act as the night sea journey. The living mystery of the imagination. Dominator and partnership culture. Included in Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness first published as Trialogues at the Edge of the West Chapter 3.
Part 2 Festivals, a calendrical reform and 'pharmacological intervention'. Oscillating models of chaos, creativity and the imagination. Eleusis as a great turning point. The Virgin of Guadalupe. The Faustian pact with the physical world. The cultural cul-de-sac of the dominator mode. Restoring partnership values, opening our lives to chaos and the world soul. Chaos as Gaian fury and as a moment of opportunity. A forward escape into technology? Included in Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness first published as Trialogues at the Edge of the West Chapter 3.
Part I How is our own vision related to light, and how is the perception of the world soul related to light? What is the connection between physical light and other definitions of light? Where are visual images located? Attention felt across space and the sense of being stared at. The electromagnetic field as the medium of the morphic field. A look at some possible experiments in this area. Dowsing. Pheromones.
Part 2 The electromagnetic field as intermediary among the physical fields. The field-like structure of perception and mental activity. Pheromones as the chemical regulation of the whole earth? The mystery of light and the self-luminosity of the imagination. DMT and attention. The anti-universe theory. The role of the electromagnetic field in the soul of the world. The hierarchical mental ecosystem. Galactic minds, the solar eye and divine omni-perception. How novelty can cause an unconscious Gaia to rise into awareness. A cognitive map of the Gaian mind. Included in Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness first published as Trialogues at the Edge of the West Chapter 5.
Part I
Are disincarnate and non-human entities mental projections or non-physical, autonomous entities? What can we learn from them? Their variety and persistence in human history. Early modern science and angelic communication. The shamanic model. The aversion to the irrational in Christianity and science. The need to analyze the entities' messages. A mathematical model of body, soul and spirit. Entities as inhabitants of the spiritual domain of the logos. The evolution of their multifarious representations. The dogma of purgatory. Contacting these entities through dreams and psychedelics. The deepest layers of the faery tradition. Metaphors of light? Entities as artificers and their use of language. Is the world soul behind these entities? Corn circles. The call to prepare language for these encounters. Experiential contact with the celestial sphere. The humanist illusion of self-sufficiency, leading to societal possession. Mammon. A celestial battle on earth? Redirecting attention to the positive forms. The ultimate partnership - reconnecting the Gaian and celestial spheres to the human spirit. Where could the new alchemical kingdom be?
From the book:
Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness first published as Trialogues at the Edge of the West, Chapter 6.
0:00 Terence
12:40 Ralph
18:17 Terence
20:55 Ralph
23:20 Terence
26:05 Ralph
30:41 Terence
31:22 Rupert
35:10 Terence
39:54 Rupert
...
Part I Chapter 7 of Trialogues at the Edge of the West. What is the nature of the unconscious, and how can we access its restorative powers? Bifurcation theory of the unconscious. Evil and the repression of chaos. Escape from evil by bringing the unconscious back. The idea of the sacred city. From psychedelic partnership phase to restrictive dominator phase. Alcohol and cultural neurosis. The age-related reestablishment of shamanic sacraments. Habituation and the unconscious. The calendar as an engine for illuminating the unconscious, through rituals and festivals. The unavailable unconscious and the maintenance of consciousness. Christmas as a child's festival. Caffeine and industrial capitalism.
Part 2 Chapter 7 of Trialogues at the Edge of the West. Sacred plants and calendar-based rituals. Sacred sites and celestial communication. Invocation, psychedelic visions and the consciousness of the natural world. The role of dominator drugs. Denial and its dangers for our evolution. Sacred festivals. The difficulty of accessing the restorative powers of the unavailable unconscious. Lightening the dark through prayer, astrology and a resurrection of magic. The Gaian unconscious. Included in Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness first published as Trialogues at the Edge of the West Chapter 7.
Part I Chapter 8 of Trialogues at the Edge of the West. In what ways can we bring the sacred back into the world? Ralph's religious background. Loss of connection to the sacred as a root cause of world problems. Resumption of rituals. Resacralization of music. The aesthetics of the world soul. Feminism, the revival of partnership society and a reinvigorated psychedelic priesthood. Revival of Gothic cathedral-building. Festivals and the sacralization of space and time. The 'greening of God'. The global consequences of the shift in the sense ratio. The 'Archaic Revival' and resacralization by religion.
