Kirlian Photography: ENERGY
ENER – GI (Prana, Ki, Chi – Qi, Pneuma, Ruah, Sekhem (or ka), Orgone (scientific
name), Boiling Energy, Mana – names for life force energy)
This paper will focus on the observational viewpoint of Kirlian photography; the
purpose, method, invention and historical influence, influential individuals and
artist intent. Using the Alternative Scientific method it will explain the
phenomenon observed when using the Kirlian device and its’ influence in the
esoteric community. Sir William Crookes once wrote,
We have actually touched the Borderland where Matter and Force
seem to merge into one another, the shadowy realm between the
known and the unknown. I venture to think that the greatest scientific
problems of the future will find their solutions in this Borderland, and
even beyond; here, it seems to me, lie ultimate realities, subtle, far
reaching, wonderful.
Back when the Earth was a lot more spiritual the advanced civilizations preserved
knowledge through paintings and cosmologies that often times conveyed scientific
meaning through a complex system of mythological themes, symbols, storylines, and
words. One such system was the Qabbalah system. Today we know this system as
Subliminal Messaging. Subliminals are constructed through such techniques as
simple shapes, sounds and colours, and then more complex, multi-layered methods,
such as reverse imagery, reverse symbolism, distorted symbolism, reverse speech
patterns, neuro-linguistic programming techniques, and the elaborate use of the
language and number systems, among other devious modes of manipulation. In
essence, Graphic Design is the visualization of this thinking process (whether we
realize we are using subliminal messaging when designing or not). With this in mind,
it is a lot easier to understand the thought processes of the ancient people and the
way they viewed life. According to the Egyptian theology of the Ogdoad the
universe was formed from the interaction of eight elements (instigated by one of a
number of possible gods including Thoth, Amun, Horus and Ra); water, nothingness
or invisibility, darkness and infinity. Water was represented by Nun and Naunet (the
female form). Although the Egyptians had many different creation myths, they all
agreed that the universe came from the primordial waters of Nun, and many legends
suggested that everything would slip back under these waters at the end of the
world 1.
In September 2008, NASA announced that the shield around our solar system
provided by the solar wind has been quickly declining since the mid 1990s. As a
consequence, our planet is being flooded by galactic cosmic radiation, providing a
stunning confirmation that Mayan Elders correctly predicted that as we approach
2012, we are entering a New Age dominated by ether or light, thus naming it the
Golden Era2. According to alternative scientific studies, the Life Force energy, under
1
2
http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/nun.html
http://www.susanrennison.com/2012_Whats_really_happening.php
the name of Orgone energy, appears to have an effect on weather patterns and the
incoming ether from outside our solar system has affected the climates on all
planets of our solar system. This incoming light, which is affecting the climates on
the planets, has been termed “Space Weather”. In 1940, Wilhelm Reich constructed
the first device to accumulate orgone energy: a six-sided box constructed of
alternating layers of organic materials (to attract the energy) and metallic materials
(to radiate the energy toward the center of the box). Patients would sit inside the
accumulator and absorb orgone energy through their skin and lungs. The
accumulator had a healthy effect on blood and body tissue by improving the flow of
life-energy and by releasing energy-blocks3.
In mysticism, El, spelled E L, is mentioned as the father of all gods in Egyptian
mythology. El is the inspiration for the term EL-ectricity. Electricity is produced by
the elect lady, the electrons of the atom. All those who were faithful to this god El,
the god of matter, became the elect, the chosen and faithful. These were the saints of
god who were promised riches and power, and would rule and reign with El, if they
would just put their faith in him. This was the covenant, the agreement made
between god and man. This covenant was kept in an ark, the ark of the covenant.
The ark is the electrical arcing characteristic of electricity. If anyone touched the ark,
other than the high priest, they would be struck dead. El is the great architect of the
universe, the creator god, the bringer of light. The word architect is again referring
to the arcing ability of electricity and the manipulating aspect of light as it conjures
up anything that is able to be thought up. Everything in this 3 dimensional existence
is the result of thought. Thought was inspired by El, the father of all gods. Everything
that we see is of thought or light4.
To the Rosicrucians, as to any occult school, there is no such thing as empty or void
space. To them space is Spirit in its attenuated form; while matter is crystallized
space or Spirit. Spirit in manifestation is dual; that which we see as Form is the
negative manifestation of Spirit – crystallized and inert. The positive pole of Spirit
manifests as Life, galvanizing the negative Form into action, but both Life and Form
originated in Spirit, Space, Chaos!5
But, is it Moisture?
The explanation that is given for Kirlian Photography
is it produces the same kind of effect when electricity
comes into contact with water, such as a lightening
http://www.wilhelmreichtrust.org/
http://illuminatimatrix.wordpress.com/41-what-in-the-worlds-going-on-textcompanion-to-youtubevideo/?preview=true&preview_id=2192&preview_nonce=2e2928d09a
3
4
5
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, by Max Heindel
strike. It produces a ‘corona discharge’. The esoteric community wouldn’t accept
this explanation especially when there is a difference observed when an uncooked
vegetable is photographed next to a cooked vegetable. Water was an ancient symbol
to represent light. In the ancient texts and temple wall glyphs, the mystical world
was described as “the watery chaos”. The scientific explanation of Kirlian
photography, is as follows,
Living things...are moist. When the electricity enters the living object,
it produces an area of gas ionization around the photographed object,
assuming moisture is present on the object. This moisture is
transferred from the subject to the emulsion surface of the
photographic film and causes an alternation of the electric charge
pattern on the film. If a photograph is taken in a vacuum, where no
ionized gas is present, no Kirlian image appears. If the Kirlian image
were due to some paranormal fundamental living energy field, it
should not disappear in a simple vacuum (Hines 2003).
This scientific explanation is satisfactory, however, with having first hand
experience with a Kirlian device, the problem I have with this explanation is that the
observer cannot see a gas with the naked eye while electrographying the object. Just
because something isn’t observed in a vacuum (which is just space and according to
the occult view, space is life force energy by itself) it is hard to determine and
measure the gas. Until there is a way to measure the gas that is seemingly produced
when electrographying an object the above explanation is obsolete. When I
personally started using the device, I, first used live
objects bought from the grocery store and noticed
that I was not getting the detail I expected to see. I
began this project in the dead of winter when there
was nothing blooming outside. When spring came
and I progressed to using freshly cut living objects
and the detail in the photographs became more
apparent. Just the slight difference of a freshly cut
object versus the store bought object gave enough
evidence of the existence of a life force.
The other explanation that can be given is that the
electricity produces enough tension when it comes
into contact with the object that the moisture
molecules expand, collapse and produce a luminous
glow. This phenomenon can be observed through an
experiment called, sonoluminescence.
What I love most about this kind of photography is that it reminds me of the old
hermetic saying of, “As above so below, so below as above.” This speaks of the
hermetic idea that the macrocosmos is contained within the microcosmos. The
energetic patterns photographed in the biological organisms remind me of a
different kind of galaxy or nebula. The sparkle electrical effect speaks to the hot
gaseous stars in the universe that only appear to us as twinkling dots in the night
sky.
The fusion of science and spirituality
has often been looked down upon by
mainstream scientists; it was almost a
taboo to use science to explain
something that is not of this manifest
world. One must understand that
science deals explicitly with the
manifest world, which would result a
contradiction of conclusions; however,
there are a few individuals that have
created processes that allow the
individual to observe different spiritual
teachings at a physical level, which
might mean that these teachings may
not be so spiritual after all. These
processes and techniques have been
lumped together into a field of science
called Alternative Science. Alternative Science has been known under many titles for
thousands of years. It has always been an alternative science because it requires the
investigator to go outside of their normal perceptions. Shamans and healers of all
ages share a common heritage with the Alternative Scientist. A world of patterns,
geometry and subtle radiation are operative to both (I.E; Qabbalah). Alternative
science struggles with language to describe the experience of subtle energy.
Teaching how to manipulate this subtle energy has always been a challenge. Even
with the supported and strictest scientific methods sometimes SCIENCE itself
cannot accept a certain cause or effect that has been observed at a physical level
because it goes beyond human understanding.
While researching light, sound and form I came across a peculiar type of
photography. This photography excited many of the researchers in the esoteric
community as it claimed to help photograph the human aura as well as any other
biological aura. In ancient mysticism, the etheric double or aura is a physical entity
within every biological organism. It is the body of light that acts as a conduit for
other various forms of energy. A complete alchemical transmutation from a physical
body into a body of light seems to be the ultimate goal of these ancient traditions.
There are beings that are explicitly detailed in the ancient texts and temple walls
that are described as the “Shining Ones”; they are an ancient race that are behind
the advanced civilizations of the world.
In 1961 an article was published in the Journal of Borderland Research
outlining the work of a female scientist named, Dr. Ruth Drown6. From the article, it
explains that the key to understanding the work and instruments of Dr. Ruth Drown
lies in a firm grasp of the two fundamental energy manifestations connected with
the human body. These are, first, the electrostatic energy of the physical-mineral
tissues, and second, the vital energy which passes into and through those tissues
enabling them to hold their form. Electrostatic energy remains with the physical
body after death. It is the departure of vital energy from the physical body that
constitutes death. A century ago, doctors engaged with greater freedom in
discussion writing concerning life force and/or vital energy than they do today. The
rise of the materialistic era to its ultimate development resulted in the study of the
physical body of man being deemed all sufficient.
Any physicist will tell you that molecules are whirling particles of electricity.
These whirlings never cease. It is this activity of these particles that produces the
radiance we can see around all substances. Except in terms of the amount of
radiance observed, the eye does not perceive any essential difference between
emanations. Yet, since they are in each case the result of a specific type of activity
individual to each substance, these emanations must be characteristic in some way
of their source. Whenever one adds energy to something, it grows. So in order to
capture the life force and/or vital energy of a biological organism, all one needs to
do is electrocute the object and capture the energetic patterns on paper. As it
appears that the electricity intensifies the object and produces a stronger aura,
which allows us to visibly see it with the naked eye. This peculiar photography has
become known as Kirlian Photography.
History of Kirlian Photography
A Russian scientist named Semyon Kirlian in 1936 formalized Kirlian
photography. Thelma Moss is one of the more noted people to use Kirlian
photography. As a parapsychologist, Moss felt as though the Kirlian method
conveyed the energy of its subjects. Her most popular work was published in “The
Body Electric” (1979) and “The Probability of the Impossible” (1983). Her studies
paved the way for other parapsychologists’ to explore the utility of Kirlian
photography to physical energy. In 1777 Dr Lichtenberg, a professor of physics at
the University at Gottingen in Germany built a large phosphorus-ionising machine
and demonstrated that discharges of static electricity could form complex fractallike patterns in dust. In 1898, a Russian engineer Yakov Narkevich-Todko was
reported to have produced electrographic photographs using something described
as ‘quiet electrical discharges’. He made an apparatus that could induce luminous
zones on the palms of the hands. His claim that he could influence the luminosity by
thought attracted the attention of the parapsychologists. In 1907 Father Landel de
Moura, a Brazilian Catholic priest and scientist invented a machine that could
photograph energy fields, producing radiation field photographs. He called his
invention a bio-electrographic machine. He developed a thesis of ‘Universal
Harmony’ and ‘Unity and Physics Forces’ and believed that all bodies were encircled
6
http://journal.borderlands.com/2010/radionics-ruth-drown-and-qaballah/
by a luminous coloured halo. Nicola Tesla (1846-1943), one of the pioneers of
electricity, performed experiments in the early nineteenth century showing that a
human being exposed to high frequency electro-magnetic fields produced a
luminous glow that surrounded the body like a second skin7.
Light, Sound and Form
While researching ancient Egyptian connections to light, sound and form I
ran across an article influenced by ancient Egyptian alchemy. This article discussed
mono atomic gold. It is a mystical and alchemical substance used by the ancient
people of Egypt to achieve super states of consciousness. A part of the process of
creating mono atomic gold seems to happen within the form of a pyramid. The story
accompanying the pyramid image is about the pyramid energy research of Mary and
Dean Hardy. The Hardys’ once took a gold coin and hung at the King's Chamber level
of a Great Pyramid scale replica. After some time the gold coin got a clear "oil" on it
and the gold was etched away under the drops of oil. Another pyramid
experimenter replicated the Hardy's experiment. Joshua Gulick suggests that the
pyramid is the alchemists "secret fire". He says that he has used this secret fire to
dissolve metallic gold into the alchemical/m-state oil of gold and that this oil of gold
dried into, first a white powder, then a red powder. These products of gold are well
described in the alchemical literature as steps toward the Philosopher's Stone.
