“This consciousness shows the cosmos to consist not of dead matter governed by unconscious, rigid, and unintending law; it shows it son the contrary aa entirely immaterial, entirely spiritual and entirely alive.”
–Richard Bucke in Cosmic Consciousness
(Amazon.com)
“Bucke believed that in the future humanity will develop cosmic consciousness. But some human beings might develop different faculties, such as the power to heal, true psychic awareness, or the ability to communicate with the dead. He believed that these would become senses as natural as sight.”
–Ronnie Pontiac in The American Metaphysical Religion
New Thinking • Mar 27, 2025 Robert Davis, PhD, is a retired professor of neuroscience at the State University of New York. He is author of The UFO Phenomenon: Should I Believe?, Life After Death: An Analysis of the Evidence, Unseen Forces: The Integration of Science, Reality, and You, and most recently The Consciousness Connection: Extraordinary Human Experiences and the Nature of Reality. His website is https://bobdavisspeaks.com/ You can view Bob Davis’ film The Consciousness Connection for free on Gaia.com during their 7-day free trial. https://consciousness.media Here he reviews a wide range of phenomena, explaining carefully what science has learned about such matters, what it has yet to learn, and what science may never come to terms with. Topics include UFO encounters, kundalini experience, and after-death communication. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:04:24 Kundalini awakening 00:21:24 UFO related encounters 00:32:00 Traumatic and healing experiences 00:42:10 What is consciousness? 00:51:10 A new approach in science 00:54:36 Words, symbols, and imagination 01:03:18 Studies of mediumship 01:09:59 Conclusion New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. He is Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science. (Recorded on March 6, 2025)
Published 7:00 AM EDT, Sat March 29, 2025 (CNN.com)
(NASA’s Curiosity rover drilled into this rock target, called Cumberland, in May 2013 and collected a powdered sample of material from the rock’s interior. NASA
The NASA Curiosity rover has detected the largest organic molecules found to date on Mars, opening a window into the red planet’s past. The newly detected compounds suggest complex organic chemistry may have occurred in the planet’s past — the kind necessary for the origin of life, according to new research.
The organic compounds, which include decane, undecane and dodecane, came to light after the rover analyzed a pulverized 3.7 billion-year-old rock sample using its onboard mini lab called SAM, short for Sample Analysis at Mars.
Scientists believe the long chains of molecules could be fragments of fatty acids, which are organic molecules that are chemical building blocks of life on Earth and help form cell membranes. But such compounds can also be formed without the presence of life, created when water interacts with minerals in hydrothermal vents.
The molecules cannot currently be confirmed as evidence of past life on the red planet, but they add to the growing list of compounds that robotic explorers have discovered on Mars in recent years. A study detailing the findings was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The detection of the fragile molecules also encourages astrobiologists that if any biosignatures, or past signs of life, ever existed on Mars, they are likely still detectable despite the harsh solar radiation that has bombarded the planet for tens of millions of years.
“Ancient life, if it happened on Mars, it would have released some complex and fragile molecules,” said lead study author Dr. Caroline Freissinet, research scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in the Laboratory for Atmospheres, Observations, and Space in Guyancourt, France. “And because now we know that Mars can preserve these complex and fragile molecules, it means that we could detect ancient life on Mars.”
The finding also adds fuel to the fire to return samples from Mars so scientists can study them on Earth with more sophisticated tools, and perhaps, once and for all, determine whether life ever existed anywhere beyond our planet.
This graphic shows the long-chain organic molecules decane, undecane, and dodecane that Curiosity detected in the Cumberland sample. Dan Gallagher/NASA
A long time in the making
Curiosity landed in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. More than 12 years later, the rover has driven over 21 miles (34 kilometers) to ascend Mount Sharp, which is within the crater. The feature’s many layers preserve millions of years of geological history on Mars, showing how it shifted from a wet to a dry environment.
Perhaps one of the most valuable samples Curiosity has gathered on its mission to understand whether Mars was ever habitable was collected in May 2013.