Part 2 Chapter 8 of Trialogues at the Edge of the West. The unifying flag of Gaia. A true Gaian religion. Revulsion at religion and scientism. Psychedelicizing and sacralizing green politics. The timescale problem. A green order associated with every religion. Connection with sacred places. The sacralization of science. Ritualized mushroom cults, and the mushroom as the Ur-symbiont of humanity. The will to make our own position relevant to the encroaching crisis. The forces in opposition to the resacralization programme. The revival of pilgrimage and a sense of sacred time. A possible nucleation event.
Part I Chapter 9 of Trialogues at the Edge of the West. How could the educational system be reformed and resacralized? An initiation-based educational model not confined to the rational or humanist worldview. Initiations into trades, professions and skills. Adolescent initiation rites. The workshop system of education as a model. Feminizing the educational system. The need for choice and a complete knowledge of history. A workshop voucher system with the interplay of different specialities. A spiritually based educational system with religious initiation.
Part 2 Chapter 9 of Trialogues at the Edge of the West. Resacralizing education and re-visioning the workshop system. The incorporation of an initiatory quality throughout the educational system. Free-market economics in education. A self-initiating, self-propagating, self-organising and self-regulating system. A pioneering pilot project in an existing workshop centre. A devious way for achieving the resacralization of the world.
Chapter 10 of Trialogues at the Edge of the West. The apocalyptic tradition: paranoid self-fulfilling prophecy or an intuition of instability? Stripping the provincialism from apocalyptic messages. Apocalyptic scenarios, including the 'God-whistle' theory. The ecological catastrophe as the appropriate interpretation of the Apocalypse. Steering the Apocalypse toward a tolerable conclusion. The power of faith. Big Bang cosmology as a projection of the Judaeo-Christian model of history. The fate of the sun. The projection of the Apocalypse in 2012. Ecological catastrophe and forces of novelty that may create planetary metamorphosis. Global crucifixion. The recovery of Eden. The personal apocalypse: a glimpse of post-mortal life. Interplanetary morphic resonance. The green version of the apocalyptic vision.
Part I Chapter 1 of The Evolutionary Mind. The institutionalisation of mainstream science has alienated the public and marginalised the amateur base of science. A new model for science is both possible and necessary. The need for big science to reintegrate with grassroots science. Examples of important low budget amateur research projects. How the computer revolution and the formulation of specific questions could empower grassroots science. Global environmental problems are likely to provide the main motivation for the revival of grassroots science. Rescuing science from the distorting demands of capitalism. The benefits of combining holistic and analytical research. A grassroots research project on holistic medicine.
Part 2 Chapter 1 of The Evolutionary Mind. Re-distributing the budget in science. How to motivate and fund more amateur research projects. How grassroots science could contribute towards the solution of global environmental problems. The grassroots component in archaeology; paleontology; astrology; nutritional studies and consciousness research. Large-scale projects can be influenced enormously by the discoveries of grassroots science. The benefits of taking a holistic approach to the whole field of knowledge. The importance of posing appropriate questions to researchers. Low budget experiments that could change the world. Encouraging amateur scientists through a revitalized scientific education.
Part I Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. What can be done to solve the problem of over-population and resource depletion? Could encouraging a population policy save the world without disregarding individual concerns? How do you provoke a shift in consciousness that would result in people wanting less children? Resource depletion in high-tech societies. The prejudice against only children. How could such a plan be implemented? A new way to empower women. Exploring the potential positive and negative effects of achieving zero population growth on a planetary scale.
Part 2 Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. Further speculations on the impact of population policies. How a capsule that enables gender choice of offspring could make population growth plummet. Saving resources by moving people to different locations. Curbing resource depletion and overpopulation. Grassroots research projects on family dynamics. The liberation of women. Reforming people's attitudes through family dynamics models. The role that social sciences, mathematics and myth could play in saving the world. A demographic modelling disc. Family numerology. A positive re-evaluation of the only child. A sociological research programme.
