The Magnet Conundrum: Polarity And Flow

Have you ever tried to explain the Law Of Attraction to someone? The chances are that you’ve used the phrase like attracts like. In fact, the chances are that you’ve also used the idea of a magnet to explain that we attract things and experiences to us that are in alignment with our predominant energetic vibration.

If so, you’ve probably also encountered some questions in this regard. After all, on the face of it, when it comes to magnets, opposites attract – the north pole of one magnet is attracted to the south pole of another. I’ve often seen skeptics use this apparent contradiction to criticise the Law Of Attraction.

Yet, when we look more deeply into the concepts of polarity and flow, it is possible to reconcile these two conflicting ideas.

As you know, all physical matter is made of atoms, which consist of electrons orbiting around a nucleus. You may also remember from studying science at school that a moving electrical charge (or electric current) produces a magnetic field. Since an electron is a small moving electrical charge, it follows that each electron in an atom produces a small magnetic field.

Although each electron’s tiny magnetic field flows in a specific direction, these don’t all necessarily line up with each other. For most substances, the directions of these fields remain randomly oriented even when in the presence of a larger magnetic field, such as that produced by a permanent (bar) magnet. However, for some substances, such as iron, the presence of a larger magnetic field causes the substance’s electrons’ small magnetic fields to all line up in the same direction as that of the larger magnetic field.

The electrons in magnetic substances such as iron will retain their alignment temporarily after the permanent magnet is removed, until the usual movement of the atoms causes them to fall out of alignment again. Permanent magnets are made out of special iron alloys whose electrons retain their alignment for many years after initial exposure to a larger magnetic field.

When it comes to magnets and attraction therefore, it is not the two poles (north and south) that are important. Instead, it is the alignment of the electrons’ magnetic fields that is responsible for allowing a strong magnetic field to flow through the substance and which causes attraction between the substance and the magnet. The two poles of a magnet are essentially just handy naming conventions to describe the direction of flow of a magnetic field.

Ultimately, alignment equals flow equals attraction… sound familiar?!

Lynne McTaggart: The Intention Experiment

A couple of chapters into Lynne McTaggart’s book, The Intention Experiment, I was disappointed. Bored and disappointed. Two emotions I certainly didn’t expect to feel while reading a book on one of my favourite topics, the intersection of science and psi.

It took me a while to figure out why I was feeling like this. It wasn’t that the book didn’t contain information from scientific studies on esoteric subjects such as meditation and intentions and healing. It did, and those studies in themselves were interesting. The studies presented do make one think about the connections between all living things and the power of the mind to affect matter. I finally realised, however, that I was battling to connect with Lynne’s writing style. It reminded me of some students’ literature reviews that I used to evaluate when I was an academic as well as of some journal articles that I would be asked to review – competent, don’t get me wrong, very competent, but “disconnected”. By this, I mean, they would present many scientific facts and figures, lists of studies and results, but ultimately not really tie these together in any coherent way to give the literature review a sense of continuity and a central critical argument (possible, even when one is trying to fairly present both sides of a debate).

I persevered with The Intention Experiment, however, and it did get better. By the time the final two or three chapters came round, linkages between sections and a critical viewpoint were emerging.

The last section of the book presents some very practical guidelines related to setting and sending an intention. I found these very helpful and probably enjoyed this section, which applied the results of the scientific studies to very specific exercises, the most. The book is further linked to Lynne’s website, where you can join a community, discuss your own and others’ experiences as well as participate in ongoing group intention experiments.

My criticisms above notwithstanding, I am still very grateful to Lynne McTaggart (and all the scientists mentioned in her book) for their continued work to understand the nature of the universe and to make it accessible to everyone.

How Negative Can Equal Positive

Sometimes, the best way to get positive is to get negative… negative air ions, that is!

A negative air ion is formed when an oxygen molecule gains an electron. Since electrons are negatively charged, the addition of one to a previously neutral molecule results in the molecule as a whole becoming negatively charged. The extra electron comes from another molecule that has been broken apart by means of energy acting upon it.

Since this energy is most often in the form of sunlight or moving air and water, it comes as no surprise that negative air ions are found in abundance in natural environments, which can contain about 4 000 negative air ions per cubic centimetre. In comparison, a typical city environment will contain less than 100 negative air ions per cubic centimetre as a result of the neutralising effects of various pollutants and synthetic materials as well as the presence of objects (such as computer monitors) that create positive air ions instead. Whereas positive air ions have a draining effect on us, negative air ions help to regulate our levels of serotonin and increase the flow of oxygen to our brains, resulting in us experiencing increased energy, greater alertness, decreased depression and relief of stress.

Various negative ion generators (or ionisers) are available in the marketplace to increase the concentration of negative air ions in your home or office. If you plan to invest in one of these, it is best to do some research prior to purchase, as not all such generators are effective. An alternative is to spend some time in your home’s own built-in negative ion generator… your shower! In nature, one of the best generators of negative air ions is a waterfall – the falling action causes electrons to break apart from the water molecules and attach themselves to oxygen molecules in the surrounding air. An indoor shower achieves the same effect, giving a whole new meaning to “washing away the stresses of the day”!

Quantum Leaping: How Long Does It Take For Change To Occur?

Teachings on the Law Of attraction focus a great deal on the issue of vibrational frequency, specifically on how to become a vibrational match for those things or experiences that you want to attract into your life. Changing our vibrational frequency feels like a process that takes time – after all, we spend time in meditation or visualisation, and we have limiting beliefs that we need to work through. Would it therefore surprise you if I said that changing our energy state from one frequency to another actually takes no time at all?

