The Alchemy of Abundance: A Guide to Manifesting Your Higher Purpose by Dax Fiddes - HTML preview

THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE

In some sense man is a microcosm of the universe; therefore what man is, is a clue to the universe. We are enfolded in the universe.
- David Bohm

In this chapter, you will learn about the creation of the physical Universe. The Universe is the ultimate alchemist and has much to teach us in our quest for gold. It will also give you a glimpse of the vast intelligence that orchestrates the symphony of life. Only when you understand what happened to get us from nowhere to now here can you appreciate the vast magnificence of the Universe's intelligence. Let us start by looking at where it all began, and how matter and mind fit into the bigger picture.

Around 13.7 billion years ago, the most unimaginably profound thing happened. The Universe crossed the threshold from formlessness into form. Energy and matter, gravity, space and time all coalesced in an explosion of incomprehensible magnitude. The physical Universe was born. A hundred thousand years worth of inquiry and contemplation later, and we still have no explanation for why it happened or what caused it. Nevertheless, we do have a solid understanding of the events that must have taken place since the Big Bang to give us the world we see today.

In the moments following the Big Bang, the Universe expanded into a super heated primordial soup of subatomic particles. After the early Universe cooled down, it was comprised mainly of hydrogen and helium, the two simplest elements in the Universe.

Over billions of years, and under the influence of gravity, these vast gas clouds began to condense together. Eventually, these „clumps of gas became so dense and hot that they would collapse under their own weight. This results in the release of tremendous amounts of energy and a chain of events that starts the nuclear fusion process, called „stellar ignition.

Up to this point, we have hydrogen, helium and gravity interacting to create a fusion reaction resulting in the birth of stars. But we know the Universe is much more than burning stars undergoing fusion reactions. So what is the role of stars in the creation of the physical Universe?

Did you know that massive stars are natures matter manufacturing plants? There is an incredible abundance of these matter production lines throughout the Universe. In fact, latest supercomputer estimates indicate that there are seventy thousand million million million, or, seventy sextillion stars. To give you an idea of the vastness of that number, there are ten times as many stars as there are grains of sand on all the worlds beaches and deserts. If running grains of sand through your hands at the beach fails to give you an appreciation of this vastness, consider that our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is but one of five hundred billion galaxies.

So, how do we go from stars to matter? This fascinating process, which scientists refer to as nucleosynthesis, is the result of the nuclear reactions fuelling the stars. We can call it Cosmic Alchemy as nature literally transmutes one element into another through nuclear fusion.

We already know that hydrogen and helium have fused together and started the process. Over time, the nuclear reactions cause the formation of progressively heavier elements, including neon, silicon and iron. In fact, a star can produce elements that have up to 26 protons, which is equivalent to iron. The following diagram shows the onion-like layering of elements that form within a star over millions of years:

This, however, is not the whole story. As you can see by this periodic table, there is a whole spectrum of elements beyond Iron (Fe).

So, what about all of the elements that are comprised of more than 26 protons? What about the alchemists fabled elements, lead and gold? Look again at the periodic table above you will see that gold has 79 protons. How do we account for its presence?

Well, nature is the ultimate Alchemist. It does not run up against production brick walls; it goes straight through them in a most spectacular way.

Massive stars, those around twenty times larger than our sun, eventually run out of fuel after burning for billions of years. When this happens, the star can no longer generate the heat required for the nuclear reactions. Consequently, the mass of the star collapses in upon itself, with billions of years of existence obliterated in mere seconds. The ensuing explosion, called a supernova, generates more energy than our sun would in over ten billion years.

Before shedding a tear for the star, know that in nature, destruction precedes creation. Because of the tremendous energy released by the explosion, something very special happens. In a process called supernova nucleosynthesis, the atoms fuse to one another effortlessly, transmuting lighter elements into dozens of heavier elements and Eureka! We have our gold!

Vast clouds and elemental remnants of the explosion are scattered throughout space at tremendous velocity. Over time, gravity will act upon these elements and causing them to clump together. Eventually, they will form planets such as those in our own solar system. These elements are the building blocks of the physical Universe and the foundations for life.

So let us recap the story so far. We have gone from primordial soup, to gases and gravity, to stars, to supernovas and stardust, and finally to planets. Therefore, we have planets, like Earth, that have all the precursors required to support life. So how does life evolve from here?

To complete our picture of the Universe, we must consider the other half of the equation. That is, the Universe beyond matter and physical forces such as gravity. This is the domain of the metaphysical Universe, which is simply the reality beyond what is perceptible to our physical senses.

CHAPTER TWO