Miguel Conner on The Ecstatic Brain: Gnostic Vowels & Chants

0:00You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact. You may not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to Progressive.com, answer some questions, and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers are in at least one discount. Visit Progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, National Average, 12-month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary. United Health Group is simplifying health care by investing in tools to help patients know more and pay less. These tools help patients find providers and compare costs and save hundreds of dollars annually. Learn more at unitedhealthgroup.com slash commitment. The day begins at the Chase Sapphire Lounge by the club at Boston Logan Airport. You get the clam chowder. In San Diego, it's tostatus. New York, espresso martini. It's 10 am. Why not? It's the quiet before your next flight. The shower that resets your day. The menu that lets you know where you are.

1:00This is access to over 1300 airport lounges and every Sapphire Lounge by the club. And one card that gets you in. Chase Sapphire Reserve. Now even more rewarding. Learn more at Chase.com slash Sapphire Reserve. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank and a member FDIC, subject to credit approval. BOOM! Welcome everybody to A.M. Bite to the Black Iron Intercept to my monthly or sometimes by monthly presentation on exclusive ideas, rituals, exemplars and all that.

2:01Full for members and partial for everybody else as I continue to hide or go under the radar of algorithms and AI slop that dilutes it and so forth. I'm very happy to see you and I think you will enjoy it today because that's something people have been asking for for a while and that is something you can use in your life and your spirituality from the classical nosticism. So the title is yes, Nostick vowel and chance or Nostick vowel magic and chance the ecstatic brain. And years ago I did that in our first Finding Hermes presentation. I think it was 2020 but I've got more. I've got more refined ideas and there is more data so this one will be pretty pretty overall and pretty arching for the. So as always we will do it will be partial

3:03for non-members and then full for everybody and we'll get into a little Q&A with Vance and whoever has decided to join us that are higher tier levels that can interact directly with us. But before we get started some news and other ideas what's going on, things are certainly better. I do appreciate the support of those of you who helped magically and legally with Karen neighbors and Bella Kose, landlords and all that. So things are a little bit better. A lot going on still in a place of instability but I got to admit life is good. Life is as it should be on other news too. The David Bowie book, well this kind of goes under the umbrella of Saturn in limits and Kronos which is just the way the universe goes and that is the David Bowie book has been put a little bit back.

4:06Originally it was going to come out at the end of it was going to come out in the fall but now they've pushed it back towards the end of the year or so and that's fine. I know Inner Traditions is extremely excited about this book so they want to do a huge push in Europe with where the Starman is still very big so they're trying to get everything ready. There's so much that goes on with publishing and it is but it's a little bit of time and I'm excited. I think the cover and the description are already there at the website and the Simon and Schumer website if you want to check it out but so it is but it will be it will be worth your wait. Like I said I don't know if I mentioned but the editor there she told me it's the best book she's ever worked on and she actually had tears at the end because it does have a big reveal and it does show where David Bowie is right now and what we can do to help him and how he can help humanity

5:07get us out of this desert of the real these strange, nostic times. For on the same topic or umbrella unfortunately astronosis will probably have to be postponed to next year again nobody's fault that's again the limitations of the gods that's theosophical society is doing their hundred year anniversary but that includes major renovations to their headquarters so there's just no place to be able to stick the astronosis and it's pretty much too late in the year to find another venue especially around the Chicago land area where everything is happening during the summer and early fall but I promise you we will get it done next year and it will be the best one yet. And on other news very exclusive news that I wanted to show you or reveal to you as you know a certain voices came upon me

6:09and set me on these on these missions these quests the one first one was Elvis the voice of Elvis told me talked to me around 2023 and commissioned me or commanded me to write the Elvis book and it all went down and it all happened soon as I was done with that then came Elvis 2.0 David Bowie different but similar voice told me write this book this is your mission it's got to be done or well as they say or else and I got on it and wrote the David Bowie book and then again in a short time it got ready it got accepted and it will come out from the imaginal into the world well guess what two weeks ago the voice came again and this time it really surprised me because well the first time it surprised me was like why would I ever want to write an Elvis book I was never an Elvis person didn't know much about it

7:09why would I want to do it but I did it ah same with the David Bowie book and this one told me you got to write a screenplay that was like a screenplay never written a screenplay I have pretty much kept my distance except for a few occasions for anything to do with Hollywood but the voice was there it was clear and now I'm writing this screenplay I finished the first act and like the David Bowie book and the Elvis book it's extremely original and it is a no-brainer it is something that certainly should come out well again I have complete trust I have to write it and it will come out and go where it should go which I assume if that's what the voice or the destiny one wants it will come out as a movie but it is pretty much a slam dunk that this should come out and it's a complete topic that I can't even believe would come to me but it came to me so

8:09that's what I'm doing and I will keep you posted on this screenplay he writing a screenplay so I guess the next steps probably need a screenplay partner and start sending you know feeling it out there so if anybody of you know of any connections I'm putting it out into the ether again I have complete trust and it doesn't matter this is what I was called to do and this is what I shall do beyond all the other stuff I have to do with life and work and all that good stuff but I appreciate you listening to me and I appreciate you being here which brings me to the bigger you might say ideas of this which I've said before is that we all have a mission and enlightenment is often often just listening to what your soul says or the gods or the muse or whatever you want to call it and that's why we are here and this reminds me of this quote that's the wrong one let's get you on there let's see

9:14and that's from Carl Jung where he said free will is the ability to do gladly that which I must do basically means that we come here for we come here with a mission and we have two choices we do our mission or we fall into the temptation and the illusions of the ego and the forces out there it's what shop and hour one said man can do what he will but he cannot will what he will take that in other words we come here for the mission and our mission is to do our mission and that's our free will there is no other choice it's why we are here and each one of us has that mission to help heal the universe or individuate the cosmos and ourselves and our ancestors and all that so that's that happens to each one of us and nobody is less important or more important than the other person so

10:14we are here on a mission and free will as Jung said is doing what we're supposed to do and of course there is the famous saying from the gospel of Thomas that goes if you bring forth what is within you what you bring forth will save you if you do not bring forth what is within you what is within you will destroy you we all have something in the voice of our soul the voice of the gods and we must bring it out or we will end up yeah destruction which to thenostics would be eternal reincarnation a life that comes short from all the joy and bliss that we should have the great heroes journey and all that so these two sayings always keep me keep me going if you would as much as my ego would like to think no I'm in charge I can be this and do that and this is the way my life should be no just not the way the cosmos work and I'm listening to the voices and I hope you can too

11:19there's no guarantee of happiness or success or anything else it's as I often say it's a butterfly effect sometimes we do things and they will cause a chain reaction usually will and you might not even know about that what your work brings out my if it might affect somebody on the other side of the world some descendants some family member and that's and they will cause their own chain reaction to again be part of Sophia's rescue operation so the butterfly effect is how I like to think of it and I trust these voices even though it has come at a high cost in many ways in my life or as Galadriel says in Lord of the Rings even the smallest person can change the course of the future of history and you can too never doubt that never doubt that my friends you true seeker warriors you of the broken places yes shining crazy diamonds so I don't want to wait I don't want to waste too much more time with this

12:23just some updates and I really appreciate your support and we will get into the if we will get into the main event I think vans I need you to jump out as I change these out and if anything happens vans just jump right in and let me know let's see where we are on stream you are changing things around at the stage at the stage alright no why are you here there you go that's the one I wanted so officially let us begin with the ecstatic brain gnostic vowels and chants how ancient gnostic practices of silence chanting and initiation mapped onto the neuroscience of altered states and offered a path to healing the primal trauma of human

13:23existence so we will get into the science and we will get into the mysticism and all that good stuff and I hope it becomes useful in your life because yeah that's where we're here at least I hope it teaches you how to listen to the voices inside of you now most of the practices if you would or most of the research 90% at least comes from April Deconics excellent book the gnostic new age of course it's one of my favorite books and I highly recommend it and much of the text is taken from April's book and I've divided it into these sections the science of ecstatic states gnostic use of chanting and vowels the goal of gnostic trans states and at the end I will give you some exclusive exercises and even a special video somebody doing these gnostic chants and vowels so let's get started let me

14:26change this around a bit I don't know if I like this there it's it's gone oh it's in the other one you know we'll do it this way probably better all right all right let's get started first before we get into the sections uh we must talk about bodily stillness and ecstasy what drove the gnostic to such severe bodily stillness their writing suggests that these disciplines open the door to altered states of consciousness fleeting blaze bright moments of ecstasy like Socrates who was said to stand motionless for 24 hours as though a soul had departed his body gnostic initiates turn to silence and stillness to summon rapture the gnostic's claim to offer initiates out of body experiences and

15:27unitary raptures with a universal good what we today call altered states of consciousness and needless to say this is very shamanistic as April argues in this book and I've been talking about for years gnosticism is certainly a you might say later stage form of shamanism there is no doubt about it that's the role of the shaman the inner world and the connection to the spirit world the priest had his job theology rituals and all that the chief had his job but the shaman was really about troubleshooting with the spiritual world and the mental wellness of the tribe and without a doubt music and art and chanting is essential to any sort of shamanism across cultures and the world so yes the power of chanting alongside silence repetitive chanting

16:27was the other half of gnostic ritual equally capable of prompting altered states of consciousness and ecstasy gnostic chants are most often embedded in records of ascend journeys chronicle as initiate rises into the highest transcendent realms the gnostics believe their chance not only praise transcendent beings but tapped into the primal father's creative power transforming their spirits and healing their bodies yes as I used to say we must create better than the creator gods and their carons and catamites in the establishment we must create like the creative power of the one or the undivided consciousness in its exploration of knowing itself and of course towards the end we'll get more into the tillios or purpose and of these gnostic rituals but first we must continue and where do the gnostic get these well as I've said gnosticism is an Egyptian religion

17:31and this sort of chanting and work was very important in ancient religious praxis when the priests and egypt are singing their hymns and praise of their gods they utter the seven vials and do succession this practice was very popular in antiquity found in many magical spells from Egyptian and Greek sources the ancient people believe that vial chanting helped maintain order in the universe heal their bodies and compel powerful divinities to do their bidding so important stuff yes we are co-creators with the universe we are here to help the gods as the gods help us I know the the Talmud is not very popular today but it has a lot of wisdom and I love one part it says god needs us as much as we need him we're here we're co-creators what are some universal characteristics of ecstatic states ecstatic states of

18:34consciousness are universally attested phenomena beneath the layers of local divinities and locations a set of commonly recurring characteristics emerges across cultures and traditions first one is disembodiment awareness of liberation from the physical body the other one is timeless timelessness feelings of ineffability and the dissolution of time we got altered self number three transformed sense of self and its boundaries and the last one is transcendence integration with a transcendent category of being so those are the commonalities and that's certainly part of shamanism and Egyptian mysticism so now we'll get into the science of ecstatic states get a little Matthew get a little sciencey she blinded me with science maybe ISIS blinded me with science but here we go because it does make perfect

19:37sense in our modern times neuroscience meets ancient wisdom the culture of silence enchanting the monastics mastered had powerful biological effects altering levels of serotonin and dopamine in the brain these are the very neurotransmitters implicated in virtually every major neuropsychiatric disorder including depression schizophrenia and bipolar disorder whoa I can relate to the last one long before prosak and zolaf long before modern psychiatry the nostics sought to heal through religious initiation the psychological trauma that in their view in escapeably forms the basis of all human existence so what these Egyptians and nostics were doing is uh whoa way ahead of science as Yun said the nostics were history's first depth psychology they knew the

20:38secrets of the soul or the psyche so they knew what was going on and they were healing it and our I'll get more into it but our first great trauma is being born as the Buddha said the baby cries because it is wise born is being separated what would you do if your online store converted 36 percent more shoppers you could take 36 percent more vacation another pinnacle uh yes please open a new retail location with 36 percent more square feet fantastic higher 36 percent more you're hired and you're hired shopify has the world's best converting checkout up to 36 percent better than other e-commerce platforms what you do with those extra sales is up to you switch to shopify today at shopify.com slash listen and get a one-dollar trial shopify.com slash listen now finding a doctor is a little less challenging united health group is investing in tools that make it easier for patients to navigate health care and pay less these transparency tools help patients find providers and this is the big thing compare

21:39costs up front the big picture more transparent pricing benefits everyone and these tools from united health group can help patients save hundreds of dollars annually learn more at unitedhealthgroup.com slash commitment. instagram teen accounts have automatic protections for what teens see and who can contact them plus time management tools and instagram will continue adding built-in safety features to help create age-appropriate experiences. learn more about teen accounts and instagram's ongoing work to protect teens online at instagram.com slash teen accounts. the day begins at the chase afire lounge by the club at Boston Logan Airport you get the clam chowder in San Diego it's tostatus new york espresso martini it's 10 a.m. why not it's the quiet before your next flight the shower that resets your day the menu that lets you know where you are this is access to over 1300 airport lounges and

22:40every sapphire lounge by the club and one card that gets you in chase sapphire reserve now even more rewarding learn more at chase.com slash sapphire reserve cards issued by jp morgan chase bank and a member fd ic subject to credit approval from the great lagoon of oneness and growing up means being farther and farther away from the source and trapped in the programming of powers and principalities well i don't want to get too poetic let's continue with the science the brain circuit circuit of ecstasy modern neurological studies confirm that ecstatic states have a biological basis involving a specific circuit in the limbic system the circuit is regulated mainly by dopamine and serotonin during ecstatic states serotonin levels fall in dopamine levels rise it starts with a pre prefrontal shift attention withdraws from external senses then it goes to the pyrrhyatol

23:45dampening right orientation area decrease activity and then it goes to the hippocampal trigger right hippocampus activates a migdala centers and then it goes to the autonomic arousal a ns evokes peaceful bodily feelings and then the chain of neurological events explains how intentional stillness can produce profound feelings of transcendence and unity and we can go to this one which is a little bit a little drier if you would there yeah there's the brain dubrain as i say and as you could see number one that's the frontal cortex rituals or in theogen's decrease activity in the parietal lobe and the right orientation association area right hippocampus is stimulated leading to the activation of the quescent centers of the

24:49right amygdala and hypothalamus our number three over there now that we're in the now we go inside the brain arouses the autonomic nervous system leading to changes in the midbrain and feelings of peacefulness and for right there at the root the continual stimulation of the circuit results in the differentiation of the orientation association area and feelings of transcended space time and self pretty sciencey but not really my thing but i think it definitely is supported and it definitely is important so there are two modes sympathetic versus paris sympathetic ecstatic states correlate with hyper stimulation of the autonomic nervous system which operates in two primary modes one is a sympathetic mode that's the fight or flight

25:52response triggered by deliberate trauma extreme activities and excessive behaviors produces boundless energy and flow but when exhausted collapses into the paris sympathetic it almost means sometimes trauma is meant to get you into that state which is what the mystery religions often did in ayahuasca rituals but anyway the next is the paris sympathetic mode that's rest and relaxation overstimulated through intentional stillness silence and low-key repetitive behaviors like chanting or drumming even to the point of total loss of bodily sensation oceanic tranquility both pathways lead to ecstasy the nostics master the paris sympathetic route through silence and chanting not to hide their mysteries but to discover the hidden god themselves so now that we got the science of it let us get into the actual

26:58gnostic use of chanting and vowels if you allow me to take a quick drink here and we will move to the next section and get our hands dirty on their texts first we will talk about the seven vowels of creation according to the gospel of the Egyptians in the Nagamadi library the sound of god emerge from primal silence as the seven vowels pronounce 22 times each used to invoke and praise the god before all gods and I will read it I'm not going to sing it or else you guys might go into a sympathetic state if you hear my voice but yes seven vowels very Egyptian very primordial but then issued would say something like E-A-O-U-A-I-O again it's here if you're watching it on video

28:07so you can check it out yourself um similar mantras appear in such texts in the Nagamadi like Zoroztrianos and across other sethian texts Egyptian priests had used the seven vowels for centuries to guarantee heaven's harmony a practice found in magical spells from Egyptian and Greek sources alike yes you can certainly you can certainly find this in the Greek magical papyri and other scrolls that have a praxis and so forth I would say for sure if you're wondering what rituals they did I would certainly promote the idea that they've used some sort of baptism a baptism of water or something similar like that because that seems to be part of the Nazarean ancient way where water is life and it is energy the Tushma Matay of Zoroaster even the secret book

29:07of John when it's describing the pluroma it says it's it's like watery light so the idea of water rivers which Simon Megas talks about in the great declaration is importantly the archetype of the watery light and the water that gives light and who knows maybe as the New Ageer say maybe waters water does contain memory and a good baptism gives us the memory of all life that water contains that it is a sword but I'm speculating anyway I would say baptism but I'm sure there's a lot of meditation dancing and some sort of chrysum and so forth who knows there were many nostic groups with many ideas which I will go into later as well the next one is the aeon Jesus prayer sethian prayers are riddled with vowel chance that endowed the initiate with the power of primal creation this prayer from the gospel of the Egyptians calls upon the creative

30:12power of the aeon Jesus and it basically goes jesus a oh oh yeah truly truly oh Jesus of Nazareth oh living water oh child of oh child of the child of glorious name ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee oh oh oh oh oh oh uh uh google gagga just kidding oh the one who is who sees the aeons truly truly the one who is eternally eternal, yow forever. You are what you are. You are what you are. So this would be one of the chants. And again, for those of you continually pestermy about how the Nostics were negative. These texts, yes, they're very hardcore. They do like to expose and dismantle the arcons and the shenanigans of the Demiarch, but they're very, the hymns and the chants and the news is very glorious, very happy. I mean, if you're doing this ritual, you'd be not just high as a kite, but as happy as a clam.

31:19I don't know where that's saying, but yeah, you would be just so gloriously happy and content in these rituals. The the the chanter claims this prayer elicits a vision of Jesus as the perfect god within an experience of absolute permanence, becoming light itself. And that's certainly one of the ideas of Nosticism, whether it's the gospel of Thomas or whether it's the gospel of Philip, whether the gospel of Thomas, you're basically talking to Thomas is talking to Jesus, but he's really talking to his Damon, his higher self. And as the gospel of Philip says in several places, you saw Christ, you will become Christ. You shouldn't wait until you die for the resurrection, your resurrection, like Jesus should happen while you are in this world.

32:20So basically, these Sethians were trying to invoke this A on Jesus, who might not just be high up in some distant pluroma, but it was actually within you. But again, we house the divine spark, the divine spark is a fractal of the pluroma. We house eternity right within us. So whether you want to take some astral flight or go within, you'll find the pluroma and you will find your Christ A on. At least I hope so. I really hope so, but I certainly think it is doable. We will go to the next slide snoring mantras and the sound of God. Yes, this is something that the men in this show would probably enjoy doing. I can get enlightenment with my midday nap that bothers my wife. But anyway, beyond vowel chanting, Sethian texts record a remarkable mantra, the snore, Zazo or Zay, used to imitate the God above God, the father of life itself.

