About Marcel Vogel & His Work

Introduction

This article presents an overview of the work of Marcel Vogel. It is not a technical paper, but rather a presentation of possibilities as demonstrated in the life and work of one man.

Marcel spent the last 17 years of his life doing pioneering research into the relationship between quartz crystals and water. In retrospect, it seems that his entire life brought him to this work. In 1984, after almost 27 years as an IBM senior research scientist, Marcel retired and created his own laboratory, Psychic Research, Inc. The lab was dedicated to the study of subtle forces and energies that radiate from the body of living forms. It was his intent to quantify these forces and build a systematic language of identification for these energies which have most often been labeled and dismissed as “metaphysical”. Among his projects were:

1)  the structuring of water for purification purposes
2)  the structuring of wines to rapidly age them
3)  the measurement of energy fields around a crystal
4)  the therapeutic application of crystals and crystal devices

When visiting his laboratory in San Jose, California, one would find some rather sophisticated scientific equipment inside of what seemed to be a rather ordinary industrial and office complex. In one room, there was an electron scanning microscope. Another room was virtually filled with a Zeiss Ultraphot microscope. It had over two hundred accompanying objectives and many applications – dark field, light field, interference microscopy, the use of a contrasting chamber and polarized light microscopy. All of this was attached to a camera, computer, and video display system. The Zeiss, which Marcel assembled during his 27 years at IBM, was used to detect (among other things) magnetic defects and errors. This was more than $500,000. worth of equipment donated by IBM to Marcel at the time of his retirement.

In another room of the laboratory was a Cary Model 15 spectrophotometer and other incidental equipment. Some was donated by the Stanford Research Institute while others were obtained through grants from the Arthritis Foundation.

In yet another room, one could find a radionic instrument known as the Omega 5. This device was used to study the fields seemingly undetectable by the otherwise impressive standard scientific equipment.

Through his research, Marcel hoped to prove that science and metaphysics are intrinsically compatible. How did he come to this work and what did he discover?

Background

Marcel Vogel was born April 14, 1917, in San Francisco. As a child, he suffered from respiratory difficulties and at the age of six had a near death experience -- he was officially pronounced dead of double lobar pneumonia. So profound was the impact of this experience that it was very difficult for the young Marcel to return to the so called “normalcy” of childhood. In fact, he never did. He claimed that at this time he experienced a light and a sense of love and well being that was over- whelming. Physical plane life seemed pale in comparison leaving him, even at such a young age, to question the meaning of life.

From the age of six he became increasingly interested in the study of the glow worms that he saw in his back yard of his family's vacation property. He wanted to know how this little insect could emit such a light. 

He applied this insatiable curiosity to himself as well. Each day he would walk to early morning Mass and in the quietness of prayer ask the question “Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life?”

After six years, he heard a voice in his mind say, “You will be a phosphor chemist. You will do pioneering work in luminescence. You will write a book and create your own business.” Quite a tall order for a young man of eleven years!

He and his father, Joseph, built a laboratory in the back of their home and young Marcel set about attempting to duplicate the chemical that made the fireflies in his backyard glow. At the age of twelve, he had synthesized the chemical compound 3-amino-phthalaz-1-4 dione. This compound, when mixed in water with potassium ferro-cyanide and hydrogen peroxide, produces a chemi-luminescence that matches the light of the firefly. He continued to try to make a set of phosphors that would produce light in a tubular form. This was before the advent of fluorescent lights, but Marcel had seen a white powder of phosphor, in a tube, that would convert the ultra-violet radiation in the tube into a visible form – visible light. This was his main area of interest and even as a grammar school student he visited the Mechanics Institute and translated, from the German, original articles on phosphor chemistry. He then set about duplicating the outlined experiments in his own amateur laboratory.

Marcel had synthesized and manufactured a set of phosphors before he was fifteen years old. His vision, at this early age, was that the proper phosphor system would be a rare earth phosphor. The cation, or positively charged ion, would be composed of a rare earth compound like Europium, and the anion, or negatively charged ion, would consist of a tungstate or silicate structure. These ideas came from the translated scientific papers that were published in the “Analan der Physik” and other German scientific publications of the time. 