Part I Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. Ralph's hypothesis of androgyny. A person's soul does not necessarily share the gender restriction of the biological body. Social practices that emphasize gender differences can hinder the exposure of a complete person. Achieving maximum androgyny through the exploration of sexual experience. Proposals for the salvation of the nuclear family. Healing emotional diseases in relationships. How would androgyny impact monogamy and the behaviour of women? Androgyny as a state of completeness in a person's psychological make up. Celibacy as a method for personal development. Men's and women's movements. Is gender differentiation a necessary feature of human society?
Part 2 Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. Exploring ways to recover the extended family. The popularity of computer networking. New ways to satisfy the need for community. Our addiction to travel and the need to minimise mobility. The benefits of travelling on foot. Can the computer revolution help reduce the need for travel? A model for a locally-based community. Can the men's and women's movements help stabilise gender relations? The revival of interest in rites of passage. Voluntary monogamy.
Part I Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. Terence's interest in cannabis. The feminising and boundary-dissolving influence of cannabis. Cannabis intoxication and dreams. Cannabis and anxiety. Victorian tales of cannabis. The influence of hashish on India and the Middle East. Cannabis as the carrier of a new set of values. A tool for creativity and the enhancement of empathy and communication. A medicine for cultural evolution? The difference between smoking and eating cannabis. How hemp is related to stories. An aid to the appreciation of sacred places. The impact of abstinence on peak performance. Cannabis as an aid for concentration and connectivity.
Part 2 Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. The shadow side of cannabis. The dangers of habitual usage. Cannabis and energy levels. The chemistry of cannabis. The impact of cannabis on memory and language. Aphrodisiac effects. Cannabis versus alcohol. Why is it illegal? Early use of cannabis. The drug war. Researching the different qualities and various forms of cannabis. Age-related experimentation. Decriminalisation versus legalisation. The impact of legal restraints on the attraction for illegal substances. Hemp. Is the right to the exploration of consciousness a part of the pursuit of human freedom and happiness?
Part I Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. Exploring the crop circle phenomenon. The Plasma Vortex theory. Why are crop circles associated with megalithic sites? The evolution of their patterns and features. A look at some of the diverse theories: from migrating hedgehogs to the celestial theory. Is there a single satisfying explanation? Is the hoax theory an unlikely explanation? Terence's theory that crop circles are an intelligence operation and an experiment in deception.
Part 2 Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. Further investigations into the crop circle mystery. Are crop circles a method of Gaian communication? An international crop circle competition. Crop circles should be empirically investigated. Terence explains his 'trap theory' - Are they a disinformation project aimed at preserving orthodoxy? Reactions to Terence's theory. Christian and pagan ideologies and the impact of Christianity on paganism. Christian animism. Appreciating sacred places. Rupert's plan for a research project on crop circles.
Part I Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. What are the connections between psychedelics and the computer revolution? Some examples of the causal relationship between psychedelic use and creativity in the computer industry. A look at the parallel chronologies and future synthesis of computers and psychedelics. Creativity as a natural resource. Electronic media is returning us to an eye-oriented culture and causing the re-emergence of the suppressed unconscious. This reawakening of the collective and visual imagination is part of an archaic revival. The world of dreams as the prototype for this process. Print versus manuscript culture. Interactivity will be a key factor in the future of electronic media. Opening up the mathematical imagination through computer-graphics. Uploading the unconscious into a cultural artefact.
Part 2 Esalen, California, 1991. Psychedelics and the creative process. The future of the computer revolution. How the communication of visual mathematical revelation is enhanced by psychedelics. Understanding visual mathematics. The connection between mathematical visualization and the perception of ordinary reality. Is the mathematical landscape a realm of truth or a neurological construct? Exploring the mathematical landscape. The co-evolution between mathematical discovery and the neurological structures within the mind. How can mathematics help us in our understanding of the world?
Part I Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. Fields as the interface between the mind and brain. The role of fields in our understanding of physical reality. Can all order in nature be traced to the organising or patterning influence of fields? Memory and mental fields. A morphic field theory of the mind. Modelling brain function and the relationship between the mind and the brain. The code-checking function in DNA. How do the electromagnetic and morphic fields function? The location of mind and the questions posed by memory. Is there a storehouse for species memory? Is there a structure in the memory of the world that enables non-local resonance between individual species?
