@NeoFightTheNyophite
You casually mentioned synesthesia in relation to vampirism.
A synesthesia corollary had also been my thoughts on the subject of energy work and other aspects which relate to (extra)sensory experience within magickal practice. Specifically, it seems many magickal practitioners are crossthreading their brains toward “ideasthesia,” a concept coined by Danko Nikolic, a cognitive scientist who believes that synesthesia is more than just sensory crossthreading. That is to say he indicates synesthesia extends to semantic-sensory processing under the guise of ideasthesia. In essence, in ideasthesia, we have to ask what do ideas (and intentionalities) “feel” like within a sensory perspective. Alas, if synesthesia has a potentially cerebral component rooted in the semantic, it naturally begs the question about whether one can induce learned synesthesia. It seems the occult worker may get a resultant yes to that question, despite what the cognitive scientist may say.
Nikolic’s work may be very fruitful for future inquiry on philosophy of mind and occult practice. In particular, his work may relate well toward philosophical investigations into the intersections of phenomenological consciousness and panpsychism; this is due to the emphasis on ideasthesia’s emphasis on ideas (and subsequent connections to intentionality). In extension, in practical terms, many magicians are at least philosophical panpsychists if they subscribe to notions such as thoughtforms, servitors, astral planes, psychic feeding, and other so-called non-physical aspects of mental reality.
Under panpsychism, mind is an irreducible fundamental aspect permeating the universe (just like time and space). And under panpsychism, whether one subscribes to metaphysical dualism or monism is probably irrelevant. So the language of metaphysical dualism used by so many occultists is fine because it is convenient, but people such as Nikolic may offer some new research jargon to help clarify what mind actually is in relation to interacting with the physical world.
As for myself, I have infrequently experienced episodes of color synesthesia in relation to seeing and interacting with random people. It has not happened all the time, since my crude adventures in energy work have been over for some years. But the more I have read on the enhanced synesthesia I experienced during that time period of personal learning and experimentation, I speculate that more neural crossthreading occurred due to my own efforts to increase metaphysically spooky effects. Materially, it was neural plasticity at work. So I was a synesthete before, and then doing vampirism made a pre-existent circumstance more intense, at least for the time frame where I engaged in this activity.
Today, very rarely do I get the corona visual effect (halos or auras) around particular people, where it’s more than just retina fatigue. These experiences have mostly stopped when I am just out and about going about my day (which I had considered a win rather than a loss). I had even gone through the process of seeing various doctors to make sure I wasn’t delusional or having seizures. Of course I never brought up my occult interests because I’m uninterested in being committed.
In some respect, I am sad to say that I rarely have any synesthetic experiences anymore since I saw them as scary and thought I was going crazy (when I wasn’t). I did what I could to focus on everyday things, and now it seems I am a completely different person after making such a concerted effort at eliminating such experiences. I still consider that most of what I perceive and remember as pre-existent synesthesia perhaps had more to do with occult dabblings over many years, even before my discovery of vampirism. In that regard, I am fairly committed to the concept that synesthesia can be induced and cultivated in an intentional way, especially through occultic practice. Synesthesia is not the object of such practice, but it may be the nominal science term for the resultant phenomenological experiences people are attaining through such practice.
@N.D_Blackwood
What is your take on synesthesia/ideasthesia as a corollary “pointing” toward panpsychism as a backdrop for philosophical inquiry on vampirism? I admit it seems a bit counterintuitive to start with a scientific term as a datum for which to speculate on panpsychism in occult practice. I am not so interested in the mechanics of synesthesia because it is a mechanism that science will eventually explain. But I am very interested in the intentionality behind the enhancement of synesthetic experiences and episodes brought on through magickal practices, since the intentionality in ritual and meditations may increase interrelated synesthetic occult “spooky” effects, especially if impacts on others beyond the practitioner(s) are taken into consideration.
The implications of panpsychism within occultism would seemingly suggest the validity of shared mental states and intentionalities (e.g., Jungian collective unconscious, Akashic records, etc.), astral modal realism (see links section), and even quantum superpositioning & entanglement within separated biological systems (see Quantum Neurobiology links). In that regard, panpsychism may be a useful philosophical idea for examining concepts that have previously seemed disconnected. But nonetheless, we must presuppose that panpsychism is only really taken seriously in some “academic” circles where philosophy is still taken seriously; so, there is no practical utility beyond its use as a speculation tool.
The science community has passed off psychic faith healers with genuine synesthesia as having a real neurological experience but as nevertheless being psychologically deluded kooks who are fooled by the placebo effect. That is, it cannot be that faith healing works at all, from a classical physics empirical perspective. Any perceived or real benefits to recipients are always reduced to placebo. You are a medical doctor, so this is your domain which I do not wish to step on. Hitherto, you still seem pulled in two directions, regardless of your commitment to medical science. You have feet in two worlds. And I do look forward to learning more about your occult work as time permits.
Sorry that I have not really bothered to do proper citations. There are links below covering some of the stuff I have rambled about.
Links:
Synesthesia: Synesthesia / Ideasthesia
Faith healing and synesthesia: Synesthesia Could Explain How Some People See 'Auras' - PsyBlog
Hard Problem of Consciousness: Hard Problem of Consciousness — David Chalmers - YouTube
https://iep.utm.edu/hard-con/
Panpsychism:
https://iep.utm.edu/panpsych/
Modal Realism: http://www.uky.edu/~mwa229/ModalRealism.html
Quantum Neurobiology:
