The aim of this article is to consider the meaning of the subtle characteristics of eye floaters, as conveyed by mystic and seer Nestor. Suggesting that floaters can be relevant not only for individual spirituality, but for society and ophthalmology as well, I address the following questions: How do floaters relate to entoptic phenomena which are known to have spiritual relevance in some indigenous shamanic societies? Does Nestor’s claims about floaters require a modified ophthalmological interpretation? And: To what extent is it reasonable to think of floaters as a spiritual phenomenon? Please login with user name and password:
The following feedback was sent by reader Nova.
Do you mean they glow in the dark too? (source)
Hi Nova, The floaters we're talking about may light up in all circumstances. There are outer and inner conditions that help reaching that state. Day light helps make them light up, but so does your state of mind or your state of concentration, or the level of energy, it's hard to tell what it really is. I suppose that sun light intensifies the energy metabolism increasing the chance for lighting up the floaters. On the other hand, in the same outer lighting conditions, one and the same string or dot may appear transparent at fist, and after a few seconds of concentration become smaller and light up. If the floaters shine, they are brighter than anything and you can see them anywhere. You can see floaters in the dark, too, but it's harder to see exactly the same shapes. I can see only my upper floaters, a conglomeration of small dots and strings that shine very bright by day light. In the dark they shine in a blue colored light. This light tends to cross the limits of the dot hull. What an untrained eye sees is just a blue colored speck or cloud in the dark. Physiologically, this may be called "phosphenes" (which is said to be neuronal discharges ...). Until now, I didn’t
manage to verify if all the floaters which appear to me during daytime
really can be seen at night. Maybe they do only if the energy metabolism
is high enough, like it is in altered states of consciousness. I think
that whatever the outer conditions, it's also necessary to practise
inner transformation to see the light in this structure. Floco
Dear readers,
do you have personal experiences with eye floaters or other entoptic
phenomena? Or any suggestions what they could be? Send your hints, experiences
and/or pictures to me, I am very interested.
Email: floco.tausin@eye-floaters.info
Eye floaters and their meaning were interpreted differently depending on the time, culture and personality of the observer. We learn a spiritually meaningful perspective about floaters from Nestor, the seer, with whom I have studied and whose teachings I recorded in the book „Mouches volantes – Eye Floaters as Shining Structure of Consciousness“. In this category, a particular statement from the book on floaters shall be presented and explained.
From: Mouches Volantes – Eye Floaters. The Shining Structure of Consciousness, p. 193. (source)
How do we perceive floaters? From the point of view of our everyday understanding, there is no question: Apparently, we see the dots and strings with our eyes. For Nestor, however, there is yet another dimension of visual perception, apart from the bodily one: seeing with the “inner sense”, as he calls it. This is consistent with existing spiritual ideas stating that human beings are able to develop a kind of perception that goes beyond the physical senses. It is a subtle perception, detecting subtle phenomena. Probably the best known and most widely used metaphor for this is the “third eye” which corresponds to Nestor’s “inner sense”. According to Nestor, the inner sense interacts with the “external senses” such as seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. According to the seers’ teachings about the “energy metabolism”, our sense activity consumes energy. Withdrawing the senses from the material sense objects – as is practiced in meditation – reduces this constant energy consumption temporarily. The released energy flows to other psychic or mental functions, e.g. feeling and thinking are often intensified. In order to develop the inner sense, the mind is directed on an inner object of meditation. This can be, for example, a thought, a mental image or an inner sound. The seers recommend to focus attention on an inner visual phenomena, i.e. on entoptic phenomena such as floaters. By focusing on floaters, the inner sense is developed, and the subtle objects of inner vision appear more intensively. By and by, practitioners perceive floaters differently, unlike those who look at their dots and strands using their corporal eyes only. Therefore, Nestor believes that the true nature of the floaters is revealed only to those who develop their inner sense. In the seers’
interpretation, seeing floaters informs the beholder about the state of
development of the inner sense. In my second book, I will describe a particular
constellation of floaters which, when perceived, signifies to the seer
to have “perfectly” unfolded the inner sense and thus to be
a “seer”.
The category "Quarterly Picture" introduces realistic, artistic, and/or spiritual/religious representations from different cultures and times which could show entoptic phenomena, or be inspired by it. The Russian painter and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) counts as one of the founder of abstract art. Influenced by Monet’s impressionism, he experimented with alternative styles of painting in the early 20th century, a time of increasing uncertainty and crisis. Color and form in Kandinsky’s paintings increasingly emancipated from the figurative representation and became objects of their own. In the 1920s, this development culminated in the geometric and mathematical abstraction – Kandinsky moved away from any representation. Although his “First Abstract Watercolor” (1910) was not the first abstract work of the new movement, Kandinsky was first in realizing a sophisticated program of abstract art which he theoretically established in his essay “Concerning the Spiritual in Art” (original German title: Über das Geistige in der Kunst, 1911). Here he states that the task of art is not to represent reality, but to allow room to the “inner need” (innere Notwendigkeit), to convey this “inner” (das Innerliche) and to bring about the “epoch of the great spirit” (Epoche des grossen Geistigen). Spirit has to overcome matter, as form has to overcome content. Kandinsky, who was influenced by Theosophy, hoped to find the access to pure form, pure color, and, thus, pure spirit in nonfigurative painting.
Yet, as Picasso said: “There is no abstract art, art is always based on something” – and possibly, Kandinsky’s art is, at least partially, based on entoptic phenomena. Archaeologist David Whitely (theory of rock art and phosphenes) and art historian Ana Iribas argue that Kandinsky had knowledge of entoptic phenomena and was affected by them. Another indication is Kandinsky’s synaesthetic ability: Evidently, synesthesia can be described – like entoptic phenomena – as a side effect of more intensified consciousness states. It is thus conceivable that individuals with synaesthetic abilities experience more distinctive entoptic phenomena. Thus, the
painting above could mean more than Kandinsky would let us know; more
than his statement about the meaning of circles as synthesis of the
concentric and eccentric; more than the interpretation of the painting
as flare-up of disintegrated orchestra sounds in a tense big break
– it could mean that Kandinsky was inspired by a simple, yet
impressive visual experience: the perception of phosphenes or afterimages;
and that, to him, entoptic phenomena represent the ideals of abstract
art: form without content, and the overcoming of matter.
Publications by Floco Tausin You’ll
find a complete list with all previous publications in German
and English (monographs, anthologies, magazines) at Website.
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