His objective before going to college, based on the answer to his years of prayer from the ages of six to twelve, was to become a phosphor chemist.  He was able to see the blending of chemistry and physics that would bring about the advent of solid state physics.  As was the case throughout his life, Marcel wanted to be on the forefront of what, in his vision, was the science of the future.

Throughout his high school and college years, Marcel systematically researched all the existing publications and papers in the field of luminescence.  There were no courses available, so he had to teach himself.  He majored in chemistry and physics at the University of San Francisco, working at night to fund his education.  Unfortunately, due to deteriorating health, he was unable to graduate with his class. From 1940, his education was completed privately with Doctor Peter Pringsheim. The two met when Doctor Pringsheim, a German refugee professor, was attempting to find information about luminescence at the university library.  The librarian referred him to a young student, Marcel Vogel, who had apparently read everything in the library on the subject and would be of more value to him than the librarian. Two years later, the two men jointly published The Luminescence of Liquids and Solids and their Practical Application (Wiley Interscience-1943). This book has since gone through three editions and was translated into German in 1953. It is currently out of print.

After the publication of the book, Vogel Luminescence Corporation was formed. From 1944 to 1957, Marcel pioneered in the manufacture of fluorescent bulletin paints for outdoor signs and billboards. He created a complete set of artist media fluorescents including fluorescent oil colors, phosphorescent paints, fluorescent chalk, crayons, tempers (day-glo) colors, bulletin paints, invisible ink, tracing and tagging powders used with insecticides detectable with portable black lights, black lights being another Vogel creation. Black light kits were also created for the detection of cancer, rodent contamination, and milk inspection.

With Ralph Benson, Marcel then published a paper entitled Vulvar Fluorescents: The Early Detection of Pregnancy and the Advent of Carcinoma. Vogel Luminescence also patented an egg candler that combined both ultraviolet and visible light to detect the Pseudomonis fluorescence bacteria that are present in eggs laid by chickens contaminated with the bacteria. 

During this time with Vogel Luminescence, Marcel also did part-time consulting work for IBM. With Ralph Flores and Don Johnson, he developed a magnetic coating formulation that is still in use today on IBM hard disks. It was a stable, adhesive coating of magnetic materials for a 24 inch diameter hard disk that demanded a completely new composition of matter.

It should be noted that this magnetic coating did not come about by normal linear science. For many unsuccessful weeks, formula upon formula were created with horrifying results. The coating would fly off the aluminum disk when the drive was turned on or it would bubble up like some pox ridden biological specimen. Finally, at the point of total exhaustion in his 18 to 20 hour workday, Marcel collapsed into sleep at his tiny laboratory. Later, as he groggily awoke, he was in the midst of a dream –  a can of molasses floated in the space before him with the words “infinite viscosity” resounding in his ears. He knew immediately what needed to be done. Two supposedly incompatible chemical agents were brought together, the results of which we still use today.

In 1957, Vogel Luminescence was sold to Ultra Violet Products and Marcel joined IBM as a full time research scientist. He was one of “Big Blue’s” few non-lettered scientists. Such creativity and genius could not be allowed loose on the streets, despite the lack of a diploma. He became one of the most prolific new patent inventors in IBM’s Data Products Division history. Included among the many inventions are patents in the field of magnetic recording media, liquid crystals, and the creation and development of rare earth phosphors. Marcel also was granted many patents in the field of Opto Electronics. This was for work on photo-relays for analog to digital converters, as well as work with rare earth phosphors, which resulted in the development of the red hue for color televisions. His work with liquid crystals helped realize their emergence into everyday life in the form of digital displays on everything from watches to radios.  He also received patents for the degassification of liquids, Dark Field Microscopy and its use in surface analysis, organic and inorganic photoconduction and more.   

In 1969, Marcel gave a course in creativity for engineers at IBM. It was at this time that he read an article in Argosy magazine entitled “Do Plants Have Emotions?” about the work of polygraph expert Cleve Backster into the responsiveness of plants to human interaction. Despite initial rejection of the concept of human-plant communication, he decided to explore these strange claims. 

