Psychomantium Mirrors - Past, Present, Future?

[katarinak]

And here you can see a single candle flicker where a flame created a wall around itself:

Some more examples of flame flicker, this time with oil/gas lamps.

I just tried candles this week and canceled the mini biofireplace. The flickering from the mini biofireplace was too intense. I played with different heights and they are placed on one side by the wall. I put the candles in jam jars and the flickering of the candles works very well

 

[irjO]

Have you guys tried using led candles? Some of them simulates flickering but there are others than it’s just steady light:

https://a.co/d/bFRnp0Q

Or maybe a single low watt bulb?

https://a.co/d/fAvANNU

To me it seems that using candles was the only way to go in the past to control the amount of light in the room. Perhaps that is not necessary nowadays or mandatory to the experiment. Perhaps the experiment should be more of the amount of light you get from 5 candles and equal that with the amount of light to a specific number of led candles and the light it can create or measure the light intensity from a single bulb to that, if that makes sense.

 

[Persej]

I just tried candles this week and canceled the mini biofireplace. The flickering from the mini biofireplace was too intense. I played with different heights and they are placed on one side by the wall. I put the candles in jam jars and the flickering of the candles works very well

I think it's a step in the right direction. I bought some candles and will let some of them drill a hole and see what happens. I am not sure if jars would work, because I think that oxygen should come from the bottom for the better airflow.

Have you guys tried using led candles?

LED light is one possible option if you can control the flicker.

To me it seems that using candles was the only way to go in the past to control the amount of light in the room. Perhaps that is not necessary nowadays or mandatory to the experiment. Perhaps the experiment should be more of the amount of light you get from 5 candles and equal that with the amount of light to a specific number of led candles and the light it can create or measure the light intensity from a single bulb to that, if that makes sense.

C's said that flicker is the key. And the amount of light should be low. Perhaps 5 candles was appropriate for Laura's room, and is not necessary for others.

 

[katarinak]

I am not sure if jars would work, because I think that oxygen should come from the bottom for the better airflow.

Jars work well, I tried it for a few days and the candles flickered continuously. If you look at the video, the candle on the left is tall and the jar does not exceed the height of the candle, the candle hardly flickers at all.

C's said that flicker is the key. And the amount of light should be low. Perhaps 5 candles was appropriate for Laura's room, and is not necessary for others

If the candles are placed on the floor behind the mirror, there is less light, the higher they are placed, the more light there is in the room. If the candles are behind the person, there is much more light that illuminates the mirror. I still need to research this and find the optimal placement. I am currently trying both alternatives

Have you guys tried using led candles? or a single low watt bulb

No, I haven't tried, I prefer the traditional way. That's just my individual attitude, it's possible that it could work anyway.

 

[Stella Marys]

Very interesting talk you are having. Regarding candlelight, I found this article that may give some more insight. Translated via Deepl.

The flame of a candle is made of millions of diamonds.
The luminous secret of a candle: within its flame millions of diamond particles come into existence and disappear.
Although you won't be able to do much with them, if you have a candle you also have billions of nanodiamonds. Art is generally a useless thing and this is the case with the poetic creation of diamond particles and their successive annihilation in an instant.

Dr. Wuzong Zhou of the University of St. Andrews developed a technique to remove the particles in the center of a candle and in doing so discovered that about 1.5 million diamond nanoparticles are produced per second in the combustion of hydrocarbons.

“Unfortunately,” Zhou said, ”the diamond particles are burned in the process and converted to carbon dioxide.” And there is no way to extract these precious particles that would be, as fugitive, a fabulous treasure.

Although it will not be possible to possess these flaming diamonds, the research could help discover ways to create these precious stones while reducing costs.