Part 2 Esalen, California, 1991. Not found in a book. Religious explanations of memory. Exploring two different models for memory. Memory does not have to be stored. Print versus oral culture. The role of resonance in the memory process. The nature of time. Is the past somehow accessible and co-existent with the present? The evolution of the morphogenetic field. How are the physical levels of an organism connected with the mental levels? The coupling of morphic and physical fields in crystals. Experiments to uncover the possibility of the mental influence on physical fields. Morphic resonance and computers.
Esalen, California, 1992. Not found in a book. A brief summary of the crop circle mystery. The increasing number of hypotheses. An international crop circle making competition. A mystery beyond hoaxing? Their apparent interaction with human consciousness.. Their connection with palaeolithic rock markings. If they are communications, what are they trying to tell us? Modern disillusionment with science. Crop physiology. Rupert's crop circle investigation and his encounter with the police. The amusing aspects of crop circles and the peculiar coincidences that happen around them. The Japanese investigation. Crop circles and UFOs.
Part I Esalen, California, 1992. Chapter 2 of The Evolutionary Mind. Exploring the connection between mathematics and the experience of the logos. The psychedelic and computer revolutions of the 1960s helped cause the rebirth of mathematics. Maths as a language of space-time pattern. To what extent could the psychedelic vision of the logos be externalised through supercomputers? Will this technology enable us to communicate and share our experience of space-time pattern? Computer-graphic displays lack the emotional intensity of a psychedelic experience. In what ways can mathematical vision serve the spirit and extend the mind? Mathematical notation.
Part 2 Esalen, California, 1992. Chapter 2 of The Evolutionary Mind. Deep data. Is mathematics a way to generate deep meaning? How could expanding our visual linguistic capability enhance our connection to the world? Visual language as a kind of telepathy.. The differences between print lineal cultures and oral aboriginal cultures.. Are we undergoing a transition from print to visual culture? The new forms of media that are shaping our culture. Could this new media enhance our connection to the natural world? The misuse of new technologies. Language as a new frontier in natural history. Using technology to try to understand language. Mathematics is part of the natural world. Ralph explains the importance of mathematics.
Part I Esalen, California, 1992. What is the nature of the political and social world that we should construct for ourselves and for our children? The problem of future-phobia within our society. How can society be reconstructed and improved? The crisis in values in our society. The incompatibility of capitalism and democracy. The need for intervention. Rethinking the notion of freedom. Could the idea of the eschaton be working against change? The need for leadership with positive guiding visions. Where will the new positive vision come from? What could trigger the next major shift? The return to local communities. A native peoples' intervention. The danger of pretending that catastrophe is not probable. What kind of miracle could help avert catastrophe? The need for mathematical models to aid environmental and economic interventions.
Part 2 Esalen, California, 1992. Electronic feudalism. Terence's view on and the fractionalisation and feudalisation of the world. The dangers of materialism. The need for the empowerment of women worldwide. The resurgence of shamanic practice. The need for social transformation and a vision on the mythological level. A way to achieve zero population growth. The psychedelic revival in England. The need for a collective vision quest. Entheogens and religion. The post-catastrophic world society. Crisis will force change. What is the true mission of humanity? Questions and answers: The eschaton as eraser of boundaries. 2012.
Esalen, California, 1992. Chapter 9 of The Evolutionary Mind. The ancient view of the universe as alive. The anima mundi. The fall into the deterministic and mechanistic worldview. How this view is now being transcended. The recovery of the sense of the life of nature and of the heavens. Creativity and morphic resonance in nature. Resacralizing the earth through seasonal festivals and pilgrimage. Linking astronomy and astrology and resacralizing the heavens. Is the universe somehow conscious? Contacting celestial intelligences. Elizabethan star magic and the concept of the great chain of being. Are the contents of our imagination somehow real? Organismic philosophy and the re-infusion of spirit into nature. Re-animating the cosmos. The different levels of intelligence in the universe, and possible techniques for communicating with them. Channelling the stars. A synthesis of astrology and astronomy. Guiding intelligences. Questions and answers: The need to engage with the environment. Light and energy as a manifestation of spirit. Various ways to invoke stellar deities. Long barrows. The feeling of reverence for the heavens. The sky as teacher. The consciousness of the sun. Imagination as the source of creativity in nature. Renaissance magic.