The rover drilled the Cumberland sample from an area within a crater called Yellowknife Bay, which resembled an ancient lake bed. The rocks from Yellowknife Bay so intrigued Curiosity’s science team that it had the rover drive in the opposite direction to collect samples from the area before heading to Mount Sharp.
This patch of bedrock, called Cumberland, was selected as the second-ever target for drilling by Curiosity. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Since collecting the Cumberland sample, Curiosity has used SAM to study it in a variety of ways, revealing that Yellowknife Bay was once the site of an ancient lake where clay minerals formed in water. The mudstone created an environment that could concentrate and preserve organic molecules and trapped them inside the fine grains of the sedimentary rock.
Freissinet helped lead a research team in 2015 that was able to identify organic molecules within the Cumberland sample.
The instrument detected an abundance of sulfur, which can be used to preserve organic molecules; nitrates, which are essential for plant and animal health on Earth; and methane composed of a type of carbon associated with biological processes on Earth.
“There is evidence that liquid water existed in Gale Crater for millions of years and probably much longer, which means there was enough time for life-forming chemistry to happen in these crater-lake environments on Mars,” said study coauthor Daniel Glavin, senior scientist for sample return at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement.
This mosaic of images from Curiosity’s Mast Camera shows the Yellowknife Bay formation, the site of an ancient lake bed. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity has maintained pristine pieces of the Cumberland sample in a “doggy bag” so that the team could have the rover revisit it later, even miles away from the site where it was collected. The team developed and tested innovative methods in its lab on Earth before sending messages to the rover to try experiments on the sample.
In a quest to see whether amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, existed in the sample, the team instructed the rover to heat up the sample twice within SAM’s oven. When it measured the mass of the molecules released during heating, there weren’t any amino acids, but they found something entirely unexpected.
An intriguing detection
The team was surprised to detect small amounts of decane, undecane and dodecane, so it had to conduct a reverse experiment on Earth to determine whether these organic compounds were the remnants of the fatty acids undecanoic acid, dodecanoic acid and tridecanoic acid, respectively.
The scientists mixed undecanoic acid into a clay similar to what exists on Mars and heated it up in a way that mimicked conditions within SAM’s oven. The undecanoic acid released decane, just like what Curiosity detected.
https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/loops/stellar/prod/mars-rover-loop-3.mp4?c=originalEach fatty acid remnant detected by Curiosity was made with a long chain of 11 to 13 carbon atoms. Previous molecules detected on Mars were smaller, meaning their atomic weight was less than the molecules found in the new study, and simpler.
Curiosity heated the sample within SAM’s oven, releasing molecules. NASA
“It’s notable that non-biological processes typically make shorter fatty acids, with less than 12 carbons,” said study coauthor Dr. Amy Williams, associate professor of geology at the University of Florida and assistant director of the Astraeus Space Institute, in an email. “Larger and more complex molecules are likely what are required for an origin of life, if it ever occurred on Mars.”
While the Cumberland sample may contain longer chains of fatty acids, SAM is not designed to detect them. But SAM’s ability to spot these larger molecules suggests it could detect similar chemical signatures of past life on Mars if they’re present, Williams said.
“Curiosity is not a life detection mission,” Freissinet said. “Curiosity is a habitability detection mission to know if all the conditions were right … for life to evolve. Having these results, it’s really at the edge of the capabilities of Curiosity, and it’s even maybe better than what we had expected from this mission.”
Before sending missions to Mars, scientists didn’t think organic molecules would be foundon the red planet because of the intensity of radiation Mars has long endured, Glavin said.
Curiosity won’t return to Yellowknife Bay during its mission, but there are still pristine pieces of the Cumberland sample aboard. Next, the team wants to design a new experiment to see what it can detect. If the team can identify similar long-chain molecules, it would mark another step forward that might help researchers determine their origins, Freissinet said.
“That’s the most precious sample we have on board … waiting for us to run the perfect experiment on it,” she said. “It holds secrets, and we need to decipher the secrets.”