La flama de una vela está hecha de millones de diamantes

El luminoso secreto de una vela: dentro de su flama entran en existencia y desaparecen millones de partículas de diamantes. Aunque no podrás hacer mucho con ellos, si tienes una vela también tienes miles de millones de nanodiamantes. El arte es...

es.sott.net

 

[Persej]

I found one interesting view on the flicker. This guy claims that randomized flicker is actually even better than fixed flicker, which means that 5 candles flickering with a little bit different flicker frequency (within a range of 1 Hz) would have a stronger effect than if they would be all flickering with the same flicker frequency. So we don't have to merge candles, we just need to find a way to make them flicker on their own, with a similar frequency.

 

[katarinak]

This guy claims that randomized flicker is actually even better than fixed flicker, which means that 5 candles flickering with a little bit different flicker frequency (within a range of 1 Hz) would have a stronger effect than if they would be all flickering with the same flicker frequency. So we don't have to merge candles, we just need to find a way to make them flicker on their own, with a similar frequency.

I found a candle with 2 wicks in the store, the candle only flickers if it is in a glass container. The flicker is subtle and is placed behind the observer at about head height. Then the 3 candles are on the ground behind the mirror. So it's like 2 non-vertical groups of candles are formed

So far a pleasant surprise, as the mirror is neither too illuminated by the light nor too dark. So the observer is among the flickering candles both in front of and behind him, although he can't see any of them. As for the sensation, it is subtle but intense. So far only a first attempt, so hard to say.

I listened to Laura's video of EE breathing, brought my attention back to breathing. It reminded me a lot of the yoga pranayama I practiced years in the past.

 

[monotonic]

I also found another interesting scientific article about vibratory flame movement in glass tubes:

They mention the oscillations in the 260-280 Hz range that I mentioned in my post #331. Perhaps the flicker that we are looking for is not the visible 10 Hz flicker, but the invisible one, at the 260-280 Hz range?

The frequency is due to the standing waves of the tube they used which depends on the length of the tube. If you had a similar tube or helmholtz resonator and placed it near the flame it may influence the flame to flicker at certain frequencies, but I don't think the article indicates they do this on their own.

Maybe the unpredictable nature of the flicker is actually a desirable feature?

 

[Persej]

The frequency is due to the standing waves of the tube they used which depends on the length of the tube. If you had a similar tube or helmholtz resonator and placed it near the flame it may influence the flame to flicker at certain frequencies, but I don't think the article indicates they do this on their own.

Maybe the unpredictable nature of the flicker is actually a desirable feature?

Yes, higher frequencies are interesting, but they are not possible with the flame. The unpredictable nature (up to a point) of the flicker does seem to be a key in the power of the flame flicker. So we just need to figure out what is the best way to achieve it.

 

[monotonic]

If you want to achieve a specific amount of unpredictability, then you want to be able to keep the conditions of the flame constant. That would mean avoiding candles which are constantly changing shape or take a long time to warm up. So my suggestion would be some variation on stick candles with a candle cap, and find a way to use enclosures to affect the flicker:

candle cap at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

My issue with being preoccupied with choosing candles is that you may limit yourself to a narrow solution when you probably need all the variation of erratically burning candles to discover what actually works best. It could be that patience is key.

 

[Persej]

If you want to achieve a specific amount of unpredictability, then you want to be able to keep the conditions of the flame constant. That would mean avoiding candles which are constantly changing shape or take a long time to warm up. So my suggestion would be some variation on stick candles with a candle cap, and find a way to use enclosures to affect the flicker:

Yes, that's one option. Another one is to use a pillar candle and let it make a hole in itself.

My issue with being preoccupied with choosing candles is that you may limit yourself to a narrow solution when you probably need all the variation of erratically burning candles to discover what actually works best. It could be that patience is key.

Well, the problem with that is that candles do not flicker under normal circumstances. They are simply not designed to do that.

 

[Wandering Star]

Session 4 April 1998

Q: Alright, I have been practicing with the psychomantium. I once had a little flash of light. Another time there was the sensation of pressure and of course the rising heat. Are there any actions that I can take that will optimize the process?

A: Blacken the room.

