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CODA
They who, having devoted themselves to this Knowledge, have partaken
of
My nature, are not born at the time of creation, nor are they
troubled at the time of dissolution. [iii]




The Cracking Tower
� 2007 by Jim DeKorne
PREFACE
THE CRACKING TOWER
A cracking tower is an apparatus for distilling the most addictive
substance on this planet � gasoline. Crude oil is sucked from the
bowels of the earth and injected into the bottom of the tower where
it is subjected to extreme heat (about six times the boiling point of
water). As this goop evaporates, it sorts itself by weight into a
fractional column of distillates. The lightest fractions, like
naphtha, benzene and gasoline, rise to the top of the tower where
they condense at their molecular level and are drawn off as liquids.
Medium weight fractions, like kerosene and motor oil, are taken from
the middle of the tower, and the really heavy substances such as tar
and asphalt are tapped off at the bottom.
The Ancient Wisdom or �Perennial Philosophy� suggests that
planet Earth resembles a cracking tower for souls. As we experience
the stresses of each life�s incarnation, our cumulative choices
distill our awareness into that element which determines our destiny
at death. �Lighter� souls are shunted to worlds matching their
level
of consciousness; �heavier� souls go to their own appropriate
realms. This process of distillation is multidimensional and
continuous until the eventual dissolution of what we call reality
itself. (Hindus would regard it as the end of this Mahakalpa.)
At celestial intervals, normal adjustments occur within this
alchemical process. Our planet is now approaching such an event.
Within the past twenty years a growing body of literature has emerged
to advise us of a major cosmic alignment focused around the date of
December 21, 2012. Many of these prophecies are deduced from the
Mayan calendar, others from shamanic vision quests using psychedelic
drugs; some of them imply this date will mark the end of the world; a
few declare that humanity will ascend (apparently en masse) to a
higher level of awareness; still another group asserts that we�ll be
either absorbed or destroyed by a computerized �Artificial
Intelligence.� Who is right? What will really happen in 2012?
Don�t
seek here for that answer, because whatever it might be (and nobody
knows for sure) it is totally irrelevant to your private welfare.
The question is not about what may or may not occur on
12/21/12, but on how to profitably shape your future � not the
world�s future (about which neither you nor I can do anything
consequential) � but your own personal future, which you largely
hold in your hands. The Cracking Tower reframes this entire discourse
from the point of view of the Perennial Philosophy � that archetype
which underlies and defines human consciousness. Until we comprehend
its outline, all other dialogue is pointless. Yes, we will discuss
the �end of the world� in this book, but not until we�ve
created a
structure within which to evaluate its meaning.
I am now, and always have been, primarily interested in the elemental
questions of the human condition: Who are we: where do we come from,
and where do we go after we die? It�s been that way for me since
the age of seven in 1944, when walking home from school one day I
received the uncanny gnosis that the street, the parked and passing
automobiles, the trees and buildings, etc. were totally unreal and
that which was really real was very cleverly hidden from view.
�Reality� was mysteriously concentrated in a huge CHEVROLET sign
painted on the wall of a car dealership: it was an acronym which
contained and concealed the secret of existence. (For a little kid
just becoming fascinated with language, �Chevrolet� was a
mysterious
word of power because it wasn�t pronounced the way it was spelled
�
not in English anyway.) Every day when I passed that sign I would get
a quick brain-bleep reminding me of my original vision. I was never
able to �break on through� to the real world on the other side of
the CHEVROLET sign, but I�ve spent my entire life searching for the
doorway.
In 1964 I discovered that psychedelic drugs offered a deceptively
easy access to that realm where the answers lay. But like any Grail
Quest (and every life is a Grail Quest), each opportunity is also an
obstacle. An Easy Access doesn�t guarantee an Easy Exit from the
labyrinth of hyperspace � the bleached bones of many an explorer are
found only three feet from paradise. Without a reliable map, you�re
lost � so I carefully continued my quest � and by 1984 had
discovered my map in the metaphors of the Perennial Philosophy.
In 1994 I published Psychedelic Shamanism, a book which presented a
preliminary version of the ideas offered here. That title became part
of the psychedelic revival initiated by the late, great Terence
McKenna, and was kindled by my attendance at one of his workshops in
May of 1990. Deeply impressed by this man�s intellectual charisma, I
wanted to study, cultivate and sample the exotic new psychotropic
plants that he was describing in his lectures. In those days there
was little information available about ayahuasca and its analogues,
and my intent was to pool together as much useful data as possible on
those and similar plants. I�d just completed a book about greenhouse
gardening, and my publisher agreed with me that a book on psychedelic
botany would be a worthwhile project. Psychedelic Shamanism was the
result.
In 2006, that publisher went out of business, and my old book went
out of print. No problem: it was a dozen years out of date; I
haven�t used psychedelics in my inner work for almost that long; and
now entering my seventh decade, have lost all interest in catching up
with the latest discoveries in the psychotropic plant world. I was
willing to let the book expire. Then I reviewed its contents and came
to the belated conclusion that Psychedelic Shamanism hadn�t
delivered on the promise of its title. I saw that I hadn�t developed
my real subject (the nature of human consciousness) nearly as well as
I could have.
After a lapse of twelve years, I now feel that I�m able to present a
fuller, deeper exposition of this topic. Please note that The
Cracking Tower deals with psychedelics and shamanism only as
metaphors from which fresh inquiries can be introduced. It�s no
longer a book focused exclusively on either psychedelics or shamanism
� it�s about �doing the Work in the space in which you find
yourself� � a mantra you will read several times in these pages.
Therefore, to avoid misunderstandings among my old readers, the
following qualifications are in order:
Q: Are mind-manifesting drugs valuable for doing inner work? (Notice
that this is a hugely general question, on the order of �Are
antibiotics useful for killing bacteria?�)
A: Certainly � it would be a lie to claim otherwise.
Q: Do mind-manifesting drugs provide an answer in and of themselves?
(�Is it reasonable to ingest antibiotics every day to ward off
disease?�)
A: I can�t speak for anyone else, but in my case psychedelics have
been only temporarily useful. Once a solid connection has been
established with one�s true Essence, it is usual for psychedelics to
be exchanged for a traditional inner discipline. The reverse is
seldom true.
In Psychedelic Shamanism I tried to condense these insights into a
more coherent, more sophisticated question. In The Cracking Tower I
hope that I have evoked solid answers that anyone can utilize in
their lives and spiritual practice.

Go to Prologue
Return to Contents


CODA
They who, having devoted themselves to this Knowledge, have partaken
of
My nature, are not born at the time of creation, nor are they
troubled at the time of dissolution. [iii]