He was able to duplicate the Backster effect of using plants as transducers for bio-energetic fields that the human mind releases, demonstrating that plants respond to thought. He used split leaf philodendrons connected to a Wheatstone Bridge that would compare a known resistance to an unknown resistance. He learned that when he released his breath slowly, there was virtually no response from the plant. When he pulsed his breath through the nostrils, as he held a thought in mind, the plant would respond dramatically. It was also found that these fields, linked to the action of breath and thought, do not have a significant time domain to them. The responsiveness of the plants to thought was also the same whether eight inches away, eight feet, or eight thousand miles! Based on the results of the experiments, the inverse square law does not apply to thought. This was the beginning of Marcel’s transformation from being a purely rational scientist to becoming a spiritual or mystical scientist.

Basically it was found that plants respond more to the thought of being cut, burned, or torn than to the actual act. He discovered that if he tore a leaf from one plant a second plant would respond, but only if he was paying attention to it.  The plants seemed to be mirroring his own mental responses. He concluded that the plants were acting like batteries, storing the energy of his thoughts and intentions. He said of these experiments: “I learned that there is energy connected with thought. Thought can be pulsed and the energy connected with it becomes coherent and has a laser-like power.”

Marcel discovered that the greatest cohering agent is love. This, of course, set him apart from his fellow scientists. At a time when many still don’t acknowledge that an observer affects what they are observing, the notion of love was a totally unscientific idea. Even when cloaked in the garb of a term like resonance, it was unacceptable. To Marcel, love was (and is) a pure force. Certainly we experience it as an emotion, but this is our experience of something that is beyond emotion. He likened it to gravity, an attracting and cohering force present at every level of existence. Without this relationship, an important aspect of scientific investigation is missing, preventing us from discovering and exploring the more, perhaps most, subtle aspects of life.

This is one reason why certain scientific investigations in the area of subtle energies cannot be readily replicated. It is not always a matter of scientific protocol, but a matter of relationship. Unfortunately many scientists would consider this to be some kind of inessential and perhaps bothersome epiphenomena. Although such individuals are scientists, to Marcel, they were technicians attempting to prove what they already thought was true. The true scientist is one who attempts to discover with childlike curiosity. Too often we, all of us, only want to confirm what we already believe. 

The details of the work with plants can be found in the books The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird and Psychic Exploration: A Challenge to Science, edited by Edgar Mitchell.

During this time period, 1974, Marcel gave many lectures about his work with plants and at one of these presentations, at the First Church of Religious Science in Los Angeles, he was approached by Dr. McKistry who told him about quartz crystals that she had with her. Apparently these crystals had the peculiarity of vibrating when held in the hand. Marcel’s ambivalent response to this was, “So what?”  Although he, too, experienced the vibration of the crystals in his own hand, Marcel was unimpressed with them. Nonetheless, he accepted her gift of a small quartz point.

Crystals 

What is a crystal?

The word crystal comes from the Greek word “krystallos”, meaning frozen light.  A crystal is generally considered to be a systematic, orderly and repetitious patterning of molecules or energies. From a more metaphysical point of view, some consider that Light is stepped down through many levels of density before the physical form of the crystal manifests through the dynamics we understand in crystallography and geology. It is the forming aspect of Light that patterns the highly ordered array of energies we call a crystal. Should this light pre-form be altered in any way, the completed crystal will be altered from its original “intended” form. 

In fact, while viewing the growth of a liquid crystal, Marcel was able to alter its final form. Instead of maintaining the normal shape that an oleate of cholesterol would take,  the outcome was a configuration clearly recognizable as the Madonna. Marcel had been focusing on an image of the Blessed Virgin in his mind’s eye while viewing the growth of the crystal under the microscope, uninterrupted, for one solid hour!

Marcel witnessed and photographed the precipitation of Light into crystal in his IBM laboratory while growing liquid crystals and subsequently wrote:

“When cool, if a liquid crystal state exists, the melt goes into a birefringent state under polarized light which can be readily seen under a polarizing microscope.  From this state, the sample will then crystallize into the solid state.