Q: So, it will help to be in a completely blackened room?

A: Oh yes!!

 

[Persej]

Last night I experimented with my candle, and I was able to create the flicker that I wanted. My candle was not drilling a hole in itself no mater how much I waited, so I decided to try some enclosures. The standard candle enclosure was not working, but the fishbowl did. It wasn't working on my desk, but when I moved it on the floor, on the place where I was previously able to create a flicker with several bound candles, it was flickering with a very steady flicker, after a minute or two of warm up. The flicker was very hypnotic, I could feel it pulsating in my eyes. But the problem was that after that experience I couldn't fall asleep. My brainwaves were changed in some way that I was not sleepy at all. It took me probably about an hour to fall asleep after I blew out the candle and went to bed.

But today I was thinking... If we had 5 candles flickering with a 10 Hz flicker, and if they were theoretically evenly separated in time in their flicker, then we wouldn't have a 10 Hz flicker, but a 50 Hz flicker. Which is what we had in Europe with PAL TVs. So the flicker frequency would be created similarly to interlaced video, where you have two 25 Hz flickers merged into one 50 Hz flicker.

A Phase Alternating Line (PAL)-based television set display, for example, scans 50 fields every second (25 odd and 25 even). The two sets of 25 fields work together to create a full frame every 1/25 of a second (or 25 frames per second), but with interlacing create a new half frame every 1/50 of a second (or 50 fields per second).

Interlaced video - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And that could explain why the C's recommended 5 candles, because perhaps we don't need a 10 Hz flicker, but higher.

 

[katarinak]

But the problem was that after that experience I couldn't fall asleep

For me it's kind of the opposite. I had sleeping troubles for about 1.5 years, and as I started experimenting with psychomantium, I started to sleep much better and have a lot more different dreams, sometimes quite strange

It wasn't working on my desk, but when I moved it on the floor...

Where did you place the candles behind the mirror or behind you? How many candles did you use? When I put all 5 candles behind the mirror on the floor, the mirror was too dark in my opinion that it was a problem to distinguish it on the stand at all. Conversely, when the candles were placed behind me at about head height both in the room and the mirror were too bright and lots of light. So there are still huge reserves to improve for me and I have no idea how it should be correct

Is it necessary to look in the mirror together with the normal blinking, or is it necessary to limit the blinking? The purification yoga technique of Tratak comes back to me, in which one has to stare into the candle without blinking and then close the eyes and meditate.

I wish you a good sleep tonight. Have a nice evening

 

[Persej]

For me it's kind of the opposite. I had sleeping troubles for about 1.5 years, and as I started experimenting with psychomantium, I started to sleep much better and have a lot more different dreams, sometimes quite strange

Yes, but I don't think that you had this kind of flicker.

But it's interesting when you think about it. Perhaps candle flicker could be used as a form of brain therapy, just like LED flicker is used for different issues.

Where did you place the candles behind the mirror or behind you? How many candles did you use?

Neither. It was just on the floor, close to the wall and door. It was a single candle.

When I put all 5 candles behind the mirror on the floor, the mirror was too dark in my opinion that it was a problem to distinguish it on the stand at all. Conversely, when the candles were placed behind me at about head height both in the room and the mirror were too bright and lots of light. So there are still huge reserves to improve for me and I have no idea how it should be correct

Well, a black cloth would have absorbed a lot of light. That is perhaps a reason behind the black curtains. It also absorbs sound, so it makes a room both silent and dark. Try to block the light with something.

Is it necessary to look in the mirror together with the normal blinking, or is it necessary to limit the blinking? The purification yoga technique of Tratak comes back to me, in which one has to stare into the candle without blinking and then close the eyes and meditate.

I think it's more important how you gaze into the mirror than paying attention to your blinking. But I still haven't gotten that far, I am still experimenting with the light.

I wish you a good sleep tonight. Have a nice evening

Thank you. I'm gonna take a break this evening, to reset my brain and try again next time.