Go visit a sacred ancient site, if possible one featuring a high density of megalithic architecture, and when you get back tell me, hand on heart, you didn’t feel something. Modern archaeology, for all the good that it has done, does not seem to respect this point. (Please see the article under the same name on my Substack for an extended ontological explanation as to why.)
Something is ambiguous, absurd, certainly strange (see: Kastrup, 2012).
Let’s talk about strangeness. Your first thought may be the “paranormal”. Those into the phenomena may think of “high strangeness”. Historians may recount a primary source or two that sticks out from the literature. Classicists may see myth. Some of you may even recollect a personal experience. Maybe one you heard from a family member or that omnipresent friend of a friend of a friend.
Whatever the case, one thing becomes ironically clear:
Ambiguity is inherent to our world, so too ambivalence, so too absurdity, so too strangeness.
And I can prove it. Well, not me per se. But just stick around and I will explain all.
Perhaps when a scientist, specifically a quantum physicist, hears the word “strange”, they have a slightly different reaction than those listed above. This reaction is hinged around the question:
When we begin to enhance our observational lenses and “zoom in” what do we see in subatomic spaces?
Many smart people might reply back: particles in space. Perhaps, more specifically: quantum fields across space. Then, even more specifically: seemingly empty space that probably holds intrinsic properties allowing matter wave forms to exist over time, yet neither concepts we fully understand yet, because we cannot coherently observe nor harness them.
Neither smart nor specific, I would say: we see strangeness.
Wanting to build a bridge between strangeness, sacred sites and measurable data, “relational quantum mechanics” becomes a keystone used to account for the ambiguity at the quantum scale because it abandons absolutism surrounding the state of a system and, despite such inherent ambiguity, we can indeed measure aspects of the quantum space and the systems inhabiting it.
*Enter quantum interferometry*
In a nutshell: metrology, the ability to measure, at the quantum scale, requires precision beyond classical limits. Whether measuring electrons, neutrons, photons or other subatomic states, one method of measuring requires analyzing changes in distance smaller than the diameter of an atomic nucleus, or gravitational waves that stretch spacetime by less than the width of a proton. News flash: That is pretty damn small!
To see how interferometry fits into this in a simplistic sense, imagine two pebbles simultaneously dropped into a lake. Some of the resulting ripples (waves) will overlap, some will join and grow bigger (analogous to constructive interference), and others will cancel each other out (analogous to destructive interference). Interferometers look to measure these interference patterns in various ways in order to more accurately measure the space and the systems situated within that subatomic space at that specific time.
Moving past the simplistic surface ripple analogy, these devices work by splitting coherent quantum states (like firing photons or entire atoms through lasers and into mirrors) along different paths and the resulting interference pattern is exquisitely sensitive to tiny differences in path length, gravitational fields, or other physical effects that occur along those paths. So, by recombining them to measure the differences at the end point, researchers can infer unbelievably small changes in the quantum environment. This does, admittedly, make it highly susceptible to background “noise”, but with continual advances in quantum technology this weakness may be fortified and interferometry may become robust enough to expand in scale.
Ripples created in water. (Author provided)
Technically, quantum interferometers are “quantum” because they integrate subatomic mechanical processes into their operating systems. “Spooky action at a distance” was used by Einstein to describe what is now known as “quantum entanglement” – the situation in which, after two subatomic particles interact their subsequent states thereafter become “coupled” – “entangled” even over vast quantities of space and time. Strange, right?
Non-locality and retrocausality aside, other absurd emergences from the barely comprehensible scale involve “superpositions” – when a subatomic particle can be either a, b, not a, not b, neither a nor b, or both a and b at the same time (yes, that hurt my head too). Then there is quantum “squeezing” – a process in which you give the subatomic particle a big old hug. All jokes aside for a zeptosecond, from “measuring gravity” to better understanding the properties of light, biological systems and the study of metrology in general, these strange quantum occurrences are integrated into quantum interferometers and out the other side pings some pretty groovy results.
So yep – something ambiguously absurd is going on at the subatomic level, but fear not: technology like quantum interferometry is bringing us ever closer to mapping the sub-space and, in doing so, understanding the strange processes occurring here, there, I guess: everywhere.
On the topic of everywhere, let’s now return back to that something felt at the sacred sites laid out at the opening of this article.
