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The two most recent EMF evocation experiments were conducted on days when the baseline EMF was low, in both cases around .08. These were failures from the standpoint of the .4 threshold, but did show below-threshold EMF elevation in the presence of the spirit.
Trial 6
This trial was performed by 5 magicians, all experienced. Based on our prior research I made the prediction prior to trial #6 that the EMF would rise from the baseline .08, but not high enough to set off the alarm that kicks in at .4. Based on the previous observation that the presence of a spirit seems to add about .2 to the baseline EMF, I predicted for the first experiment that the peak EMF would be .28. Trial 5 from the same baseline peaked at .25, but at the time I considered that a statistical variation based on the presence of an experienced by unfamiliar person in the group.
This proved not to be the case. EMF did rise in conjunction with the presence of the spirit, but only to .22. Given the percentage difference between the predicted and observed values it struck me as unlikely that this was simply statistical variation, but I came away from the operation feeling like more trials would be necessary to establish a better working model to explain the strength of the EMF increase.
Trial 7
This trial was also performed by the same 5 magicians as trial 6. For this trial the temple baseline was the same as for trials 5 and 6. This allowed me to run another test from the same baseline level with the same group of people to see if I could get any more insight into developing a formula for deriving peak EMF from baseline EMF. This trial went much the same as trial 6, except this time the peak EMF only rose to .2 from .08. So the data points we now have for trials from this baseline are:
Trial 5: Baseline .08, Peak .25
Trial 6: Baseline .08, Peak .22
Trial 7: Baseline .08, Peak .20
This yields an average peak of .22 for this baseline, and since we had one more person for Trial 5 that may have been part of the reason the result of that trial was slightly higher. The other trials can be summarized as:
Trial 1: Baseline .20, Peak .41
Trial 2: Baseline .05, Peak .18
Trial 3: Baseline .12, Peak .41
Trial 4: Baseline .18, Peak .40
In all these cases the peak level occurred between the conjuration of the spirit and the license to depart, so the effect does seem to be linked to the spirit's presence rather than happening at random, but so far a completely predictable pattern has yet to emerge in terms of degree.
At .05 we got .18 for a multiplier of 3.6
At .08 we averaged .22 for a multiplier of 2.8
At around .17 we averaged .41 for a multiplier of 2.4
It seems like the multiplier increases as the baseline decreases, though the single .05 trial could turn out to be an outlier. What's clear is that the multiplier does seem to vary with the baseline, so it is not a straight additive effect as I previously hypothesized.
Showing posts with label emf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label emf. Show all posts
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
EMF Trial Update #3
The holidays have been busy this year so I haven't posted anything in the last two weeks, but our EMF research is slowly continuing.
Over the last month and a half my ritual working group has done two more evocations in which we attempted to detect the presence of an evoked spirit with the EMF detector. Using the .4 threshold for detection the results have been one success and one failure, and in addition some patterns seem to be emerging from this work that provide insights into how EMF works in the context of an evocation.
As I mentioned in the update to the previous EMF article, I am now using a unique sequential numbering system for these trials, so that I can refer back to them more efficiently when I finally compile the results into something resembling a scientific study. I also will be numbering these update articles going forward for easy reference to the specific postings.
Trial 4
This trial was performed by five magicians, all experienced. Baseline EMF was .18 and peak EMF rose to .4, setting off the detector and making this trial a success. The EMF spiked to .4 twice during this trial, once as the operant field opened and again in the presence of the evoked spirit.
Trial 5
This trial was performed by 6 magicians, the same five as Trial 4 plus a visitor who is experienced with magical practice but less familiar with the ceremonial style of ritual that our group performs. Baseline EMF was .08 and peak EMF rose to .25, making this trial a failure in reference to the .4 threshold. This was the first trial in which a tangible cold spot seemed to appear over the altar without the EMF rising above the .4 mark.
Conclusions
One of the things that I have noticed with these trials is both times that the .4 threshold was not reached the baseline EMF for the temple was particularly low. Also, the EMF did increase during the conjuration for those trials as well, just not enough to reach the threshold. So at this point it seems to me that the most reasonable hypothesis is that the presence of the spirit adds a little more than .2 to the overall EMF present.
With Trial 5, a tangible cold spot was felt over the altar even though the EMF only rose to the .25 level. This seems to contradict my earlier hypothesis that the cold spots correlate to EMF around or above the .4 threshold, and suggests that these phenomena may be more independent from each othat than I previously thought. This would be where using some sort of a thermometer would probably be appropriate to see if the degree shift is relatively predictable in its own right.