The big secret of alchemy is what's known as the 'secret fire,'
something that can, over time, dissolve gold into a white powder. It is
said that the whole process is completed by this 'fire' without human
interaction. It is also said that the process is 'child's play,' and it is. The
secret fire, which dissolves gold is an energy emitted by a pyramid
shape. Not very surprisingly, the word 'pyramid' is translated as 'fire
in the middle.'8
7
8
http://kirlianphotography.webs.com/history.htm
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/esp_ciencia_oro7.htm
The above images are Kirlian photographs of (a) pyramid(s) on top of a Tesla coil
taken with a 35mm camera. From the use of high voltage photography we can see
that the old alchemical myth of a secret fire within a pyramid form can be observed
in the form of electricity. From observation, we can assume that proportion (or
shape) directs energy.
The Body of Light and its’ Connections to DNA
The vortex image of electrical energy emitting from
the pyramid may give us evidence that DNA is the
conduit for the body of light. What has been
proposed is that somehow each molecule sends out a
unique electromagnetic field that can "sense" the field
of the complimentary molecule. It's as if there is a
"dance" in the cellular medium and the molecules
move to the rhythm. The music is supplied by the
biophotons.
There are about 100,000 chemical reactions
happening in every cell each second. The
chemical reaction can only happen if the molecule, which is reacting is
excited by a photon... Once the photon has excited a reaction it returns
to the field and is available for more reactions... We are swimming in
an ocean of light.
These 'biophoton emissions', as Dr. Popp called them, provided an ideal
communication system for the transfer of information to many cells across the
organism. But the single most important question remained: where was the light
coming from?
It is known that when ethidium bromide is applied to samples of DNA, it insinuates
itself in between the base pairs of the double helix, causing DNA to unwind. A
student suggested that, after applying the chemical, they measure the light coming
from the sample. Popp found that the greater the concentration of ethidium, the
more the DNA unravelled, but also the stronger the intensity of light. Conversely, the
less he used, the less light was emitted9.
My Process
When I learned that I needed to find an alternative photographic process for
class I immediately thought about doing Kirlian photography. I spoke to my father
about this process and him being an electronic enthusiast and an engineer he was
9
http://www.viewzone.com/dnax.html
able to build a device for
me that would allow me to
photograph Kirlian
photograms. In essence,
Kirlian photography is a
form of contact print
photography. It requires
energy to be stored within
a circuit and discharged
onto a copper plate. 1,200 volts are stored within the circuit and sent through the
living object 10. Traditional photography can capture the light from the sun, which is
2 – 3 volts, as it is more magnetic and nuclear in nature. Traditional black and white
photographic paper is placed on top of the copper plate and an object of
conductivity is placed on top of the photographic paper. Using a wire attached to the
device, known as a ground wire, the electrographer would tap each object to expose
the energetic pattern of the object onto the paper. Then the photographic paper is
processed normally in the dark room. The exposures were also done in the dark
room.
One experiment I did was to understand the intensity levels of the frequency
options on the device. There are two options: a higher frequency and a lower
frequency. Electrically, a higher frequency produces tighter wavelengths and a
lower frequency produces looser wavelengths. On paper, exposing an object at a
higher frequency produces a shorter and tighter aura, and exposing an object at a
lower frequency produces a longer and looser aura. In the experiment I made a
contact sheet of 10 objects that are similar. I would adjust the intensity of the
frequency according to the 10 levels that are given. According to my device, a
smaller object with less density requires a less intense lower frequency while an
object that has a higher density requires a more intense higher frequency. While
arranging the objects on the paper it felt oddly familiar and I realized that creating
photograms was really no different than arranging elements, images and text in a
photoshop document. Instead of designing with elements, images and text I was
designing with light and living objects.
Observations:
a smaller object with less density requires a less intense
lower frequency while an object that has a higher density
requires a more intense higher frequency
a living object that was freshly picked will photograph more
detail than an object that has been slowly dying/decaying; I.E
the departure of vital energy in an object looses its detail
when photographed
10
http://www.imagesco.com/articles/kirlian/kirlian-photography.html