Fear and Doubling In working with how fear functions in the world, one of the great questions is why we do not feel more fear and feel it all the time. Indeed, if we did feel the presence of fear in the world we would immediately work toward more spiritual ways of being. We would see that soul and spirit are being excluded from the world. So, there must be something within us that dulls the fears that are all around. We call this dulling either denial or numbing, but these words do not give a descriptive account of what is actually happening. In the presence of ongoing fear, fear that is present and around us all the time, it becomes possible to lose the sense of who we are as soul and spirit beings. The sense of soul and spirit gets lost. We act and look "normal", but our spirit is actually being replaced by a kind of "double" of ourselves. We are not ourselves anymore, but do not even realize that we are not ourselves. This doubling takes place in many different ways. In Freeing the Soul from Fear, I describe the nature of the double and how doubling takes place individually and institutionally. However, the editors refused to include the following section in the book, so I am posting it here. For ways of encountering and healing the double, see the book. The Electromagnetic Double Physiologists and neurologists now understand the functioning of nerve processes to consist of electromagnetic activity. The Earth is also surrounded and interpenetrated by this same force. The electromagnetic activity of the body and of the Earth form an entry point for another kind of double, one that makes use of this energy. Natural electromagnetic activity is not harmful and is in fact absolutely necessary for the functioning of the body. But today, this naturally occurring electromagnetic activity has been radically altered. Robert Becker and Gary Seldon present just a partial list in which electromagnetic radiation has become amplified in the world (See their book, The Body Electric). Everything that runs on a battery produces a magnetic field -- from digital watches to car ignition systems to portable radios. Strong electrical fields are used in industry, from refining ores to purifying sewage. Electric trains turn the power rail into an antenna that radiates energy for over one hundred miles. Over half a million miles of power lines crisscross the United States. Over two hundred and fifty thousand microwave phone and television relay towers dot the American land. There are now over ten thousand commercial radio and television stations in the United States alone and over 7 million other radio transmitters. The electromagnetic background is now at least 200 million times the natural level. We are extremely naïve to think that this electric activity has no effect on the human body. Besides almost certainly causing disease, the increased electrical forces make us more into electrical beings than human beings. Mary Shelly's classic novel, Frankenstein, is the story of the forming of a double in which electromagnetic energy replaces the human soul. Like the other authors in this literary genre, she was prophetic. She was seeing what could happen to our humanity. We sit in front of the television, watching a totally foolish program, aware that it is indeed idiotic, but for some reason we're unable to get up and shut it off. We even feel that it is not really us sitting there. The electromagnetic radiation from the television screen resonates with the increased electromagnetic activity of the body, putting us into a light trance. We are not ourselves, but are not fully aware that it is really not us watching the television, but a double of ourselves. Vast numbers of people now spend their days at work sitting in front of a cathode ray tube of the computer screen and spend their night cruising the internet, similarly taken over. In everyday life, consciousness can be dulled by the interpenetrating force of too much electromagnetic energy; we become more automaton-like, subject to suggestion. Nonetheless, the stupor afforded by this double of the living, physical body becomes needed to dull the prevailing fear we would otherwise have to contend with on a much more ongoing basis. One major computer manufacturer now advertises the computer as a way of doing everything from the safety of home, picturing a world of fears awaiting outside the front door. Fear thus works in collusion with the force of this double, hiding behind the glaze of semiconsciousness that we now take as normal. Abundant evidence exists that electromagnetic radiation interferes with biological rhythms, increasing nervousness and making regular sleep more difficult. The Russians have identified an illness which they call microwave sickness. The signs of this sickness are low blood pressure and low pulse, at first, followed by chronic excitation of the sympathetic nervous system and high blood pressure - the very same symptoms signifying fear. This phase includes other symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, eye pain, irritability, inability to concentrate. All these symptoms point to serious alterations of ordinary consciousness long before more measurable effects on health occur. Because the whole world has now become electrified, the amplification of this double affects everyone, bringing a collective diminishing of the fullness of being human. Responding to this situation poses great difficulty. If just a few people were exposed, the results would be observable, but when everyone is, everything goes on as if it were normal. Pointing out the extreme dangers we are putting ourselves in will certainly not result in sudden moral reform. Studies will certainly be conducted. The scientific establishment will then question those studies, corporations will cover them up, and ridiculous denials will follow. We have already seen this pattern many times over, a most recent example being the current argument over whether nicotine is actually addictive. Everyone knows without a doubt that it is, far more so than heroin. The possibility that cellular phones cause brain cancer is currently in the throes of going through scrutiny that is being effectively blocked at every point. So, we cannot wait until the evidence is in. Nor, in the meantime, is it possible to escape to any place on Earth where one can be safe from electromagnetic waves. Consciously working to develop capacities of soul and spirit can balance our being overtaken by the amplified electromagnetic double. Neither image-practices nor healthy spiritual practices function from the starting point of nerve processes. They are brain-free processes, lying in the domain of soul and spirit. Consequently, such practices can balance what is happening at the level of brain and nerve processes. And, in fact, the dangers brought about through electromagnetizing the whole world can be looked upon as a good. They can make us aware that soul and spiritual work are an absolute necessity if we are to retain any semblance of humanity. We used to meditate in order to follow a spiritual practice of one sort or another. Now, it is critical to engage in meditation and other kinds of spiritual practices just in order to retain the fullness of our humanity. However, anyone who works toward this end must also be prepared to be much more vividly present to fear in the world. The amplification of the electromagnetic double has been dulling the body to the presence of fear.

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