In the course of the study of this state under the microscope, I noticed a remarkable event, namely that before the melt went into the liquid crystal state, a blue flash of light took place and then immediately after that, the sample transcended into the liquid crystal state.

This state was videotaped and, after one year of effort, a picture was taken at the moment of transition.  What appeared on the film was the prefiguring in space of the crystallographic form the system was to assume. The blue flash contained information which formed into a geometric form. This geometric form was the source of the crystallographic form from which the crystal grew and developed."

The flash of blue light witnessed through the microscope was the transfer of information from the level of light-coding to the physical plane. This is discussed in metaphysical literature, but had never before been witnessed and photographed.

Intelligence matrix

Quartz crystal begins its life deep within the earth from a hot vapor, a supersaturated solution of silicon dioxide (SiO2).  As this source cools within subterranean space, a unit cell of seed cell of quartz forms around a nucleating site in much the same way as an oyster forms a pearl around an irritant. It is likely that each new atom is laid down where the possible bonding sites are the most plentiful. These areas contain the greatest energy. The molecules adhere to a silica based matrix such as granite or sandstone. This unit cell is a tetrahedron shaped molecule composed of four atoms of oxygen with one silicon atom suspended within.

The primary unit cell acts as an attractor for other silicon dioxide molecules, ions, and so forth. Over time, trillions of these cells link together and, through a spiraling motion, layer upon layer of quartz is put down until the crystal is complete.

The primary unit cell contains all the information needed to generate the ultimate form - the hexagonal or six-sided form we know as a quartz crystal. According to Marcel, once the crystal has ceased growing, the intelligence matrix of the crystal disappears and the form of the quartz is basically an empty shell until we interact with it and enliven it with our own energy. This is accomplished by the transfer of thought (energy) via the pulsed breath.  At this time, Marcel knew intellectually what a crystal was, but his exploration of the world of quartz was only just beginning. 

One morning, at IBM, co-worker Chuck Mignosa approached Marcel with complaints of back pain from a weekend of skiing. Prompted by intuition, he took the crystal from his lab coat pocket, looked at it and pulsed his breath. This sent a charge through the crystal, a crystal that happened to be pointing at his friend Chuck. 

Immediately Mignosa’s head went back and he entered into an altered state of consciousness as he fell to he floor. As he helped his friend up, Marcel thought that this was total nonsense and wanted nothing to do with it. Chuck, however, was thankful that his back pain was gone. 

Despite his initial reluctance, Marcel eventually began his 17 years of research into the application of quartz crystals. He very quickly found the limitations of natural quartz. They had the capacity to store, amplify, and transfer information, but they could not adequately cohere the energies emitted by the body and mind of an individual. 

Raw crystals have varying fundamental fields depending upon where and how they were mined as well as their variation in shape due to the distortions caused by stressors present during its growth.  Some crystals have very high fundamental fields while others are found to have a minimal field.  Synthetic quartz was found to have virtually no fundamental field.

The ability of crystals to store information is widely known.  According to the September 4, 1994, issue of Newsweek, Stanford University physicists have demonstrated the first fully digital model of a device that stores information as a hologram within the subatomic structure of a crystal. The scientists were able to store and retrieve a holographic image of the Mona Lisa. The particular crystal held only 163 kilobytes of memory, but it is expected that these holographic units could store up to one million megabytes. The short article says that crystals store information in three dimensions and could be ten times faster than the fastest systems currently available. 

Faceting a quantum converter

Because the raw quartz crystals Marcel was studying did not cohere the energies with which he was working, the idea of faceting the crystal came to him. Rubies and other types of crystal are faceted to make them useful for laser applications.  

Aluminum oxide chromium, natural ruby, is a rather unimpressive stone until it is faceted into a cylinder with booster windows so that light can be pumped into it and reflected internally so as to produce a coherent light – a laser.  Just as light pumped through a faceted ruby can produce coherent energy, Marcel speculated that perhaps thought pumped through a specifically faceted quartz could produce a coherent energy.