Briony Horgan, coinvestigator on the Perseverance rover mission and professor of planetary science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, called the detection “a big win for the whole team.” Horgan was not involved the study.
The Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, instrument, can analyze samples of Martian rock and soil to seek out organic compounds. NASA/GSFC
“This detection really confirms our hopes that sediments laid down in ancient watery environments on Mars could preserve a treasure trove of organic molecules that can tell us about everything from prebiotic processes and pathways for the origin of life, to potential biosignatures from ancient organisms,” Horgan said.
Dr. Ben K.D. Pearce, assistant professor in Purdue’s department of Earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences and leader of the Laboratory for Origins and Astrobiology Research, called the findings “arguably the most exciting organic detection to date on Mars.” Pearce did not participate in the research.
Some scientists believe that fatty acids such as decanoic acid and dodecanoic acid formed the membranes of the first simple cell-like structures on Earth, Pearce said.
“(This is) the closest we’ve come to detecting a major biomolecule-related signal — something potentially tied to membrane structure, which is a key feature of life,” Pearce said via email. “Organics on their own are intriguing, but not evidence of life. In contrast, biomolecules like membranes, amino acids, nucleotides, and sugars are central components of biology as we know it, and finding any of them would be groundbreaking (we haven’t yet).”
Returning samples from Mars
The European Space Agency plans to launch its ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover to the red planet in 2028, and the robotic explorer will carry a complementary instrument to SAM. The rover LS6 will have the capability to drill up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) beneath the Martian surface — and perhaps find larger and better-preserved organic molecules.
While Curiosity’s samples can’t be studied on Earth, the Perseverance rover has actively been collecting samples from Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake and river delta, all with the intention of returning them to Earth in the 2030s via a complicated symphony of missions called Mars Sample Return.
The Curiosity rover has been using its robotic arm to drill into rocks and study samples for more than 12 years. NASA
Both rovers have detected a variety of organic carbon molecules in different regions on Mars, suggesting that organic carbon is common on the red planet, Williams said.
While Curiosity and Perseverance have proven they can detect organic matter, their instruments can’t definitively determine all the answers about their origins, said Dr. Ashley Murphy, postdoctoral research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Murphy, who along with Williams previously studied organics identified by Perseverance, was not involved in the new research.
“To appropriately probe the biosignature question, these samples require high-resolution and high-sensitivity analyses in terrestrial labs, which can be facilitated by the return of these samples to Earth,” Murphy said.
If the molecules within the Cumberland sample are the byproduct of microbial life that existed 3.7 billion years ago, such a finding would align with the same time frame as when scientists think life was starting on Earth, Glavin said. Curiosity’s finding feels “so close” to helping make that determination, but the answers are more likely to come from studying samples on Earth, he said.
“I’m more optimistic that we’re going to finally be able to settle this life on Mars debate, which feels like it’s been going on forever,” Glavin said.
New Thinking • Mar 28, 2025 • Archival Video Recordings This video is a special release from the original Thinking Allowed series that ran on public television from 1986 until 2002. It was recorded in about 1991. It will remain public for only one week. Kevin Ryerson is a trance channel in the tradition of Edgar Cayce. He’s appeared as a guest on national and international television shows including Oprah Winfrey and Good Morning America. He is the author of Spirit Communication: The Soul’s Path. Shirley MacLaine’s best selling books Out on a Limb, Dancing in the Light and It’s All in The Playing highlighted Kevin’s intuitive abilities. Now you can watch all of the programs from the original Thinking Allowed Video Collection, hosted by Jeffrey Mishlove. Subscribe to the new Streaming Channel (https://thinkingallowed.vhx.tv/) and watch more than 350 programs now, with more, previously unreleased titles added weekly. Free month of the classic Thinking Allowed streaming channel for New Thinking Allowed subscribers only. Use code THINKFREELY.
