Part Two
Kismet
Man also possesses a power by which he may see his friends and the circumstances by which they are surrounded, although such persons may be a thousand miles away from him at that time.
*
Paracelsus (1493-1541)
8
Bridge
I experienced the quiet after the storm. After a decade serving The Establishment and another few years at The Institute, I felt as if my life had just stalled. All I could do was philosophise, reflect, and consolidate, although maybe this period of calm would enable me to assimilate everything I’d learned.
Through what I’d researched, I knew there was so much more to being human than mere physiology. The unknown transformed from irrational to something worthy of scientific investigation. I comprehended that life extended beyond the material world. However, I had no theory to link everything and give it meaning.
During my reflection, I questioned life. Are we indeed directed by destiny? Everything in my life suggested there was a plan operating, but whose plan? Although I abhorred the idea of a pre-ordained schedule in our lives, my life seemed strangely scripted, as if I were an actor in a film and the director knew it would all work out in the end. However, at the moment, I felt like the set had been vacated and I was staring at a blank page.
Maybe for once, it was time for me to write the rest of the script.
I felt the proverbial book inside me screaming to be written, so I put my typewriter to use. Drawing on my experiments and subsidiary research, I wrote about historical notions of the soul as a separate entity to the physical body, something common to all the world’s religions. Digging deeper, I came to understand the soul links spirit and body and can be attracted to either good or evil, providing the classic conflict, or battleground. The body is therefore a tool that is used by the soul and the spirit in its ultimate purpose.
Where the electromagnetic field I measured sits in all this, I merely speculated for now. Is it the soul or spirit? There were so many unanswered questions. Why is the electromagnetic field of a psychic so strong and vibrant? What is the source of the human EM field? Does it issue from the brain? Is there a line of upward causation from matter to spirit, or downward causation from spirit to matter? Are the soul and consciousness the same thing? What had I really been measuring all along: an electromagnetic field, the soul, or consciousness?
Trying to conclusively prove the existence of this field was frustrating though. Tantalising anecdotes and studies refer to ‘false limb syndrome’, in which amputees claim to feel their severed appendage. For example, pain and itching is often felt in the area where the arm or leg would have been. How could this be the result of nerve endings that do not exist anymore? Could these sensations be due to the electromagnetic field I measured?
Maybe the field is some kind of blueprint for the body to follow. DNA, from what I’ve read, gives instructions to build proteins, but how do these proteins know what an arm, liver, or ear is supposed to look like? This information could be contained within the field.
I discovered something called Kirlian photography, developed by a Soviet in 1961. His pictures show what seems to be an energy field around living things, and he called it an aura. I prefer ‘Human Electromagnetic Field’ as a term though, as it sounds more scientific.
Anyway, this was just what I needed: clear visual evidence for the Human Electromagnetic Field. I decided to create a camera.
***
Developments took place in the physical as well as the intellectual world. While out horse riding, I took a detour through some woods near the cottage, and soon found myself riding alongside a woman. She looked quite athletic and had a mane of incredible, chestnut coloured hair. In synchronicity we rode silently, until the woman broke the mute spell.
“Do you ride here often?” she joked, an amusing ice breaker.
“Twice a week,” I replied. “You?”
“Ditto.”
“Beautiful dappled horse you have there,” I said in admiration.
“Thank you. I call her Laika.”
I had to smile at that.
“You’ve been following the space race.”
“It’s the ultimate travel destination,” she mused.
“This is Hadron, a very proud stallion that I’ve just broken in.”
“Hadron?” she queried.
“It’s a new term applied to strongly interacting particles in quantum physics,” I explained, although she didn’t appear to understand. “I don’t suppose you’re interested in particle physics by any chance?”
“Close, I studied chemistry.”
“What do you do now?” I asked, becoming more interested in her by the minute.
“I work in a lab close by. You?”
“I think, research and write.”
She laughed and gave Laika a kick, spurring her horse into a canter. Intrigued, I copied and we ran in reign. She led me to a small cottage on the other side of my hill. We tethered the horses to a fence and they grazed happily as we stood, soaking up the chemistry and physics of sexual attraction.
Five minutes later, we stumbled into her sitting room. She attempted to kick off her riding boots as I fumbled with the fastenings on her jodhpurs. I was in too much of a hurry to strip, and partially removed her jodhpurs before enveloping her in my arms and carrying her to the sofa.
The sex was fast and furious but she liked it that way, having no qualms about welcoming a stranger into her body. Wow, a liberated woman! She finished just before I did, the brevity of no concern to her as she expected seconds. I didn’t complain. The dessert was certainly sweet, as seconds should be. After the second climax, she lay on the sofa, feeling as satisfied as I did, and lit a cigarette.
“I’m Eleanor, by the way,” she said.
“Paul,” I replied.
We shook hands.
***
Our alliance began on the 15th of September 1962 and by the time our first anniversary arrived, I’d made satisfactory progress with my book. However, my purpose in life was ailing. I caught Martin Luther King’s speech, in which he declared ‘I have a dream’. In my case, it felt like ‘I hada dream’. A vision of my purpose was something I craved.
Eleanor and I became comfortable though. Maybe I was finally ready to settle down, as we enjoyed an easy relationship. I felt loved and appreciated, and in turn, I had the utmost respect for her. While it wasn’t an earth shattering romance, we fitted together, interlocking like an enzyme and its receptor. We followed the Space Race on the TV and radio, and I collected all the newspaper clippings, displaying them on the wall near my desk.
During that time, Max retreated further and further into the recesses of my conscious mind. Eventually, I started to feel stagnant so in the autumn of 1963, I took up a lecturing post again. I did this as much for the intellectual challenge, as well as the need to preserve my savings.
Nevertheless, the director of my life’s script decided to deliver a game changer again. Max reappeared in my life in May 1964, strangely preoccupied and with new objectives. However, I gave my allotted task little thought, as in our conversation he inspired me without realising it. I had a light bulb moment, the Eureka we all desire. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?