I created my logo, Metamorphosis, in 1985 as an attempt to symbolically display significant personal observations and experiences by combining both science and teaching along with metaphysics. Metamorphosis, as I use it, can be defined as a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.
First, the phenomenon of sonoluminescence - essentially the creation of light from sound. A basic early model for medical diagnostic ultrasound is the use of crystals to produce a sound wave as well as an electric current. When pressure is applied to the crystal, it produces an electric current (becoming the receiver) and when an electric current is applied to the crystal it oscillates producing a pressure wave (becoming the transmitter). This is known as the piezoelectric effect. These two characteristics, used alternately, produce ultrasound images. In the early 1980's it was discovered, through high speed cinematography during lithotripsy (the use of high intensity sound to break up kidney stones) that a flash of light could be seen in the body. This flash has been interpreted as photons being emitted along with energy that is unbelievably high - thousands of degrees, perhaps even in the range of thermonuclear fusion! I was astounded that such energy and light could be created with sound.
Now, consider the logo. The two quadrants, one black the other white, symbolize the two different characteristics of the crystals producing the vertical beam, terminating in an explosion of light and energy - sonoluminescence.
Next, the phenomenon of perception. In explaining the paradox of Doppler ultrasound beam strength and directional accuracy to my clients where the the strongest returning sound reflections occur at 90 degrees to the reflective surface but the directional accuracy is poor-to-nonexistent, as opposed to the most directionally accurate , yet weakest, measurement which is at the lowest angle beam-to-surface angle, I would use the setting sun as a simple metaphorical example.
As I watched the setting sun across the water of Puget Sound I noticed a similar effect of the sun to an ultrasound beam whereby the strongest solar energy (i.e. hottest and brightest) occurred when the sun was at its zenith, perpendicular to the water's surface and no light directionality could be seen on the surface of the water. However, as the sun's angle became lower the reflected shaft of light relative to the width of the solar disc became more distinct where the lower the sun angle, the more well-defined the beam created by solar disc became giving the illusion of absent sunlight in these adjacent areas.
A
B
Me
To me, the setting sun phenomenon was a perfect example of perception, both actual and artifactual. When I am watching the sunset I perceive the sun's ray coming directly to me but as I look at my friends on either side of me, A and B, I notice that there is no solar ray going to either of them. When I lament to them how beautiful the reflected sunlight is and how sorry I am they can't enjoy it, friend A remarks to me from his perspective "I am enjoying it perfectly but I am sad that neither you nor B can see it." Then B chimes in that she is also able to see the same event perfectly but from where she is standing "clearly neither you nor A can see the reflected sun ray."
Of course, we are all observing and seeing the exact same phenomenon (assuming we are all the same height, etc.) and we know that the sun is emitting light across 360 degrees (180 degrees when using the Earth as reference). So, the metaphor for medical ultrasound is that objects that are outside of the beam parameters (width, for example) will be rendered undetectable (i.e. apparently nonexistent).
I believe this perception "paradox" can also be applied to all aspects of life including religion, race, sexual orientation, interpersonal interaction, psychology, international
relations, animals, etc. In other words, almost everything associated with living... and dying. The ability to see, and appreciate the existence of, the reality of another, even though we cannot perceive it from our experiential archive, is important .
And finally, the metaphysical aspect. The concept of a "higher power" that some call God by many different names has been, and currently is, the source of beautiful solace as well as heinous murder. Scientific breakthroughs in the forms of quantum physics, genetics, and space exploration (Hubble and Webb Telescopes) have brought us closer to the fact that humans are related to one another not just physically, but also psychologically. With open eyes, and without fear, modern technological revelations in conjunction with the very similar core teachings of the masters of most great religions should improve our "optics" regarding our interrelatedness as a species. "God" can no longer be an imagined bearded white man sitting in the clouds looking down on mortals as did the Greek Zeus and the Roman Jupiter.
Images like these from the Hubble Telescope replace mythological concepts of God and assuage fears, confirming the awesome magnificence of the cosmos.
Although Carl Jung coined the term " Collective Unconscious" to suggest that humans have similar "collective" memories and impulses hidden in the unconscious mind, I believe that it is highly possible that we humans have an active subconscious interconnectedness that, with the exception of some gifted individuals and mystics (neither of which I am) goes typically unnoticed and unperceived by most for a variety of reasons. Often things that exist are not scientifically measurable simply because we have not developed the tools by which they may be detected and confirmed.
Science and religion are replete with such examples from the 14th century mysteries of the plague, where death was deemed as either a punishment from God or evidence of the devil rather than caused by a bacterium carried by rats that the science of the time had not the technology to detect or prevent, to modern medical ultrasound where one of the commonly asked questions, especially considering the discovery of sonoluminescence and its associated damaging cavitation, is "Does Doppler ultrasound damage fetal tissue on a cellular/genetc level?" Well, when I was still teaching the answer was "We don't know
because we do not have sophisticated enough technology to detect such damage."
Again, returning to the Metamorphosis Logo, the top edge of the quadrants symbolizes physical reality and the ray of light bisecting them represents each person's unique pathway to higher consciousness or the God source.
Then, if the Logo is rotated 90 degrees along the Z-axis as if looking down from above, the ancient design called the circumpunct is revealed which through history has represented the sun, God, the alchemical symbol for gold, and the solar system.
Image courtesy NASA
