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REVIEWS < THE BOOK OF FLOATING: Now on the mend, he attests to a power of Tarot and had the insight that it described Exploring the Private Sea floatation that he'd not contemplated the science of system genesis—the process by Michael Hutchison before—as a gateway to pure awareness, by which ordered forms or systems spring Gateways Books and Tapes, Nevada City, Pure being, enlightenment, the eternal pre- into being—and was amazed to learn that CA, USA, 1984, 2003 sent, just as the spiritual sages describe. modern systems principles were known ISBN 0-89556-1 18-2 (268pp tpb) Hutchison's story gives incentive to new thousands of years ago. Genesis of the _ Availability: Gateways Books and Tapes, recruits as well as lapsed floaters to get into. Cosmos (and its predecessor) 1s his bringing http://www .gatewaysbooksandtapes.com the tank and go with the flow. together of ancient scientific wisdom that ichael Hutchison did his first series of has been hidden in myths and folklore. floats in a flotation tank in 1982 foran | GENESIS OF THE COSMOS: LaViolette says that the creation science of antiquity conceives all physical form article he was writing for New York's The Ancient Science of Continuous (whether animate or inanimate) to b Village Voice (13 July). Like so many oth- Creation ai ed by an unde or rent of €) to De art ers of his generation, he'd been inspired by by Paul A. LaViol PhD ane? oy an undercurrent OF process a tux g y Paul A. LaViolette, f vital that tes all Dr John Lilly's books and the film Altered i oF Vila’ energy Kat permeates al” space. YS DOOKS : Bear & Company, USA, 2004 (first pub- He suggests that ancient systems of knowl- States—and curiosity got the better of him. lished in 4 P : oe. : ished in 1995 by Park Street Press as edge, including the J Ching, the Sumerian Hutchison was so taken by the benefits of . ; . : . ; " : Beyond the Big Bang) and Egyptian mysteries, the Tarot and floating and encouraged by the testimony of rand nor : ISBN 1-59143-034-8 (373pp tpb) astrology, encode a highly sophisticated sci- other floaters that he spent a year research- sahil; ae . agmy Sop’ ine the subject from scientific, medical and Availability: Inner Traditions website, ence of cosmogenesis, though he concedes vcholo at ers; ectives culminatin: in http:/Awww.innertraditions.com that not all traditions have the same degree my 1984 publication of The Book of e D: Paul LaViolette is one of those rare of detail. Our 21st century cosmology can Floating. (During the 1990s he edited the scientists who dares to move across only advance by a paradigm change that seminal MegaBrain Report.) Two decades disciplines and make connections that others involves reanimating this ancient knowl- ater, Hutchison's work is still relevant in his 40n't see so easily. After graduating in edge, he argues in this cutting-edge classic. explanations of how flotation works, e.g., physics and systems science, he spent the c- at. iat, FP} via brain waves, biochemistry, biofeedback, subsequent years conducting research in . Ray ‘ ra visualisation, and how floating can be used, @8'fonomy, climatology, cosmology, e.g., for deep relaxation, pain relief, self- geology, mythology and theoretical physics, G E | F S| S ypnosis, superlearning, improvement of among other subjects. He's written many ‘ol thon athletic performance, weight loss and free- papers touching on these fields, and several ing oneself from habits and addictions. books including Earth Under Fire (1997) Cc OS M O Ss The book has been reprinted but with a and The Talk of the Galaxy (2000) (see inal chapter which Hutchison wrote in reviews In 5/02 and 8/02, plus article, "A 2003—four years after he had a terrible fall Galactic Superwave Hazard Alert", in 8/02). that left him paralysed from the neck down. This edition is a re-issue of his 1995 After a few months of hospitalisation he Beyond the Big Bang, published a year after decided the only thing to help him through his Subquantum Kinetics—a new approach his ordeal was to enter into deep meditation, _ to subatomic physics based on chemistry, so before long he found he could get into the not mechanics, and process rather than static same state of "no mind" that he experienced _ structure. While LaViolette was developing in his most profound floating moments. his theory in the 1970s, he came across the Now on the mend, he attests to a power of floatation that he'd not contemplated before—as a gateway to pure awareness, pure being, enlightenment, the eternal pre- sent, just as the spiritual sages describe. Hutchison's story gives incentive to new recruits as well as lapsed floaters to get into the tank and go with the flow. 70 = NEXUS Tarot and had the insight that it described the science of system genesis—the process by which ordered forms or systems spring into being—and was amazed to learn that modern systems principles were known thousands of years ago. Genesis of the Cosmos (and its predecessor) is his bringing together of ancient scientific wisdom that has been hidden in myths and folklore. LaViolette says that the creation science of antiquity conceives all physical form (whether animate or inanimate) to be sus- tained by an undercurrent of process—a flux of vital energy that permeates all space. He suggests that ancient systems of knowl- edge, including the / Ching, the Sumerian and Egyptian mysteries, the Tarot and astrology, encode a highly sophisticated sci- ence of cosmogenesis, though he concedes that not all traditions have the same degree of detail. Our 21st century cosmology can only advance by a paradigm change that involves reanimating this ancient knowl- edge, he argues in this cutting-edge classic. f Wi GENESIS www.nexusmagazine.com AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2004