Part I Esalen, California, 1992. Chapter 10 of The Evolutionary Mind. Utopianism and Millenarianism. A cultural history of utopianism. Surges of utopian renewal. The trinitarian utopian model. Are the utopian and millenarian movements tendencies of the European mind in reaction to Christianity? Millenarians are dominated by the apocalyptic idea. How have these trends influenced the trialoguers? The Marxist utopian model. Scientific utopianism. Liberal political utopianism.. New age and psychedelic utopianism. A mathematical utopia. 2012 - the end of history? What is the connection between the Archaic Revival and the Timewave? Is millenarianism an anti-progressive force? Origins and end-points. Utopianism is reasonable if we can change our minds.
Part 2 Esalen, California, 1992. Chapter 10 of The Evolutionary Mind. Our role as care-takers of the world. Is time speeding up? A fractal model of time. A model of history that shows catastrophic transformations to new equilibria. Self-fulfilling prophecies. Does the Omega Point concern the entire cosmos or is it limited to human destiny on earth? A vision of a world revived through animism, mathematical vision, stellar communication and psychedelics. Questions and answers: Large scale vacuum fluctuation. The birth of universe. Life after death. Ralph considers new forms of trialoguing and teaching the trialogue idea.
Hazelwood, Devon, England, June 1993 In this introduction to the trialogues held at Hazelwood house in Devon, England, Rupert, Ralph and Terence introduce each other and give their perspectives on their friends' lives, characters and work.
Part I Hazelwood, Devon, England, June 1993. Chapter 4 of The Evolutionary Mind. How do homing pigeons find their way home? All theories attempting to explain this phenomenon have failed. More unexplained biological mysteries. Do animals and humans have senses or powers unacknowledged by science? What are the implications of these powers? Rupert's proposed experiment with a mobile pigeon loft. Pigeon racing. Ralph's visual theory and the elastic band theory. A quantum mechanical perspective on these forces. Why have humans lost contact with such powers? New domains of quantum mechanical biology. To what degree is the assumption that the future is unknowable an artefact of culture and language?
Part 2 Hazelwood, Devon, England, June 1993. Chapter 4 of The Evolutionary Mind. A new understanding of time. How do animals communicate? The sixth sense is a social field phenomenon. Could human problems be linked with our disconnection from this field? The need to go beyond language. Entering the atemporal sphere through assimilating animal understanding. Terence's understanding of animal magic as a hyperdimensional perception of the future. Speaking in tongues. Questions and answers: How our languages affect our view of the world. Animal teachers. Recognising science's blindness to such astonishing natural powers. The large-scale implications of Bell's theorem.
Part I Hazelwood, Devon, England, June 1993. Chapter 8 of The Evolutionary Mind. Changing the way we look at time. Orthodoxy's teachings about time. Apocalyptic intuitions from psychoactive plants. Complexity and novelty in the universe. Terence's attempts to construct a new temporal cosmology. Is the universe being pulled and shaped by a transcendental attractor? Is our planetary crisis really some kind of birth? Using dream, yoga and psychedelics to glimpse the transcendental attractor. Myths of time and their differing impact upon cultures. Life as a strategy for the conquest of dimensionality, including the conquest of time. Metamorphosis and boundary dissolution. Does Terence's vision concern the transformation of this planet or of the entire universe?
Part 2 Hazelwood, Devon, England, June 1993. Chapter 8 of The Evolutionary Mind. Vacuum fluctuations and the potential disappearance of the material universe. 2012 and the timetable of Terence's Novelty theory. The role of entheogens in the preparation for the future. A cosmic initiation ritual. Questions and answers: A geometric theory of spirituality. Encouraging the creative and artistic impulse. Neo-archaism and the shamanic art of gaining a familiarity with death. The need to minimise materialism within our society. The need to re-empower our sense of self and community. The 'union of opposites'. History as an alchemical process. 'All time rests within eternity'.