33:26In allogenes, the stranger again in the Nighamari library, Sethian, the invisible spirit at rest utters the sound of sleep, Zaz, Zaz, and here's a little prayer, light or force, life, Zoi, zio, zio, zoshi, zoshi, zao, zio, zesin, zesin. Marzainis, also in the Nighamari library, devotes a section to the spherical sounds of different divinities, covering vowel patterns, diphthongs, semi vowels, stress, beat and pitch. these combinations are the roots of all creation from the divine realm to our world and it should be mentioned too which is another interesting side note if

34:27you would that you guys probably know our good friend Biel Zabab in the Bible but then it's probably some form of Baal some yeah some manifestation of the God Baal that Biel Zabab but from what I've studied whenever the priests of Biel Zabab would go into a trance whenever they were going into that in between world they knew that that gone through the other side and they knew that Baal was there to give them prophecy and advice when they heard the sound of flies that's that was the signal the omen that Baal was present with the priest so therefore Biel Zabab became known as you got it the Lord of the flies and the snoring thing snoring thing maybe makes sense I mean there is that idea of the hypnagog state which I used to be much better at it where you

35:27can catch yourself in between sleep and the awakened world and all this revelation will come up I used to have even visions of past lives and becoming different people it was really amazing but unfortunately actually since last August with my jaw health and now with my spinal stenosis which I have it's been harder to just relax in my bed but for those of you who practice that it's really good I think it was I forget who was the great artist I don't know if it was Picasso he used to sit there and kind of fall asleep and he'd have a bell and he'd go into that again hypnagogic state that's the place of the Lord of the flies and if you fell asleep the bell would fall from his lap and you'd wake up and you'd write down whatever he was thinking at that time and he got amazing revelation so again these nostics were certainly into some good science and some amazing mystic ideas that it took people centuries to finally catch

36:32up on Beelzebub the Lord of the Flies now we go to the mantras of Ascent the Three Stellas of Seth in the Sethian Liturgy of the Three Stellas of Seth initiates repeatedly cry out refrains as they ascend through the three main transcendent realms serving as mantras for their journey and I will read the four of them one of it is you are perfect you are perfect you are perfect I wonder if the Sethians had an Irish mother anyway the other one we have seen we have seen we have seen indeed your third eye is open we rejoice we rejoice we rejoice and the last one is you are one you are one so as you can see these Sethians weren't just surly punk rockers it was a blast these rituals and prayers and what it brought about because again being awake is where it's at being conscious is where it's at nothing bad can happen and you see the universe

37:37as it is and again you see Sophia's rescue operation from beginning to end after ascending into the highest realm of the Father the initiates and congregation became collectively silent similar refrains holy is God and we have known you appear in hermetic hymns and of course the hermeticis who are the paganostics if you would at very much similar rituals and ideas on noses and how even the universe was structured so now we will get to the goal of Gnostic Transstates and we will certainly unpack it and as I mentioned I will give you some exclusive rituals and then again a video of somebody performing this but this will be for all members so if you're a non-member please support and help keep this mystery religion this red pill cafeteria going join

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39:43clean water for many children it becomes a cycle of hopelessness at compassion international we follow Jesus is called to care for the most helping children discover hope in the future learn more at compassion.com this is a vacation with Chase Sapphire Reserve the Butler the spa this is the edit a collection of handpicked luxury hotels and a $500 edit credit Chase Sapphire Reserve now even more rewarding learn more at Chase.com slash Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval spring weekends are all about family sunshine and evenings on the patio before the barbecue starts I like to stop by my local total one and more to pick up a great bourbon maybe a single barrel I already love or something new to try with dinner with so many bottles to choose from it's easy to discover a favorite or something new for everyone to enjoy find what you love and love what you find only a total one and more curbside pick up and delivery available in most areas visit total wine.com to learn more spirits not sold in Virginia and North Carolina drink responsibly B-21 if you liked the show please take a moment to rate review and subscribe it really

40:48does help the show to grow thank you for listening