January/February 2024 Alchemical Voice

Alchemical Voice - L2M - Issue 24
WHAT ARE ‘LEVELS
OF CONSCIOUSNESS’?
Martin Lewis
Understanding the spiritual / medical
differences.
There are two distinct aspects that define ‘levels of
consciousness’ (LoC) - one medical, one spiritual.
In medical terms LoC’s range from normal alertness
and attention through many different states, ranging
from confusion, through delirium to stupor and finally
coma, the latter being defined as a ‘long period of
unconciousness’ - usually due to illness or injury.
The same things that may cause a mild state of altered
LoC can cause more severe states. You may start with
a mild state and rapidly progress through to a more
severe stage, especially if the agent causing the
altered LoC is not rectified.
David R Hawkins was the genesis behind the original
‘map of the levels consciousness’, a scale that
quantified human consciousness on levels ranging
from 1 to 1000, that appears at first glance to be
somewhat distinct from the medical model.
Interestingly it is not, as the principle idea remains the
same - that ‘consciousness’ is not just a physical state,
but a spiritual one as well. In effect, the medical
model looks at the symptomatic situation (the one that
can be seen) but does not necessarily link this to the
deeper level (the levels as defined by Hawkins).
Each level on Hawkins ‘map’ represents a different
‘state’ of consciousness, each associated with specific
emotions, views, and spiritual realities. It was
originally published in his book ‘Power vs. Force’, the
basic premise of the book being that there is a
distinction between power and force, power being
associated with higher consciousness levels, while
force is linked with lower consciousness levels.
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