Hazelwood, Devon, England, June 1993. Chapter 7 of The Evolutionary Mind. Ralph tells a fractal story and explains how fractal models can illuminate our understanding of the world. Applying fractals to individual psychology.. The need for chaos and disorder in the personality. Multiple personality 'dischaos'. A 'sandy beach' model of the mind. Therapeutic strategies to increase chaos. The need to restore pantheism. A mathematical model for monogamy. Order and chaos must be balanced. Multiple attractors at the end of time. A polytheistic psychology. The unity within polytheistic systems.. Cultures and individuals need fractal rather than rigid boundaries. A fractal cosmos. The mystery of the Holy Trinity. The loss of unity through rigid boundaries. How can we fractalize our boundaries and create unity? Psychedelics, meditation, travel, tantra and chanting. Returning to the pre-verbal mode of expression. What about people whose boundaries are too low already? The cure to boundary anxiety can be found within. Is there any culture that has managed to avoid 'dischaos'? Questions and answers: The Aristotelian perspective of modern science needs to be balanced by the Platonic. Maths anxiety. Chaos is a kind of order and vice versa. Jung's deconstruction of Yahweh. The sacred trinity of the goddess. Recovering the aboriginal state of consciousness. Cultural taboos.
Hazelwood, Devon, England, June 1993. Angels, Entities and the Heavens Hazelwood, Devon, England, June 1993. Disincarnate entities and their messages. Their concern with the development of language. Angels as the guardians and intelligences of the natural world. Recovering a sense of the life of the universe. Recovering the link between heaven as a state of being and the actual sky. The Islamic conception of paradise. Heaven as a world without physics. Eternity and the DMT state. The need to resacralize the sky. The Merkaba mystics. The Polynesian notion of heaven. The physical collapse of the universe. Could there be negative entities located in the heavens? Black holes, quasars and galactic centres. The redemption of the world soul through the physical healing of the earth. A ritual invocation of the world soul. The soul can be conceived of in terms of fields. The noosphere. Field models for the world soul.
Part I A private trialogue from Terence's home on the Big Island of Hawaii, 1994. Chapter 3 of The Evolutionary Mind. The Hawaiian Islands and what they can teach us about evolution. The arrival and evolution of different forms of life on Hawaii. The creation of isolated ecosystems on Hawaii by lava flows. Hawaii as a microcosm of the Earth - the Earth as an island. Can island dispersal patterns help model how life evolves in the galaxy? Comparing the evolutionary processes of different island ecosystems. The Wallace Line. Butterfly diversity and how variety itself confers evolutionary advantage. Speciation on island groups and in the Amazon. The role of creative adaptation and morphic resonance in evolution. The evolution and development of whole ecosystems. The Amazon rainforest.
Part 2 A private trialogue from Terence's home on the Big Island of Hawaii, 1994. Chapter 3 of The Evolutionary Mind. The creation of the Hawaiian Islands' ecosystem. The arrival of life at Hawaii - spores, the duck's foot hypothesis and the teleportation theory. Interplanetary biological dispersal and the idea of a resonance phenomenon driving evolution. Evolutionary puzzles - macromutation, the metamorphosis of beetles and butterflies. What causes changes in the migratory habits of birds? How did people first find Hawaii? Human migration patterns. Interspecies communication flows and shamanism. The imitation of nature in future technology. Chanting and the Harmonic Convergence. The Web as an analogue for nature. Globalisation versus evolutionary creativity and cultural diversification. Hawaii as a creative cultural interface between east and west. Pearl Harbour. Hawaii as a channel for linking us with the stars.
Part I A private trialogue from Terence's home on the Big Island of Hawaii, 1994. Chapter 5 of The Evolutionary Mind. Ralph's fascination with the Web and its potential impact on our future. What the Web is and how it differs from the Internet. The Web as a tool for unrestricted creativity. The Web as a unique window of opportunity for the creation of a new future. The Web as the basis of the noosphere of the future. The Web empowerment book. The Web and boundary dissolution. The vast increase in connectivity and information. The Web as unbiased preserver of diversity. New forms of communication. The chaotic and uncontrollable nature of the Web. Using the Web for a research project on the quality of time. Comparing the Web with the psychedelic experience.