One of the members of my magical working group is putting together a form for logging magical journal entries in a more standard form for easier comparison between operators. On the basis of these and the previous trials I will be suggesting that Baseline EMF and Peak EMF should be logged whenever possible, so that over time we can see physical measurements of what is going on. Once we've logged a large enough sample of EMF trials the next step will be to do probability testing on a series of practical rituals and see if the probability shift corresponds in any way to the EMF level.
Over the last month and a half my ritual working group has done two more evocations in which we attempted to detect the presence of an evoked spirit with the EMF detector. Using the .4 threshold for detection the results have been one success and one failure, and in addition some patterns seem to be emerging from this work that provide insights into how EMF works in the context of an evocation.
As I mentioned in the update to the previous EMF article, I am now using a unique sequential numbering system for these trials, so that I can refer back to them more efficiently when I finally compile the results into something resembling a scientific study. I also will be numbering these update articles going forward for easy reference to the specific postings.
Trial 4
This trial was performed by five magicians, all experienced. Baseline EMF was .18 and peak EMF rose to .4, setting off the detector and making this trial a success. The EMF spiked to .4 twice during this trial, once as the operant field opened and again in the presence of the evoked spirit.
Trial 5
This trial was performed by 6 magicians, the same five as Trial 4 plus a visitor who is experienced with magical practice but less familiar with the ceremonial style of ritual that our group performs. Baseline EMF was .08 and peak EMF rose to .25, making this trial a failure in reference to the .4 threshold. This was the first trial in which a tangible cold spot seemed to appear over the altar without the EMF rising above the .4 mark.
Conclusions
One of the things that I have noticed with these trials is both times that the .4 threshold was not reached the baseline EMF for the temple was particularly low. Also, the EMF did increase during the conjuration for those trials as well, just not enough to reach the threshold. So at this point it seems to me that the most reasonable hypothesis is that the presence of the spirit adds a little more than .2 to the overall EMF present.
With Trial 5, a tangible cold spot was felt over the altar even though the EMF only rose to the .25 level. This seems to contradict my earlier hypothesis that the cold spots correlate to EMF around or above the .4 threshold, and suggests that these phenomena may be more independent from each othat than I previously thought. This would be where using some sort of a thermometer would probably be appropriate to see if the degree shift is relatively predictable in its own right.
One of the members of my magical working group is putting together a form for logging magical journal entries in a more standard form for easier comparison between operators. On the basis of these and the previous trials I will be suggesting that Baseline EMF and Peak EMF should be logged whenever possible, so that over time we can see physical measurements of what is going on. Once we've logged a large enough sample of EMF trials the next step will be to do probability testing on a series of practical rituals and see if the probability shift corresponds in any way to the EMF level.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
More EMF Experiments
Over the last several weeks I've done two more experiments using the EMF detector in conjunction with zodiacal evocations. Even though one trial was a failure, the other was a success and it seems like the first trial wasn't just a fluke. Obviously a lot more research needs to be done before any firm conclusions can be drawn, but we're off to what looks like a decent start.
Trial 2
This trial was performed by myself and two other magicians, one very experienced and one beginner.
Baseline EMF in the temple was very low when we started this one, around .05. The room's baseline is usually between .1 and .2 so for whatever reason there wasn't much background radiation for this trial. It was in the evening, whereas the others we've done have been in the afternoon, so that might have had something to do with it. I was surprised enough by this lower reading that I may do a study at some point to try and establish the baseline fluctuations in the temple for different days and times.
The detector jumped highest as we were doing the conjuration, but only up to around a .18. Checking after the ritual I found that it had dropped back down to around the original .05 reading. Even though this is a large percentage increase in the field, given that .18 is within the normal baseline range I am nonetheless considering this trial a failure as far as detecting an entity goes. I also noticed that the cold I usually feel over the altar when the spirits manifest was reduced for this trial.
Trial 3
This trial was also performed by myself and two other magicians, but this time both of the other magicians involved were very experienced.
Baseline EMF when we started this one was about .12, within the normal range that usually find when doing random sweeps with the detector. This ritual was performed late in the afternoon and ran into early evening.
For this trial the detector did jump above .4 as we were doing the conjuration, setting off the detector. It did not jump as high as the first EMF trial that my group conducted, topping out at around .41. Still, since .4 is the threshold that I'm aiming for this trial qualifies as a success. The sense of cold for this trial was substantially stronger than for the previous trial. After we closed down the ritual, I checked the temple again and got the same .12 reading that I had gotten before.
Conclusions
So far it seems as though in all of these cases there has been elevated EMF when the entity summoned is supposed to manifest. In two of the three experiments so far this elevation has reached the threshold for success, .4, selected because (1) it is twice the usual background reading and (2) it is the alarm threshold for the detector in high-sensitivity mode. The second point is important because when we're doing the conjuration we don't want to be constantly looking at the detector - we just want the alarm if the EMF is high enough.