The types of activities that we associate with changing our energy state (e.g. visualisation) are an important part of the process. However, while they are preparatory activities that contribute to and lead up to the point of a change in vibrational frequency, they do not represent the change in energy state itself. This change occurs instantaneously. We can feel when the shift has happened – a sense of certainty exists that wasn’t there before. Potentiality has been converted to actuality.

What occurs when our vibrational frequency changes is akin to a quantum leap (also referred to as a quantum jump). An atom consists of negatively charged electrons orbiting around a positively charged nucleus, in much the same way that planets orbit the sun. Each orbit is fixed, and electrons can only travel on these specified pathways. When an electron jumps from one orbit to another, changing its energy state as it does so, this is referred to as a quantum leap, so called because the electron either gains or loses a quantum of electromagnetic energy (i.e. a fixed amount of energy known as a ‘photon’) in the form of light when it jumps. This change in energy is instantaneous and discontinuous – the electron jumps from energy level A to energy level B without passing any of the energy levels in between. It is a change that takes no time at all.

It takes observation of the atom to initiate a quantum leap, transforming the electron from a fuzzy state of potentialities into a particular point in time and space. As such, triggering a change in our vibrational frequency from one level to another is achieved by means of making a firm decision regarding our intentions and desires. Until we commit to what we want, it remains only a possibility. It is our decision, focus and attention that ensure that it manifests into the physical.

Deepak Chopra: SynchroDestiny

For someone who loves reading books on metaphysical and spiritual topics, I have hardly read any of Deepak Chopra’s work – apart from one of his fiction books, SynchroDestiny is the first of his books that I’ve delved into! Luckily, it was a good introduction to Deepak and his style of writing, so I’ll definitely be investing in some more of his books soon :).

This particular book focuses on the phenomenon of synchronicities – those apparent coincidences that illustrate the larger forces at work in our lives. As the book’s blurb states, “…there is no such thing as a meaningless coincidence.”

The first part of SynchroDestiny focuses on the science that lies behind synchronicities and the Law Of Attraction. If you’re looking for a simple, clear explanation of some of the principles of quantum physics and nonlocal intelligence (the field), this is it. Deepak is definitely very skilled in explaining complex concepts in a very user-friendly manner! This section of the book also goes deeply into the concepts of coincidence and intention.

The second part of the book is devoted to the practical exploration of the concepts. These exercises are centred around the process of meditation, using mantras to focus the mind. I found these exercises interesting and useful, although I altered the process of meditation described to fit with my own style of meditating. Deepak’s methods may work for him and for others, but I found them to disruptive to my own rhythm, and I therefore had much more success when I integrated his techniques with my own. Don’t be afraid to experiment a bit to find what works for you – there is no “one size fits all” style of meditating!

Throughout the book, Deepak makes reference to the ancient Eastern wisdom of Vedanta, which describes much of what quantum physics is only now discovering regarding how the universe functions. In this respect, it is also incredibly interesting to read SynchroDestiny’s Appendix A, in which Deepak outlines the principles of the Hermetic tradition, which has its origins in ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, to illustrate how these principles match those of the Vedanta. Reading these ancient teachings demonstrates clearly that the Law Of Attraction is not new!

Can You Change The Past?

If we can change the future by the choices that we make today, is it possible to change the past? Can we unsay some of the hurtful or thoughtless things we said? Can we take the paths we should have taken, but didn’t?

The idea of changing the past is known as retrocausality, and it isn’t as far-fetched as it may sound. In fact, within the field of quantum physics, retrocausality is perfectly possible, although it has yet to be demonstrated.

For retrocausality to work, the past, present and future all have to exist simultaneously. In Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, they do. Many metaphysical and spiritual writers have also commented on the fact that our perception of time is an illusion, and that it is more accurate to describe the universe as functioning by means of state or intent rather than linear clock time.

The idea of retrocausality brings some troubling paradoxes to light, the kind that movies like The Butterfly Effect have portrayed so vividly. Is it really possible to change the past to such a degree that our present changes completely? Would we even want to? Sure, I have things that I might wish had happened differently in my past, but I am who I am today and have the life that I have because of everything (good and bad) that’s happened to me so far, and I quite like my life :). Who will I become if I go back and tweak things?! Even more scarily, what if I somehow changed things in a way that resulted in my parents never meeting, and I never “became” at all? It’s enough to blow your mind!

Perhaps this is a far too literal view of the subject. Scientists and philosophers alike have debated whether there are any limits to retrocausality, with some arguing that, while actual physical changes to events may be impossible, it is possible and sometimes beneficial to change one’s present perceptions of a past event. This may sound like a more wishy-washy view of changing the past, but it can be immensely powerful and liberating, especially when we consider this argument in the light of teachings by people like Eckhart Tolle. He reminds us that the only moment that exists is “now”. The past and the future are always only in our heads. When we remember the past, we remember it now. When we think about the future, we think about it now. And when we get to the future, it is just another “now”.

In addition, let me throw another thought into the mix… if you sit ten people down who have all supposedly experienced the exact same event and ask them to tell you about what happened, you’ll pretty much get ten different stories! Each person’s memory of the event is dependent on their perceptions of the event. Given this, can we even say that an objective past exists? All that actually exists is people’s perceptions of the past. Change those, and you seemingly can change the past as well as make a tangible difference in the present.