- Unraveling the Mystery of the Carnac Stones: An Ancient Puzzle of Epic Proportions
- Shroud of Turin Matches Medieval Sculpture, Not a Human Body
Representation of subatomic waves at an imaginary megalithic site. (AI Generated)
Megalithic Quanta
Absurdity and ambiguity should be part of our ontological understanding of the world around us, and by seeing that a strange ontology is backed up by the latest breakthroughs in quantum physics, the following question emerges:
When we apply this world model to some long-standing mysteries outside the regular domain of quantum mechanics, say, like the location and perhaps function of sacred, and more specifically megalithic sites around the world, what may be learned?
When conducting cross-domain analysis as a layman, the first pattern-matching procedure involves looking for overlaps. Lucky for me this one is glaringly obvious, especially for someone who has visited and studied these sites quite extensively. I am referring to characteristic absurdity. My two-part article series “Doorways To Nowhere” explored such nonsensical elements featured at, and shared across, megalithic sites, so please reference that for specific examples of what, for simplicity sake, I will now label “ambiguous features” (including “doorways to nowhere”, “staircases to nowhere”, “upside down staircases”, “groove/scoop marks”, “henges”, “megalithic arrangements” and “protuberances/nubs”).
Immediately many will say:
ambiguous features are designed for “sacred”, “ritual” and “ceremonial” purposes. Immediately I would say back: I am not disputing this. What I would then add is: Whilst more “metaphorical” than strictly “physical”, as we have just seen, idealism and relational quantum mechanics suggest features of the very real seeming world around us can be more than one thing, neither thing, or two different things at the same time.
Coming from this grey area between metaphor and physical reality it is no surprise that, once we factor into the equation the paradoxical role of the observer (e.g. in the idealist argument against strong-objectivity (Kastrup, 2022), or even the observer in the 2nd-order cybernetic sense), ambiguous features at megalithic sites remain, concurrently, multiple, ontologically significant things depending on the individual cognitive light-cone.
I concluded that series by stating our doorways to nowhere led, well, nowhere. But that’s because trying to understand the absurd only leads right back to absurdity. It reminds me of what Frederick Nietzche once said: “...if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” Call me melodramatic but, as a model for thinking about why, when we stare at the nonsensical and see just that, I think Nietzche’s quote captures the conundrum, and the illogical logic of it, quite succinctly.
But there was something else significant to the distribution of megalithic sites: they appear all over the planet, ambiguous features and all. In a sort of Jungian sense, the archetypes that sprung ambiguous features from the immaterial mind of the megalithic architect into the material reality of megalithic architecture still standing today could have spanned and stemmed from the collective unconscious, hence the similarities across space and time. But how would one go about measuring the collective unconscious? There is a clear measurement problem, stemming from, among other things, ambiguous boundary conditions. In a more measurable sense, one could hypothesize that an underlying causal structure sits behind the megalithic diaspora. Back to somewhere between empiricism and phenomenology, Ruper Sheldrake’s “Formative Causation” comes to mind, only it is as if a highly strange megalithic morphic resonance rung out instead, no doubt in the minds but also undeniably imprinted in the land, a morphic field nurturing certain planetary spaces.
Megalith: Studies in Stone, recorded webinar with Hugh Newman, from the Ancient Origins Store.
More recently, another article series led me to explore the mechanisms and causal structures running through the coupling of “Life” and Earth’s electromagnetic systems. It was at this point I ran across another peculiar correlation: many megalithic sites are constructed around fault zones. Whilst it is beyond the scope of this article to parse out a sturdy hypothesis explaining causative relations over mere correlation, it should be noted that in that series I was exploring possible mechanisms behind a correlation between human “markers” and seismically active, electromagnetically and geomagnetically dense zones. Given emerging research into quantum electrodynamics, or to counter and even expound on that, extended electrodynamics, and combine the significant role of bioelectric mechanisms on modulating cognition across biological systems, and then sprinkle the idea that quantum processes, like quantum tunneling, directly influence cognition, perhaps even consciousness via microtubules, there could be room for some superficial pattern-matching, but alas, not here.
When I wrote the original “Use of Quantum Sensors at Megalithic Sites” I had just come back from a long research trip, fortunate enough to spend time at sites across Mexico, Costa Rica and Peru. Clearly my experiences were born from an idealistic, constructivist and ultimately intuitionist perspective. It was my intuition that led me to construct a scenario where, based on what I had personally experienced (as well as what I had corroborated with a number of other individuals), to surmise that, for lack of a better term, “something more” not only permeates these sacred sites, but is part of a larger, fundamental planetary-wide causal structure. Along the lines of the Gaia Hypothesis, but instead of a naturally intuitive set of nested systems, a completely unnaturally unintuitive set of systems are governing instead.
