Sheldrake on the Sun as Conscious, continued

Rupert Sheldrake poses a question that is sure to amaze and, for some, disturb: “Is the sun conscious?”  The answer one gives depends on one’s worldview.  

“Obviously not, from the point of view of mechanistic materialism or physicalism” which sees the universe as “a mechanical system” and Nature as non-conscious.”  In such a system,

…conscious minds are epiphenomena produced by physical activity in brains; or they are identical with the physical activities of brains. 

In a materialistic worldview,

…anyone who supposes that the sun is conscious is making a childish error, projecting anthropomorphic illusion onto inanimate nature.

To ask the question is itself ridiculous.

But by asking the question, Sheldrake is shedding light on how far humanity has evolved from a mechanistic view of the universe.  This is implicit in the very fact that the Journal of Consciousness Studies has chosen to publish Sheldrake’s article whose very title poses the question: “Is the Sun Conscious?”

Here is how Sheldrake summarizes his article (which is twenty pages long) from a worldview that is not married to materialism.

The recent panpsychist turn in philosophy opens the possibility that self-organizing systems at all levels of complexity, including stars and galaxies, might have experience, awareness, or consciousness.  

This is certainly the opinion of Hildegard of Bingen who declared that “there is no creature that lacks an interior life.” And Sheldrake points out:

…(in) almost all other societies and civilizations, including medieval Europe, the sun and other heavenly bodies were thought to be alive and intelligent.  Our ancestors lived in an animistic world.  The earth, sun, planets, and stars were living beings.  

(Yet), ever since the seventeenth century, the standard scientific assumption has been that the sun is a non-conscious, inanimate object, like everything else.  To see it as conscious is at best poetic. 

Such animism stubbornly hangs around:

Nevertheless, despite the dominance of the mechanistic theory, the idea that the sun and other stars might be conscious has never gone away.

Sheldrake continues:

The organismic or holistic philosophy of nature points in the same direction.  Meanwhile, field theories of consciousness propose that some electromagnetic fields actually are conscious and that these fields are by their very nature integrative.  When applied to the sun, such field theories suggest a possible physical basis for the solar mind, both within the body of the sun itself and also throughout the solar system.

Does it follow that the sun is communicating with other stellar bodies?  Sheldrake seems to think so. 

If the sun is conscious, it may be concerned with the regulation of its own body and the entire solar system through its electromagnetic activity, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections.  It may also communicate with other star systems within the galaxy.

If you find this discussion provocative, I highly recommend you go to his entire article where he fleshes out the points presented here as summaries.*   For my part, I am fascinated to witness post-modern science again overlapping with premodern, indigenous and medieval, understanding. 

See Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake, The Physics of Angels, pp. 20-22, 186f.

*Rupert Sheldrake, “Is the Sun Conscious?”  in Journal of Consciousness Studies, 28, No. 3-4, 2021, pp 8-28.  

Banner Image: Afternoon sun in Switzerland. Photo by Federico Respini on Unsplash.

If the sun is conscious, what are the implications… For ceremony?  For the “Grand Liturgy” of the universe?  And for the relationship between human psyche and the cosmos?  How does it make you feel to consider this question?

The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science & Spirit Meet
By Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake

When was the last time a scientist and a theologian discussed angels together? What are angels? Many people believe in angels, but few can define these enigmatic spirits. Now visionary theologian Matthew Fox and acclaimed biologist Rupert Sheldrake—pioneers in modern religious thinking and scientific theory—launch a groundbreaking exploration into the ancient concept of the angel and restore dignity, meaning, and joy to our time-honored belief in these heavenly beings.