Pam Gregory • Mar 24, 2025 Pam talks about the ingress of Neptune into Aries for the first time since April 1861. What will this mean for you? You can download a free birthchart from my website www.pamgregory.com, then purchase this two-part tutorial video series that explains how to find these points in your chart and what it means for you: https://gumroad.com/l/FHjOZ. Solar eclipse in Aries: • Solar Eclipse in Aries March 29th 2025 . Video about the Sunday Meditation: • Sunday Meditation to Magnetise New Earth .
VATICAN CITY—Saying the pontiff’s abrupt change in personality had put them all on edge, cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church confirmed Friday that they were weirded out by how religious the pope had become following his recent brush with death. “Ever since Pope Francis got out of the hospital, he’s been pretty much nonstop with all this Jesus stuff,” said Italian cardinal Camillo Ruini, adding that while Francis had always been pretty easygoing before his bout with bilateral pneumonia, a newfound preoccupation with everyone’s everlasting souls was making him very stressful to be around. “It’s always ‘God’ this, ‘the afterlife’ that. I get that almost dying is scary, but it’s a huge bummer to hear him raving about how he has a duty to the church like some kind of religious wack job. I mean, I even saw him praying the other day. I asked what he was doing, and he just said something about this being his ‘chosen path,’ whatever that means. Hopefully he’ll move on with his life and get back to normal soon, because I’m not sure I can stand another one of his big spiels about the devotion of Saint Joseph.” Cardinal Ruini went on to say it was especially disappointing because Pope Benedict XVI had actually really chilled out about religion after his health took a turn back in 2013.
From the sands of Alexandria via the Renaissance palaces of the Medicis, to our own times, this spiritual adventure story traces the profound influence of Hermes Trismegistus — the ‘thrice-great one’, as he was often called — on the western mind. Considered by some a contemporary of Moses and a forerunner of Christ, this almost mythical figure arose in fourth century BC Alexandria, from a fusion of the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek god Hermes. Master of magic, writing, science, and philosophy, Hermes was thought to have walked with gods and be the source of the divine wisdom granted to man at the dawn of time.
David Jaher’s book culminates in the showdown between Houdini, a relentless unmasker of charlatans, and Margery, the nation’s most credible spirit medium. The Witch of Lime Street, the first book to capture their electric public rivalry and the competition that brought them into each other’s orbit, returns us to an oft-mythologized era to deepen our understanding of its history, all while igniting our imagination and engaging with the timeless question: Is there life after death?
Examining the role of psychoactive plants in afterlife traditions, sacred rituals, and spirit journeying by shamans of the Mississippian mound cultures, P. D. Newman explores in depth the Native American death journey known as the “Trail of Ghosts” or “Path of Souls.” He demonstrates how practices such as fasting and trancework when used with psychedelic plants like jimsonweed, black nightshade, morning glory, and amanita and psilocybin mushrooms could evoke the liminal state between life and death in initiatory rites and spirit journeys for shamans and chiefs.
On March 29th, 2025, we have a New Moon and partial Solar Eclipse at 9° Aries.
The New Moon Solar Eclipse at 9° Aries speaks of a new beginning. This is a North Node Solar Eclipse, highlighting opportunities to come clean with the past and consciously shape the future.
Yet…
9° Aries is the same degree where Mercury turned retrograde 2 weeks ago on March 15th, 2025, and just 1 degree away from 10° Aries – where Venus turned retrograde earlier this month, on March 7th, 2025.
There’s something about the 9-10° Aries zone that is being strongly activated this month – like a cosmic reset button – a call to rewrite karma and shape our destiny.
What’s even more striking is that at the time of the New Moon, Mercury (at 0° Aries) is conjunct Neptune (at 29° Pisces), basically bridging the last and the first degree of the zodiac, the alpha and the omega – the end and the beginning woven into one moment in time.
New Moon Solar Eclipse In Aries – Rewriting The Script
This mix of revisiting-the-past energy (Mercury and Venus retrograde, Neptune at 29° Pisces) and the future-oriented spark of the New Moon Eclipse in Aries brings to mind “Back to the Future” – a cosmic Marty McFly moment where fate meets free will.
