Archons and Norepinephrine

In contemporary views on “spiritual growth” or “liberation”, you can often encounter two types of states that are associated with “development”, but at the same time are different manifestations of the very same asthenia of mind.

The first group of states, which are usually associated with the notions of “righteousness” and “asceticism”, is described as “fatigue from samsara”. Typical signs of this state can be thoughts or statements like: “This world no longer interests me”, “It is completely clear to me, and it cannot offer anything new”, and similar ones.

These states can develop in two cases. The simpler variant is “burnout” after a series of failures and disappointments, which is usually accompanied by a chronic increase in cortisol levels, leading to a neuroendocrine blockade of initiative by suppression of the frontal lobes of the brain. Accordingly, the will, not anchored at the basic reaction level, breaks and slips into autistic-like withdrawal. This is how “dropping out of the game” is born — one of the favorite mechanisms of Archons’ influence. In such a state, the mind does not resist, does not seek, does not move and does not generate “white” energy, but simply gloomily “survives” in the shell.

A more complex and insidious variant of “renouncing samsara” is “renouncing the world under the guise of spiritual maturity”, which in essence usually turns out to be archontic sabotage, mistakenly taken for wisdom. This is a kind of “proud rejection of passions”, behind which, however, there hides a ban on living experience. This non-involvement is a form of avoidance; it is not “Freedom from”, but manifests as “renunciation for the sake of” — a subtle negation of life under the guise of “exalted” discernment.

From a neurochemical point of view, this is antistress balance without creative activity. It usually manifests as a suppressive pattern driven by the prefrontal cortex: “I don’t want to desire anything”, “desire is suffering”, “it is better to be outside”. At the same time, GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) inhibits neuronal activity, promotes calm, and endorphins produce a baseline pleasure from the state itself.

This state is especially dangerous because it really does outwardly resemble realization: suffering is not felt in it, dependencies do not accumulate, such a person is not restless, and may even seem like a model of equilibrium. However, at the same time, he creates nothing and doesn’t engage deeply in anything, and does not respond to the call. Therefore, such “non-involvement” is a state of beautiful, noble yet sterile stagnation, in which “spirituality” is abstract, speculative, and emotions are perceived as a sign of imperfection or obscuration.

One can say that such a state is the extreme form of heimarmene, since it is voluntary, praised and encouraged, considered an achievement, but at the same time it closes all doors to the manifestation of will, awakening, and realization of desires. It is clear that such a “freezing” of feelings and will perfectly corresponds to the interests of the Archons: the energy of mind is “scooped up”, but does not move, is not lived through, and is not transformed.

The second group of manifestations of the same sluggishness of mind is, on the contrary, “superficial bliss”, so well known from the “new age” movement and other modern pseudo-spiritual currents. This state is like a mild narcotic-like trance, in which the mind becomes docile and radiant, but at the same time loses the capacity for volitional action, for recognizing evil, and for discerning truth and lies. This state is associated with elevated levels of serotonin and oxytocin, which can develop under the influence of yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, social contacts, or even simply the sun. Often it also manifests with high endorphin levels, in which the depth of critical evaluation decreases, since the activity of the prefrontal cortex diminishes. This state is perfectly suited for adaptation to the world of the Archons, where breadth matters more than depth, but the “breadth” of experiences, activation of pneuma without its deep integration.

Both of these states are the flip side of the nature of Homo sapiens, which evolved in complex environments and gained evolutionary advantages as a result of a special type of stress response — hyperaggression and heightened anxiety.

Indeed, the common manifestation of both “samsaric fatigue” and “blissful superficiality” is a decrease in the level of catecholamines (dopamine and norepinephrine) and a failure to mobilize energy. And yet it is precisely the ability to respond with a significant surge of these mediators to any unusual environmental conditions that shaped the human nervous system, and it is precisely in it that one of the reasons lies for the “dopaminergic” striving so characteristic of humans.

Homo sapiens, as a being possessing an evolutionary capacity for instant neurochemical mobilization, is also prone to rapid exhaustion when this mobilization cannot find an outlet in real action. It is precisely this neurochemical feature that manifests in such basic properties of the human psyche as high motivational sensitivity to environmental changes and active exploratory behavior, but at the same time — in increased social mistrust and anxiety. And this same system makes a person especially vulnerable to various “dopaminergic” deceptive environmental cues, when external signals mimic a challenge but do not require genuine (and all the more, risky) action.

We have already discussed that the modern human habitat is overloaded with information, but energy-wise passive. It continuously stimulates the dopaminergic system with numerous visual and semantic triggers (news, clips, notifications), but at the same time does not require an active physical reaction, and therefore does not provide an outlet for mobilized energy. This leads to gradual depletion of mediator reserves (by the principle of receptor feedback) and the development of asthenia of mind, which  over time stops responding intensely altogether.

This is how the two extremes of “escape from reality” mentioned above are formed, when the mind either quells anxiety through apathy, or sublimates arousal into barren, superficial joy. In both cases the energy isn’t processed, not transformed, but only mildly activated and flows into the background, easily directed by Archons and Fomorians.

However, it is precisely in the mode of a light but steady norepinephrine tone that a person is most engaged in reality, receptive, focused, and “in the flow”. It is norepinephrine that provides that stable attention, clarity of perception, determination, and initiative that are necessary to keep the mind in an “awake” state.

The state that in yoga is called dharana, and in Hermeticism — fixation of the image, largely depends on a stable level of norepinephrine. The production of norepinephrine is stimulated not by an external threat, but by an internal task; it provides attention, learning, volitional effort, and also is activated during prayers and rituals. And therefore it is the mediator of the Magus, the student, and the strategist, not the soldier.

But here too, of course, the Archons do not rest. They often replace catecholamine effects, undermining stable norepinephrine stimulation with more intense adrenaline. In modern asthenic society, many people intuitively feel that they lack liveliness, focus, and clarity, and therefore resort to “stimulating” simulators of life’s intensity — extreme sports, war games, and other similar “adrenaline practices”. In such extreme actions, the sympathetic system is significantly activated; however, the adrenaline peak is quickly followed by exhaustion, since the energy is not invested into realization, but is simply discharged — in other words, this drains rather than elevates. Accordingly, its result turns out to be only short-term mobilization, without anchoring a new level of mind, and also another dependency often develops — on external shock as the only way to “wake up”. And just as in the case of “dopamine addiction”, gradual tolerance to the stimulus develops, which means an ever greater challenge is required. In other words, a person in this does not grow or develop; he simply becomes accustomed to spikes, but does not build structures capable of directing energy into creative channels, does not learn to “keep it under control”. However, true vitality is not a surge, not a discharge, but experiencing fully — the capacity to actively be present in any moment, without the need to exaggerate moments or to ignore them.

Therefore, instead of fighting excitation, it is more effective to learn to embed it into the processes of life, to seek inner stimuli that both activate and restrain mechanisms. Accordingly, the Magus does not seek external bursts of vigor. He gradually and purposefully builds an inner container in which adrenaline does not dissipate, but channels into vectors of will. The Magus does not jump off a bridge; he walks the razor’s edge internally, maintaining clarity, without falling apart and sliding into extremes.

The psyche of the Magus, who acts without uncontrolled agitation but with full involvement, is regulated precisely by norepinephrine mechanisms. Accordingly, the Magus walking his Way learns not only not to depend on dopaminergic rewards, but also not to provoke large adrenaline spikes, and strives to maintain norepinephrine calmly and steadily, in the tension of his purposeful ascent.