FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
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Logging The Inner Journey
by Robert Phoenix
It was the height of the Cold War and both sides were looking for an edge. Whether it was weapons systems or espionage, the Soviets and the Americans were like the famous Mad magazine cartoon Spy vs. Spy, constantly one-upping the other. Word got out that the Russians had crafted a new type of spy, one that didn’t have a false identity or use a camera with microfilm. This spy was a psychic spy, able to view secret and classified government projects from behind the Iron Curtain. The U.S. didn’t want to get left out of the soft arms race and be third-eye-blind, so they quickly ramped up a psychic spy program of their own — Project Grill Flame.
The Army hired two young researchers from Stanford, Russell Targ and Hal Putoff to build a psychic unit that could view missile silos in Siberia without the aid of a satellite or spy plane. The Stanford Research Institute duo called upon artist and renowned psychic Ingo Swann to help develop the program, define the protocols, etc. The Army supplied candidates that seemed to possess intuitive abilities. One of Swann, Targ and Putoff’s first exercises for their psychic warriors was a trip to Faber, Virginia, home of the Monroe Institute.
Robert Monroe was a pioneer in traveling out of the body. His two first-hand accounts of his out-of-body-experiences were the groundbreaking Journeys out of the Body and Far Journeys. In the latter, Monroe actually astral-projects to the future. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Bob Monroe had found that a series of select tones, synching up both sides of the brain, made the astral body more fluid and ready to escape the gravity of this mortal coil. The technology he helped develop is called “Hemi-Sync” and employs binaural rhythms and pulse tone generations. It’s used in a very comprehensive program called “The Gateway Series.” “Gateway” is a step-by-step induction process to induce astral travel. It’s used usually in conjunction, during a week-long seminar with practitioners, etc. It can be purchased on its own, but it’s pretty expensive.
To my amazement, I found a 29-minute piece of music from the Monroe Institute called Metamusic: The Inner Journey on eMusic. So I decided to road-test it. My test would run for three sessions.
Here’s how it went.
Session I
It’s my first time with Metamusic and I don’t know what to expect. I insert the earbuds, find the track, hit play, adjust the volume and lay back before I go to sleep. My critical mind is engaged as the whooshing synths and tinkling keyboards flood my inner space. I immediately get into compare/contrast mode and the taxonomy of labeling, a clever technique we have trained ourselves to use so we feel safe. The analytical mind fires on: “Oh, it’s a little [new age composer/sound healer] Stephen Halpernesque…" "Oh, that sounds like a Kitaro patch," and so it goes. The first few minutes of Metamusic seems derivative at best — and then something happens. The soaring melodies and ethereal ambience gives way to… something else.
The composition moves closer to pure sound, large, wharfing waves of unadulterated electronics begin to migrate between the two hemispheres of my brain. What once was a stroll around an enchanted crystal forest has given way to a deep, dark, journey into the now expanded spaces of my psyche. The critical checklist is tossed upon the currents of my mind and I am no longer keeping track of the score. I am relaxed and even though the volume on the iPod is fairly high, I rapidly sail off into the space of disambiguation. My dreams are vivid and intricate, so much that I can’t bring back all of the information. I awake refreshed.
Session II
Quickly, I was reminded of how crappy the first few minutes sound and yet again the saccharine synth-play gives way to a far more adventurous ride. This time I surrender to the witness self, observing the activity, trying the best that I can to not give anything names. As I do so, I begin to perceive patterns in the sound as the waves migrate back and forth across my brain, but not just in some heavy-handed panning effect. They move up and down as they cross the corpus callosum in a swirl of sound. I can actually feel my brain cells respond, light up and my scalp begins to tingle from the inside out.
I have the epiphany that someone actually knew what they were doing when they created this. It doesn’t seem random at all to me. Somewhere in Faber, Virginia, someone had a detailed map of the brain and plotted the composition across it, like they were circumnavigating the labyrinth of a great temple. Towards the end of the piece, what must be the final seven minutes or so, the sound drops down in frequency and location, humming and droning, locked in on an area just above my right ear. It’s like some kind of sonic anchor. Again I drift off into a vivid dream state and deep sleep. I haven’t left my body yet, but achieving REM sleep seems to be both quick and effortless.
Session III
Session three was not as fruitful as the previous session. Again, the setting was night, before bed. This time however, the events of the day conspired against me and were rattling around in my brain. It took extra effort to concentrate on the music and sound, though some of the similar effects from session II were still there.