Part 2 A private trialogue from Terence's home on the Big Island of Hawaii, 1994. Chapter 5 of The Evolutionary Mind. Creativity and self-publishing on the Web. The problem of information overload and how to navigate through vast amounts of information on the Web. A huge increase in creativity and the accessibility of information. Is the Web unstoppable or could it be subverted? The proliferation of special interest groups and subcultures - comparing the Web with speciation in the Amazon. Divine inspiration in the creation of the Web. Can the Web have a unifying effect? The future of the computer revolution. Could the Web help trigger a spiritual transformation? Making ecological information accessible on the Web. The future impact of nanotechnology. Could the Web play a role in helping localise economies and minimise travel and our impact on the environment? Comparing the Web with television. Virtual reality.
Part I A private trialogue from June 1998. Not included in a book. Where to draw the line between unanchored speculation and excessive scepticism without ruling out important discoveries? Modern science and statistical data analysis can rule out unusual discoveries that can feed scientific progress. Terence's insistence on clear thinking. Pub scepticism and new age speculation. The problem of unanchored revelations. The danger of dogmatic scientistic scepticism. Staring experiments and psychic pets experiments. Darwin's use of information from non-professionals. The return to a more common sense approach. The need for a 'fluff scale' - but there's no clear measuring stick for truth. How to control ungrounded speculation without drawing the line too tight. Paradigm shifts in science - continental drift and the ice ages. The need to legitimise critical discussion.
Part 2 A private trialogue from June 1998. Not included in a book. How could the centralised system of science funding be reformed? The idea of a free-market approach to scientific research. The democratisation of research science. Rupert's idea for a consumer report on speculative theories. A consumer evaluation approach to different sciences. The use of blind techniques in medicine, psychology and parapsychology. The results of Rupert's survey of blind techniques. The need for blind methodology in science. Maintaining a healthy balance between speculation and scepticism. Comparing speculation and scepticism with novelty and habit. The evolution of common sense. Competition and scepticism within politics, religion and the new age.
Part I A private trialogue from June 1998. Not included in a book. Do morphic fields underlie the telepathic bonds within animal and human family groups? Morphic fields between pets and owners. Morphic fields with human families. Rupert's interest in Hellinger's family field therapy. Are family field dynamics influenced by a kind of memory? Do family ancestors influence the family field memory? Healing the imbalances within family field dynamics. The therapeutic effect of consciously acknowledging unrecognised ancestors and missing family members. The need for further investigation of family fields. Mathematical models for human family fields and social group dynamics. Anthropological data on the role of the ancestors. Comparing human and bird family field models.
Part 2 A private trialogue from June 1998. Not included in a book. How can communication within family fields be modelled? Telepathic links as a kind of non-locality. Can quantum field theory help describe the nature of family fields? The nature of photons. A connectionist model for social fields - communication, telepathy and resonance. The rubber band metaphor and the hypothesis of co-extensive connectivity. Ralph's theory on the geometry of the nimbus. Building models of family fields using the coordinate frame and the hydrodynamical system. How beneficial is the wish to mathematicise psychology? Mathematical models and their potential usefulness in dealing with world problems. The value of developing mathematical models to describe family fields and psychic pets.
Part I A public trialogue from Santa Cruz, 1998. Not included in a book. The excessive emphasis on competition over co-operation in modern evolutionary theories. General evolution theory and the evolution of consciousness. Insights from Paleolithic art on human neurophysiological change. The dream body and the post-mortal state. What is consciousness? The consciousness of animals. The primacy of consciousness. The role of evolution in consciousness. The trinitarian model of divine consciousness. Telepathic communication. Technology in the future. Co-operation versus competition in the World Wide Web. The need for sustainable living. Understanding the nature of extinction on the global level. Mathematical models on the nature of war. Human evolutionary theory - how rapid can evolutionary changes occur? Gender and partnership issues.
Part 2 A public trialogue from Santa Cruz, 1998. Not included in a book. The knot of eternity as the nexus of connectivity. General evolution theory and the hope for a quantum leap in social evolution. The impact of globalisation on cultural values. Is there a collective human memory? The latest morphic fields research - social fields, psychic pets and the collective human memory. Conspiracy theories and synchronicity. The crop circle experiment. The need for clear thinking. Morphic resonance and ley lines. An update on Terence's Novelty theory Timeline. Adrenalin, media violence and the manipulations of consumer capitalism. Comparing the psychology of violence in different cultures. Genetic engineering and the industrialisation of agriculture. Glossalalia and the limitations of symbolic logic.