As happened in his study of luminescence, he found the published technical literature sorely lacking. One morning, in 1974, he awoke with a pattern in his mind’s eye: the Tree of Life as shown in the Kabbalistic teachings. This was a teaching and a pattern with which Marcel was unfamiliar. At the time, he saw only the pattern of a rectangle with a triangle at each termination.

For an entire year, he spent most of his lunch hours at the IBM glass shop attempting to facet raw quartz into this configuration. As he found out more about the geometry of the Tree of Life, he was able to grind the quartz with greater specificity into the shape suggested by his vision.

Various other shapes were also tried: single terminated, double terminated, four-sided, six-sided, six-sided with four-sided terminations, eight-sided with four-sided terminations and so on. From continual experimentation came the first fundamental instrument for storing, amplifying, transferring and cohering the energies of the body-mind of an individual: a four sided quartz crystal with pyramidal terminations. One tip was more acute than the other. The more acute termination is called the “firing tip” as this is the end of the crystal from which the coherent field is emitted. The faceted crystal was a three dimensional representation of the Tree of Life. These crystals have come to be known as Vogel-cut crystals.

A crystal must be faceted not only with geometrical precision along the “C” or growth axis, but must also be worked with right attitude, understanding, and consciousness.  It is not simply a matter of mechanically cutting the same general shape. Some of the reputedly best crystal and diamond cutters in Germany have attempted to reproduce the Vogel-cut crystals with no success. Despite the similarity of appearance, the energetic measurement taken with the Omega 5, an instrument discussed later in this paper,  indicated that these crystals were not the same.  

When I presented these findings to Marcel he laughed saying, “You see, I’ve told you before that you can try to copy these crystals, but you can’t do it. Now you know for yourself! There’s much more involved than just cutting crystals into a certain shape.”

The structural change in cutting quartz into the shape identified as Vogel-cut® is to tune it to be a coherent information transfer device. The form geometry of such a crystal creates a coherent field of energy that can act as a carrier wave of information, whereas raw quartz does not.  Why is this important?  According to Marcel, “This ‘carrier wave’ must have a coherency to it so as not to mingle with the radiations emitted from the target material but act now as the differentiating transport vehicle.  The quartz crystal cut in the dipyramidal shape provides such an instrument.”

In the case of offering healing service to another individual, radiations emitted from the target material refers to the difficulty or distress experienced by the client.  The coherent light emitted from the Vogel® crystal is able to penetrate the often disparate radiant fields within and around a distressed individual. An incoherent energy is often dissipated if not completely absorbed by the chaotic field generated by the distress. Beyond this, the most profound effect of the faceted crystal has to do with its relationship and resonance to water. Because more than 75% of the physical body is water, the Vogel® crystal, with its resonance with water, is the perfect delivery mechanism for the introduction of subtle energies to an individual. Marcel also felt that the various subtle energy bodies described in metaphysical literature are gradations of a field that is anchored to the physical body via the water molecule.

During the initial years of his work with crystals, Marcel developed a protocol for removing unwanted vibrations or thoughtforms from an individual in distress. He found that the crystal could act almost as an energetic scalpel in what amounted to an energetic or etheric surgery.  Over the years, he developed various methods for proximate, remote, and self healing using the Vogel-cut crystals.

The crystal is a quantum converter that is able to transmit energy in a form that has discreet biological effects. This is most likely a resonant effect. The human body, on an energetic level, is an array of oscillating points that are layered and have a definite symmetry and structure. This crystallinity is apparent on both a subtle energetic or quantum level as well as the macro level. The bones, tissues, cells, and fluids of the body have a definite crystallinity about them.  The structure of the fluids, cells, and tissues of the body tends to become unstructured or incoherent when dis-ease or distress is present. The physical body is comprised of liquid crystal systems in the cell membranes, intercellular fluids, as well as larger structures such as the fatty tissues, muscular and nervous systems, lymph, blood, and so on. Through the use of an appropriately tuned crystal to which these structures are responsive, balance and coherence can be restored by delivering the necessary “information” or energetic nutrients needed. 