In this movie, Marty (the main character/hero/Aries archetype) travels to the past and accidentally alters his parents’ relationship.
He spends the rest of the movie trying to fix the timeline – and ultimately, he improves his family’s future in ways he couldn’t have imagined.
The journey is not without chaos and complication – yet by going back into the past, his life – and the lives of those he loves – shift for the better.
And while we might not be able to step into a time machine like Marty McFly, there are other ways we can revisit and reframe the past to improve our future.
Science has shown that neural pathways can be rewired – hello, Mercury retrograde. And that by re-assigning new personal meaning to our stories and emotional memories (Venus retrograde), we can create new stories from the same past.
There’s no denying that difficult experiences leave an imprint – and this is not about fooling ourselves into pretending the pain never happened.
Yet, it’s worth considering that neurologically, the human mind is wired to prioritize and store negative experiences more vividly than positive ones – meaning we may start with an unconscious negative bias.
If we go back – reflect, reframe, reprocess – we almost always discover a silver lining, a hidden insight, a piece of gold in the mud.
The same ‘reality’ can be experienced in completely different ways, depending on the lens we choose to look through.
“Two men looked out through prison bars – one saw mud, the other stars.”
There are ways – and ways – to overcome the mind’s negative bias and bring balance. One is to assign new, more nuanced meaning to the past; another is to simply write a different past. The mind doesn’t know the difference between what’s imagined and what actually happened.
This is what practices like miracle thinking – or manifestation techniques like The Secret – are based on.
When we tell ourselves things like “I am successful,” “I am healthy,” the mind begins to do the background work (Pisces) to fill the gap between the current identity and our envisioned reality.
Can we change our past? Absolutely. By rewiring the way we store and relate to memories – by telling a new story.
And that’s what rewriting our karma truly is: a new beginning, built on a re-interpretation of the past.
New Moon Solar Eclipse In Aries – The Aspects
This New Moon Eclipse is almost unaspected, with a loose conjunction to Mercury retrograde (at 0° Aries) and a loose sextile to Pluto (at 3° Aquarius).
Unaspected planets are wild cards. This is where we can feel disoriented – because there are no other planets to give us guidance, to provide structure, to define the rules – yet, this is exactly where the opportunity for free will lies.
When there are no planetary aspects to tell us what to think or do, what’s left is to tune inwards and find the answer there. This is the real thing. This is the real YOU – beyond conditioning, beyond inherited scripts.
The eclipse ruler, Mars, is beautifully aspected: it trines the Saturn-Mercury-North Node-Neptune conjunction in Pisces and sextiles Uranus in Taurus.
The eclipse chart carries a quiet yet undeniable message of hope – and the fact that Neptune moves into Aries literally the next day gives us the reassurance that while things may feel uncertain now, this transition is ultimately for our greater good.
The possibilities of the future are limitless – but if we want a different future, we must be willing to revisit and rewire the past.
New Moon Solar Eclipse In Aries – Back To The Future
Many people fear revisiting the past because they worry they’ll get sucked into the black hole of regret, guilt, or pain.
However, if we go back into the past with – very important – the intention to improve our future, we might uncover opportunities we initially missed, because we were not ready, aware, or resourced at the time.
The key is to be intentional.
I’m doing this for myself.
I’m doing this for a better tomorrow.
I have what it takes to alchemize this. I can do this.
This is not delusion or arrogance – this is the sacred blend of Aries’ courage and initiative with Pisces’ faith that the universe is ultimately on our side – that we can co-create with the universe through the meeting of divine consciousness and free will.
So… How would your present life look if you could go back and rewrite the narrative of your past?
What doors could that unlock today? What strengths, talents, or opportunities might emerge if your past no longer defined your limits – but became the foundation of your power?
And what about your future?
What new possibilities could this journey back into the past open up – in your work, your purpose, your relationships, your potential to create success on your terms?