The "cold spot" effect so far seems to correlate with the level of EMF. Whether this is because I'm sensing the EMF and my nervous system is interpreting it as cold or because the entity produces both cold and EMF is hard to say. Some sort of thermometer would probably be useful here to measure if the cold is physical or not, but the challenge there would be to work out some way to incorporate it into the altar arrangement without disrupting other ritual actions. Ghost hunters use digital thermometers, but I've read some criticism of using them to detect cold spots suggesting that they only work well to detect temperature on surfaces.
With a sample size of only three trials I have a long way to go before I have enough data to demonstrate that this method will work reliably as a physical test for the success of an evocation. But so far the trials seem to be going well.
UPDATE: In the interest of consistency in reporting these trials I have decided to give each of them a unique sequence number rather than numbering them within each article. So the trials here are now numbered 2 and 3 rather than 1 and 2, since the initial trial took place before these did.
Trial 2
This trial was performed by myself and two other magicians, one very experienced and one beginner.
Baseline EMF in the temple was very low when we started this one, around .05. The room's baseline is usually between .1 and .2 so for whatever reason there wasn't much background radiation for this trial. It was in the evening, whereas the others we've done have been in the afternoon, so that might have had something to do with it. I was surprised enough by this lower reading that I may do a study at some point to try and establish the baseline fluctuations in the temple for different days and times.
The detector jumped highest as we were doing the conjuration, but only up to around a .18. Checking after the ritual I found that it had dropped back down to around the original .05 reading. Even though this is a large percentage increase in the field, given that .18 is within the normal baseline range I am nonetheless considering this trial a failure as far as detecting an entity goes. I also noticed that the cold I usually feel over the altar when the spirits manifest was reduced for this trial.
Trial 3
This trial was also performed by myself and two other magicians, but this time both of the other magicians involved were very experienced.
Baseline EMF when we started this one was about .12, within the normal range that usually find when doing random sweeps with the detector. This ritual was performed late in the afternoon and ran into early evening.
For this trial the detector did jump above .4 as we were doing the conjuration, setting off the detector. It did not jump as high as the first EMF trial that my group conducted, topping out at around .41. Still, since .4 is the threshold that I'm aiming for this trial qualifies as a success. The sense of cold for this trial was substantially stronger than for the previous trial. After we closed down the ritual, I checked the temple again and got the same .12 reading that I had gotten before.
Conclusions
So far it seems as though in all of these cases there has been elevated EMF when the entity summoned is supposed to manifest. In two of the three experiments so far this elevation has reached the threshold for success, .4, selected because (1) it is twice the usual background reading and (2) it is the alarm threshold for the detector in high-sensitivity mode. The second point is important because when we're doing the conjuration we don't want to be constantly looking at the detector - we just want the alarm if the EMF is high enough.
The "cold spot" effect so far seems to correlate with the level of EMF. Whether this is because I'm sensing the EMF and my nervous system is interpreting it as cold or because the entity produces both cold and EMF is hard to say. Some sort of thermometer would probably be useful here to measure if the cold is physical or not, but the challenge there would be to work out some way to incorporate it into the altar arrangement without disrupting other ritual actions. Ghost hunters use digital thermometers, but I've read some criticism of using them to detect cold spots suggesting that they only work well to detect temperature on surfaces.
With a sample size of only three trials I have a long way to go before I have enough data to demonstrate that this method will work reliably as a physical test for the success of an evocation. But so far the trials seem to be going well.
UPDATE: In the interest of consistency in reporting these trials I have decided to give each of them a unique sequence number rather than numbering them within each article. So the trials here are now numbered 2 and 3 rather than 1 and 2, since the initial trial took place before these did.
Monday, August 30, 2010
EMF and Evocation
A while back I wrote about doing some research on magical fields with an EMF detector, a device that measures electromagnetic fields. So far I've gotten a lot less done on that project than I would have liked over the course of the summer, but I did do some testing with it this last weekend and got some pretty interesting results.
Up until then I had done tests on particular tools and objects and walked through a couple of houses without finding anything all that unusual from a scientific perspective. Magical tools do not seem to produce any sort of EMF unless they incorporate something like a magnet that would normally do so, and the sensation I get when picking up a magically charged object does not seem to be electromagnetic in nature. Checking out houses has likewise produced nothing unexpected - there have been a few high readings from doorbell transformers and ceiling fans, but nothing that would qualify as paranormal.