Not wanting to lose the little remaining credibility I have left, the important distinction I try to maintain is that this something – possibly quantum (and/or electromagnetically) derived processes – is not simply a by-product of the megalithic architecture and magic (although factors like organization of massive masonry, specific material selection and deliberate alignment is undeniably part of the sum total of the something going on) but is even more so a product of the actual geographic, topographical, material, real spatial location of these sites, including whatever is going on at the unobservable quantum scale in these spaces. Everything else was so purposeful, can we not suppose the location was too?
If we can get LEGO interferometers, surely we can assemble a team and, at certain times of the year (because clearly the cosmological alignments at megalithic and sacred sites relate to certain seasons and times of the year (e.g. Solstice and Equinox) and was extremely central to the purpose of the site and location in the first place), strap something like a boot-legged quantum interferometer to our backs and go take measurements of quantum processes happening at ancient sites. Okay, fine, it doesn’t exactly work like that. The issue with interferometry at quantum scales is that the time needed to be measured can range from a femtosecond (one quadrillionth of a second) to Planck's time, the smallest conceivable measurement of time. The metrological accuracy is mind-blowing, thus requiring a significant experimental set-up. And given the “background noise” at many famous megalithic sites this would be a large hurdle to jump over. Start small and work up, maybe? And sure, it would cost an arm and leg. Yet, aside from possibly scaring a few tourists away by looking like a motley crew of ghostbusters, if we started with classically known physical quantities at these sites we could experimentally work our way “down” and see what we can find.
Crossing back to the domain of megalithic architecture, technology not initially designed to measure ancient sites is already being used to do just that. From muon detectors and SAR doppler tomography utilized to “scan” the pyramids of Giza, whilst it may take some time for experts to agree on the right interpretation of the data, the results are, somewhat unsurprisingly, ambiguous, but hold profound potentials.
For quantum-scale processes specific to physical sites, interferometric potential can be derived from quantum gravimeters based on atom interferometry, designed to measure minute variations in gravitational fields to detect underground structures, density variations, or other gravitational anomalies. Superconducting quantum interference devices (yes, SQUIDs) could measure subtle changes in magnetic fields that might correlate with geological features like fault lines or mineral deposits around these sites. Given the correlation mentioned earlier, tab that for later. Emerging theories detailing how certain biological systems might exploit quantum coherence suggest specialised bio-interferometers could potentially measure any effects certain geographic locations have on quantum coherent states in different biological systems, including us humans. If there is empirically anything weird going on, which I and many others truly believe, we have a chance at recording evidence for it.
And, if analytical idealism, or any form of idealism for that matter holds true, and the world is constituted of overlapping mental states, and these experiences at sacred sites have (and still do) alter human perception in some way–if sites themselves can be sacred in any semblance of truth, if they can truly alter cognition through unique and fundamental mechanisms–then it is possible that one way to measure this absurd, highly strange phenomena is to measure the coherence between the biological–quantum components at specific locations. Interferometers, perhaps not now, but I can’t imagine too far into the future either, may be able to do just that.
What else is waiting to be uncovered by measuring quantum spaces at ancient sites? Will it vindicate mine and many others' anecdotal, weakly-objective experience of something at these sacred places? What could we find out about underlying causal structures that have helped shape our history for millennia, probably much, much longer, if we were to start taking seriously the use of quantum sensors at megalithic sites?
Soon I will be releasing a sequel piece, explaining “where” within site locations to set these experiments up, and “how” to possibly go about doing it. For an extended version of this article (more philosophically grounded) and in-depth analysis on high strangeness, unexplained phenomenon - yes, UFO/UAP/NHIs – check out my Medium. For other long-form articles exploring some big questions I am in no way qualified to be asking, surrounding Life - both biological and artificial, complexity, consciousness and of course, megalithic mystery, please join my Substack.
Top image: Ancient megalithic site glowing with vibrant subatomic wave patterns, ethereal particles, twilight. Source: AI Generated
By Freddie Levy
References
Kastrup, B. 2012. Meaning in Absurdity: What Bizarre Phenomena Can Tell Us About the Nature of Reality. Iff Books.