The Significance of the New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aries – March 29, 2025
The New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aries on March 29, 2025, is a powerful cosmic reset, bringing bold new beginnings, leadership energy, and a surge of confidence. Solar eclipses mark fated turning points that set events into motion, often leading to major life shifts. Aries, ruled by Mars, is a sign of action, courage, independence, and ambition, making this eclipse a moment to take charge of your destiny, step into leadership, and break free from anything holding you back.
Key Themes of This Eclipse
1. A Bold New Beginning and Fresh Start
New Moons always signal new beginnings, but a solar eclipse intensifies this energy, bringing life-altering changes.
This is the time to step into your personal power and embrace a new chapter with confidence.
Whether it’s a career shift, relationship change, or personal reinvention, this eclipse encourages you to take action fearlessly.
2. Increased Drive, Passion, and Motivation
Aries is a fire sign ruled by Mars, meaning this eclipse will supercharge your motivation, determination, and ambition.
If you’ve been procrastinating or doubting yourself, this eclipse pushes you to move forward fearlessly.
You may feel an urge to take risks, assert yourself, and go after what you truly want.
3. Breaking Free from Limitations
Aries energy is independent and fearless, urging you to release old fears, patterns, or external expectations that have been holding you back.
This is a time to cut ties with toxic situations, outgrown relationships, or limiting beliefs that no longer align with your goals.
If you’ve been feeling stuck, this eclipse will push you toward liberation and self-empowerment.
4. A Call to Leadership and Self-Assertion
Aries is the leader of the zodiac, and this eclipse encourages stepping into a leadership role—whether in your career, relationships, or personal life.
You may find yourself taking the initiative, making bold decisions, or standing up for yourself in ways you haven’t before.
If you’ve been playing small, this eclipse is your invitation to step into the spotlight and claim your power.
5. Fast-Paced Changes and Impulsive Energy
Aries is spontaneous and action-oriented, which means this eclipse could bring sudden or unexpected changes.
Be ready for opportunities to arise quickly—trust your instincts and be willing to take calculated risks.
While Aries energy is great for action, be mindful of impulsivity and avoid rushing into decisions without thinking them through.
6. Embracing Independence and Authenticity
This eclipse encourages self-reliance and the courage to follow your own path.
If you’ve been overly dependent on others’ opinions or approval, this is the moment to stand on your own and make decisions that align with your true self.
Aries teaches that being true to yourself is more important than fitting into societal expectations—embrace your individuality and go after what excites you.
Who Will Feel This Eclipse the Most?
This eclipse will be especially powerful for those with strong Aries placements, but it will also affect signs on the Aries-Libra axis and other cardinal signs:
Aries placements (Sun, Moon, Rising, or key planets in Aries) – Major personal reinvention, newfound confidence, and life-changing new beginnings.
Libra placements (opposite Aries) – Relationship dynamics shift, bringing changes in partnerships, self-worth, and boundaries.
Capricorn & Cancer placements (square Aries-Libra axis) – Big shifts in career, home life, and personal direction.
Fire signs (Leo, Sagittarius, Aries) – A surge of motivation, creativity, and leadership energy.
How to Harness the Energy of This Eclipse
Set bold intentions – Use this eclipse to define what you truly want and commit to taking action toward it.
Take risks and embrace change – Trust yourself to make the first move in whatever area of life needs a fresh start.
Step into your power – Be confident, assert yourself, and go after your goals without fear.
Release limiting beliefs – Let go of fear, self-doubt, or external expectations that have been holding you back.
Focus on independence – Take ownership of your path and make decisions that reflect your authentic self.
Stay mindful of impulsivity – While Aries energy is great for taking action, avoid reckless decisions—pause and reflect before making major moves.
Final Thoughts
The New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aries on March 29, 2025, is a powerful reset that calls for bold action, independence, and self-empowerment. It’s a time to take charge of your destiny, break free from old constraints, and step into a leadership role in your own life. While change can feel intense, trust that this eclipse is guiding you toward greater confidence, courage, and authenticity. The time to take action is now—embrace your new beginning fearlessly.
Consciousness, sexuality, androgyny, futurism, space, the arts, science, astrology, democracy, humor, books, movies and more
