Anyone who has studied Einstein's theories on the nature of the universe has come across the Flatlanders. The Flatlanders are a group of two dimensional people. Their exploits as they encounter three dimensional objects and people are used to explain the theory of four physical dimensions to a mind unable to visualize such things.

A common example is the ‘Flatlander in jail’. What would a jail be like for a two dimensional person, a person who could only move forward, backward, left and right? Basically, the jail would be a square. Think of drawing a person on piece of paper. Now, imagine that that person could move around on the paper. The best way to contain that person would be to draw a closed object, to make it simple, a square, around them. Since the person cannot move off the plane of the paper, they are effectively captured. Now imagine a three dimensional person comes along and lifts the two dimensional person off the page and places him back down outside of the square. To all the other two dimensional people on the page, the ‘prisoner’ would have appeared to vanish from inside the box and then reappear outside of it. Without knowing about the third physical dimension, how would they explain this occurrence? They might use the word ‘magic’.

In the 20th century, Albert Einstein theorized the existence of four physical dimensions. The first three are common: length, height, and width. The fourth physical dimension (It is important here to note that time, although commonly called so, is not the fourth dimension. In Einstein's model, time is the fifth dimension. Dimensions one through four are physical, dimension five is time, and the rest folded in on themselves before the Big Bang.) was not accessible by man. Man had no concept of a world that existed with our own and through which we could affect our world. And, until the early 21st century this was true. Then things changed.

(Meta)humanity refers to the Awakening as magical because of the efforts of one man, Daniel Howling Coyote. He stood upon the mountain and told us that what was happening to the world was magic, and we believed him. In fact, Howling Coyote and his associates were doing nothing more than proving what an old European man with funny hair had proposed nearly sixty years earlier. (Meta)humanity had gained access to the fourth dimension. Matter is very different in four dimensions than it is in three. In order to understand the Great Ghost Dance, one thing must be kept in mind: in four dimensional space, matter is not solid. Think back to the Flatlander in jail, but now imagine the same scenario in three dimensions. A man sits in a prison cell, but he is somehow able to remove himself from that cell and escape without breaking any of the walls. How did he do it? He did not pass through the walls since matter cannot pass through matter. But, what if he was able to go ‘around’ the walls. If this prisoner was able to enter a dimension where the walls did not prevent him from leaving the confines of the cell, he would have been able to escape by exiting the cell and then returning to three dimensional space. The same is true of Howling Coyote and the Great Ghost Dance. So, in fact, the Great Ghost Dance did nothing more than channel energy into the proper places in the target mountains. The shamans who participated in the Dance used the fourth dimension as a route to the center of seemingly solid chunks of rock. Then, after Mount Hood, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams all simultaneously erupted, Howling Coyote committed the greatest act of marketing ever conceived. He did not say that he and the other shamans had used the fourth physical dimension against the military; he said they used magic.

At this point, it is easy to see how the fourth dimension might been seen as Astral space, but there are still a few things about the Astral itself, as well as magic as a whole that do not quite fit. Or do they? First of all, Astral space is full of ‘magical’ energy. Where did all this energy come from? Well, in order to understand the nature of magical energy, one must understand the nature of 'normal' energy. The only form of energy that actually exists are electric and magnetic forces. When those forces combine, an electromagnetic wave is created. Electromagnetic waves make up all the common forms of energy: light, heat, and various forms of radiation. The two component waves of energy move perpendicular to each other. For example, a wave traveling in a straight line would have an electric component modulating in the horizontal direction and a magnetic component modulating in the vertical direction. For a three dimensional world, this is all there can be. But, when four dimensions come into play, a third possibility exists. This third possibility is comprised of three waves, all perpendicular to each other and the direction of motion of the wave form. Visualizing this is impossible at this point in human thinking, but computer models have shown such a construct to be possible. This third component wave is the so-called 'magical' part of magic energy. Of course, the addition of this theory to the current model of electromagnetics would require the creation of a new electromagnetic spectrum, the paraelectromagnetic spectrum. Credence is given to this theory by the similarity between signature of normal objects when viewed in the infrared spectrum, the visible light spectrum, the ultraviolet spectrum, and the astral spectrum.

To better understand these concepts, imagine a rock sealed inside a box (the box is necessary to prevent contamination from outside radiation sources). Without a heat, light, or ultra-violet radiation source nearby, the object has no image (unless of course the object is radioactive, but let's ignore that possibility for now). The same is true of astral space. Viewed without a source of astral energy nearby, the rock would have no astral image. Of course, the simple act of viewing the rock in the astral creates astral energy since the person viewing the object radiates such energy.

Now, imagine a living creature sealed (temporarily) inside a box. Viewed in the infra-red spectrum, the creature would emit a heat signature. Viewed in the visible light spectrum, the creature would not emit a light signature, unless of course it has specialized structures to do so. The creature would, however, emit an ultra-violet signature, although generally only a very slight one. The creature would also have an astral signature since all life emits astral 'light'. From this example, it is easy to assume that each element has an astral radiation signature, but that signature may be too weak for (meta)humans to detect. For some as yet unknown reason, the signature becomes strengthened somehow when it is part of a living organism.