This last weekend I finally got around to testing the detector in conjunction with an evocation. My magical working group has been going through a series of rituals evoking the archangels associated with the signs of the Zodiac, and as this month is Virgo I figured that some scientific analysis would be very appropriate to the nature of the sign. I also had noticed in previous evocations in this series that it felt as if the area over the center of the altar felt colder once the archangel was present, and I wondered if this effect might have anything in common with cold spots supposedly produced during hauntings. Those cold spots often correspond to a high electromagnetic field.
The overall baseline EMF reading for the temple is about .2, which is fairly typical for a normal room inside a house that has electrical service. For the experiment I placed the probe from the detector in the center of the altar on top of the Virgo flashing color tablet that we would be evoking the archangel into. The reading remained steady, around .2, as the ritual commenced, persisting through the opening of the magical field by LBRP, LIRH, and GIRH - Virgo. It remained at .2 through the preliminary conjuration of Raziel. However, as soon as I finished off the specific conjuration for Hamaliel, the archangel of Virgo, the detector shot up to a little over .4 and started beeping. .4 the point at which it goes off in high sensitivity mode.
Now, so far I only have the one test case so the effect will need to be replicated enough times to produce a reasonable confidence interval, but the result proved quite encouraging. It's always possible that it could have been random environmental interference or some sort of household power surge, but the detector was on through the entire opening of the ritual and went off within a couple seconds of finishing the conjuration - that is, at the moment in which the archangel was expected to appear. As usual, I also was able to feel the cold spot forming in its usual location at the same time, which would suggest that there is indeed a connection between the cold, the EMF, and the manifestation of the spirit.
If this effect can be replicated it could give magicians a great new tool for determining the presence of a spirit during an evocation. We would no longer have to rely on subjective feelings of "energy" or whatnot, and we also would not be stuck expending the power of the spirit on stupid tests like poltergeist phenomena, which I'm convinced only detract from the effectiveness of the overall working. If any other magicians out there are interested in this sort of research I highly encourage you to pick up your own EMF detector and try it out. If you do, I would love to hear about your experimental results and I hope that you will feel free to post them here.
Up until then I had done tests on particular tools and objects and walked through a couple of houses without finding anything all that unusual from a scientific perspective. Magical tools do not seem to produce any sort of EMF unless they incorporate something like a magnet that would normally do so, and the sensation I get when picking up a magically charged object does not seem to be electromagnetic in nature. Checking out houses has likewise produced nothing unexpected - there have been a few high readings from doorbell transformers and ceiling fans, but nothing that would qualify as paranormal.
This last weekend I finally got around to testing the detector in conjunction with an evocation. My magical working group has been going through a series of rituals evoking the archangels associated with the signs of the Zodiac, and as this month is Virgo I figured that some scientific analysis would be very appropriate to the nature of the sign. I also had noticed in previous evocations in this series that it felt as if the area over the center of the altar felt colder once the archangel was present, and I wondered if this effect might have anything in common with cold spots supposedly produced during hauntings. Those cold spots often correspond to a high electromagnetic field.
The overall baseline EMF reading for the temple is about .2, which is fairly typical for a normal room inside a house that has electrical service. For the experiment I placed the probe from the detector in the center of the altar on top of the Virgo flashing color tablet that we would be evoking the archangel into. The reading remained steady, around .2, as the ritual commenced, persisting through the opening of the magical field by LBRP, LIRH, and GIRH - Virgo. It remained at .2 through the preliminary conjuration of Raziel. However, as soon as I finished off the specific conjuration for Hamaliel, the archangel of Virgo, the detector shot up to a little over .4 and started beeping. .4 the point at which it goes off in high sensitivity mode.
Now, so far I only have the one test case so the effect will need to be replicated enough times to produce a reasonable confidence interval, but the result proved quite encouraging. It's always possible that it could have been random environmental interference or some sort of household power surge, but the detector was on through the entire opening of the ritual and went off within a couple seconds of finishing the conjuration - that is, at the moment in which the archangel was expected to appear. As usual, I also was able to feel the cold spot forming in its usual location at the same time, which would suggest that there is indeed a connection between the cold, the EMF, and the manifestation of the spirit.
If this effect can be replicated it could give magicians a great new tool for determining the presence of a spirit during an evocation. We would no longer have to rely on subjective feelings of "energy" or whatnot, and we also would not be stuck expending the power of the spirit on stupid tests like poltergeist phenomena, which I'm convinced only detract from the effectiveness of the overall working. If any other magicians out there are interested in this sort of research I highly encourage you to pick up your own EMF detector and try it out. If you do, I would love to hear about your experimental results and I hope that you will feel free to post them here.
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