While I didn’t leave my body due to the sounds of Metamusic, I did experience it as a fairly potent piece of technology that interacted with my brain in a very interesting way and one that suggested that over time, with more frequency and focus, it could have a very positive effect on my consciousness.
Just ask the remote viewers of Project Grill Flame who became America’s psychic warriors.
The Army hired two young researchers from Stanford, Russell Targ and Hal Putoff to build a psychic unit that could view missile silos in Siberia without the aid of a satellite or spy plane. The Stanford Research Institute duo called upon artist and renowned psychic Ingo Swann to help develop the program, define the protocols, etc. The Army supplied candidates that seemed to possess intuitive abilities. One of Swann, Targ and Putoff’s first exercises for their psychic warriors was a trip to Faber, Virginia, home of the Monroe Institute.
Robert Monroe was a pioneer in traveling out of the body. His two first-hand accounts of his out-of-body-experiences were the groundbreaking Journeys out of the Body and Far Journeys. In the latter, Monroe actually astral-projects to the future. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Bob Monroe had found that a series of select tones, synching up both sides of the brain, made the astral body more fluid and ready to escape the gravity of this mortal coil. The technology he helped develop is called “Hemi-Sync” and employs binaural rhythms and pulse tone generations. It’s used in a very comprehensive program called “The Gateway Series.” “Gateway” is a step-by-step induction process to induce astral travel. It’s used usually in conjunction, during a week-long seminar with practitioners, etc. It can be purchased on its own, but it’s pretty expensive.
To my amazement, I found a 29-minute piece of music from the Monroe Institute called Metamusic: The Inner Journey on eMusic. So I decided to road-test it. My test would run for three sessions.
Here’s how it went.
Session I
It’s my first time with Metamusic and I don’t know what to expect. I insert the earbuds, find the track, hit play, adjust the volume and lay back before I go to sleep. My critical mind is engaged as the whooshing synths and tinkling keyboards flood my inner space. I immediately get into compare/contrast mode and the taxonomy of labeling, a clever technique we have trained ourselves to use so we feel safe. The analytical mind fires on: “Oh, it’s a little [new age composer/sound healer] Stephen Halpernesque…" "Oh, that sounds like a Kitaro patch," and so it goes. The first few minutes of Metamusic seems derivative at best — and then something happens. The soaring melodies and ethereal ambience gives way to… something else.
The composition moves closer to pure sound, large, wharfing waves of unadulterated electronics begin to migrate between the two hemispheres of my brain. What once was a stroll around an enchanted crystal forest has given way to a deep, dark, journey into the now expanded spaces of my psyche. The critical checklist is tossed upon the currents of my mind and I am no longer keeping track of the score. I am relaxed and even though the volume on the iPod is fairly high, I rapidly sail off into the space of disambiguation. My dreams are vivid and intricate, so much that I can’t bring back all of the information. I awake refreshed.
Session II
Quickly, I was reminded of how crappy the first few minutes sound and yet again the saccharine synth-play gives way to a far more adventurous ride. This time I surrender to the witness self, observing the activity, trying the best that I can to not give anything names. As I do so, I begin to perceive patterns in the sound as the waves migrate back and forth across my brain, but not just in some heavy-handed panning effect. They move up and down as they cross the corpus callosum in a swirl of sound. I can actually feel my brain cells respond, light up and my scalp begins to tingle from the inside out.
I have the epiphany that someone actually knew what they were doing when they created this. It doesn’t seem random at all to me. Somewhere in Faber, Virginia, someone had a detailed map of the brain and plotted the composition across it, like they were circumnavigating the labyrinth of a great temple. Towards the end of the piece, what must be the final seven minutes or so, the sound drops down in frequency and location, humming and droning, locked in on an area just above my right ear. It’s like some kind of sonic anchor. Again I drift off into a vivid dream state and deep sleep. I haven’t left my body yet, but achieving REM sleep seems to be both quick and effortless.
Session III
Session three was not as fruitful as the previous session. Again, the setting was night, before bed. This time however, the events of the day conspired against me and were rattling around in my brain. It took extra effort to concentrate on the music and sound, though some of the similar effects from session II were still there.
While I didn’t leave my body due to the sounds of Metamusic, I did experience it as a fairly potent piece of technology that interacted with my brain in a very interesting way and one that suggested that over time, with more frequency and focus, it could have a very positive effect on my consciousness.
Just ask the remote viewers of Project Grill Flame who became America’s psychic warriors.
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