This theory can be expanded to account for the damage to a magician's power that occurs with the installation of cyberware. The materials used in most forms of cyberware, metal, silicon, and composite plastics, do not have an astral signature. Also, any magician will acknowledge that a magician's astral signature, or aura, is used to channel magical energy. When cyberware is installed, it acts like a resistor in an electric circuit. The cyberware creates a blockage to magical energy flowing through the astral radiation field of the magician's aura. The same is also true of so-called bioware, except that bioware is a weaker resistor than cyberware. The bioware has an astral signature, but it is weaker or out of phase with that of the magician. This damage would not come into play with mundanes but it does with magically active individuals, and this is consistent with observed results.

But, what about the astral signature of magically active objects, such as foci and fetishes? Ultra-violet, visible light, and infra-red heat signatures radiate from radioactive objects. These objects have been charged with electromagnetic energy and that energy is stored in the nucleus of the atoms of the object. As these atoms decay, they release the energy they have stored. The same is true of magical objects. Magical energy has been stored in these objects and the objects now emit a magical signature. Of course, this means that the magical energy contained within is escaping and the foci is slowly losing power.

Another aspect of the Astral is the Gaiasphere, the area in which magic is usable. Outside this range, a magician cannot make contact with the Astral. The Gaiasphere is actually a misnomer. It should be referred to as the Gravisphere. Einstein theorized that space-time and gravity are strongly linked. Gravitationally large masses, such as the Earth, warp space-time and cause subtle changes in the laws of physics. Outside the Gaiasphere, the bending of space-time due to the Earth is not severe enough to allow the magician to access the fourth dimension. Of course, this means that the idea that magic could not be used off the Earth is totally incorrect. Although it is still impossible to use magic in space itself, magic may be used by humans visiting other planets. This approach also lends credence to the previous theory of the paraelectromagnetic spectrum. The Sun, and all stars, emit huge amounts electromagnetic energy. That energy can be 'seen' by the use of equipment designed to do so. But, if the paraelectromagnetic spectrum exists, why is there no astral signature for the Sun? The fact is, there is. The energy that comprises this signature is simply not able to travel to the Earth because there is no fourth spatial dimension outside the Sun's Gravisphere. Finally, the most interesting aspect of magic is the metaplanes. In truth, the metaplanes are nothing more than other universes. Einstein theorized the existence of universes beyond our own. He also believed travel between them was possible through objects referred to as Einstein-Rosen Bridges, which are more commonly known as wormholes. Beings from these alternate universes are able to travel to ours just as we come to them. We call these beings spirits and elementals. But, how do the metaplanes relate to fourth dimension? The answer can be found by looking into the lives of the Flatlanders. What if a Flatlander society lived on a piece of infinitely large paper? Would those Flatlanders be aware of another society of Flatlanders living on a similar sheet of paper laying over the first? The answer is no. Without knowing about the third dimension, the Flatlanders would have no way to detect, let alone interact with, the other sheet. But what if one of the Flatlanders learned about the third dimension? They would quickly discover the other sheet of paper, the other plane, if you will. There could possibly be hundreds if not thousands of similar planes all laying on top of one another comprising an entire book of Flatlander societies. And, since these are separate universes, each plane could have its own distinct physical laws, gravity, electromagnetics, thermodynamics and the like. The correlation between the metaplanes and other universes is now quite obvious.

It is necessary to state that the theories forwarded here are unproven and in some cases unprovable. They are simply observations on the nature of magical phenomena made by taking into account the widely accepted (and in some cases proven) theories of Einstein, Heisenberg, Rosen, Bohr and other theoretical physicists. For those of you who doubt what has been proposed here, please examine your reasoning. Remember, when Copernicus proposed that the Earth revolved around the Sun, the Catholic church condemned him to Hell. It took the church four hundred years to acknowledge he was right, centuries after the rest of the world knew the truth.
-Dr. Cynthia Charles, Boston Institute of Awakened Sciences

>>>>>[This article explains magic from the point of view of an hermetic. As a shaman, I can’t subscribe to this view. Magic is a living thing, it doesn’t obey rules or regulations. I can’t explain what spirits are, nor what the meta-planes are, but I’m damn certain that they ain’t alternate dimensions.]<<<<<
- Nate(10:27:31/03-09-60)

>>>>>[But then again, it makes more sense than some of the ‘theories’ I’ve read.]<<<<<
- Nate(10:28:02/03-09-60)

>>>>>[It sounds like rubbish to me. That flatlanders would find different laws of physics on other pages unsubstantiated and counter-intuitive. There is also no evidence give to show how we are suddenly able to ‘channel energy’ just because we have access to a new dimension. Also if it was just awareness of a new dimension then you could teach magic to mundanes.]<<<<<
- Cat(23:52:02/03-09-60)