The Two Realms
need an introduction. Elsewhere I will use the movie The Matrix as a metaphor for what you face.
But here I will use an iceberg, because it is so apt, and it has appealed to so many other writers trying to say something similar.
What you can see of this iceberg represents everything you think you are, everything you think you know, believe in, and expect. When you fear death, this is what you fear the extinction of.
In science fiction, when they talk of uploading yourself into a computer and becoming immortal, this is what they are talking about.
All the rules of your game are there floating above the waterline. Your education is based on this model. The social person, the person of, and living in, the world of words. When you have a plan, when you engage in an undertaking, this represents what you use and bring to the table.
It is also what we know and expect of others. Imagine that it was made of Styrofoam, just floating there, bobbing around on the surface. Perhaps with a tattoo, or piercing. Definitely with bumper stickers. It is the 1st Realm.
And this is what you really are.
This ancient immensity representing all that you have evolved from, with all the talents and techniques that allowed your ancestors to evolve out of the primordial gunk.
This second illustration showing the entire iceberg represents the totality of yourself. It is the way of the Traveler to endeavor to live with the totality of himself. That portion below the waterline is the 2nd Realm.
David Eagleman in his book Incognito says it like this.
“Your consciousness is like a tiny stowaway on a transatlantic steamship, taking credit for the journey without acknowledging the massive engineering underfoot.”
We don’t agree and say why in our review of Incognito. At this point we just want the reader to understand from the iceberg pictures what is at stake. The tremendous power to be accessed by linking up with the old part of your being. Below, in the middle column, are some of the common terms used for the 2nd Realm, or means of accessing it.
Take your time with the TED talk below. As you watch it, keep in mind our iceberg model.