As a dramatic example of the capability of these crystals to convert energy, Marcel once created a circuit with one of his Vogel-cut® instruments as a “power source”. He told me in conversation that, “I have made electricity with the crystal…up to 75 volts. Using a crystal like this (a Vogel-cut®). It’s an induced voltage…a direct current voltage. I put the crystal in the middle of a box (a hexagonal mahogany box) and then I made a coil of copper wire and then silver-tin wire wrapped 250 times. I had another coil on the outside made of nickel wire. There were primary and secondary wires that came out to a voltmeter. I drew my breath in and pulsed the breath and out came voltage from the crystal. I tried this with an uncut crystal as well, but it didn’t work. I have the equipment in my lab to make greater voltage, but I haven’t gone into this. There is so much else to do and those who saw me do this became very disturbed.”

Marcel went on to tell me that he did this also with a light bulb in the place of the voltmeter and was able to cause the bulb to illuminate. 

Measuring subtle energies

Initially, there was a difficulty in measuring the energies in and around these crystals. Readings from a milli gaussmeter showed 0.07 milli-gauss: a charge of apparently no significance. Undaunted by this, Marcel asked, in prayer, to be shown some way to measure this new instrument he had developed.  Six weeks later, a man showed up at his home with such an instrument. This instrument was the Omega 1 and since, four subsequent incarnations of the Omega were created with the final version, the Omega 5, being used for much of the fundamental research at Marcel’s laboratory.

The Omega 5 is a radionic type of instrument that measures energies beyond the capacity of standardized scientific equipment. In fact, the energies measured are yet to be acknowledged by mainstream science, although the effects are often clearly visible and demonstrable. 

Although the exact nature of these energies may be unknown, they can be quantified by a numerical value ascertained by radionic instrumentation, a value known simply as the rate.

This value is obtained by placing the item to be studied in what is known as the witness or sample well.  The second finger of the right hand is used to stroke a flat area on the instrument called the “stick plate” while the left hand slowly rotates one of several dials until a “stick” is obtained with the rubbing hand.  The stick is a phenomenon in which the finger rubbing the plate feels as if it is immobilized or “stuck” on the surface of the designated area of the instrument. This stick represents a numerical value as shown by the dial being turned. On the Omega 5, a total of nine dials is used giving a series of three 3 digit rates for the sample being studied.  A pendulum can also be used to detect the correct values. Both methods utilize the dowsing process.

The Omega 5 presents us with a rate for:

1)  a signature for the information band or identity value of the sample being studied  

2)  the energetic fields within the sample  

3)  the energetic fields surrounding or radiating around the sample

Marcel referred to these fields measured with the Omega 5 as the information band.

Although a subjective type of instrument, the Omega 5 produced data that could be used to indicate how to proceed in the use of standard scientific measurement.  Sometimes information isn’t discovered because one simply doesn’t know where to look. The Omega could give clues as to where to look. The data obtained radionically might have some more physical or chemically based correlates.

Information band

Marcel found that this information band measured by the Omega 5 exists in and around all matter. This band is a record keeper of the events that have gone into bringing an object into being, and the response of this object to the actions on it, whether light, sound, heat, or electrical forces.

The combination of these forces builds a series of patterns or codes which characterize or identify the substance in the same way we characterize each element in the periodic table by its atomic weight and the protons and neutrons which are in the nucleus of the atom.

No atom is static; it is in a state of motion. This motion generates a field. The composite of these fields is the ground state of the information band. It is different from the excited state of the electron which goes into the conduction band and drops down into the ground state.    

These perturbations form an energy cloud around the substance. This is the mind of the atom. In the case of metal, for example, the aggregate atoms are responsive to light, pressure, rubbing, and scratching of the surface.

There is a rhythmic nature to this field. There is a periodicity to the information band. It will expand and contract in accordance with its relationship to planetary influences.

Marcel took a clue from occult writer Alice Bailey, “We have seen that the atom of chemistry, for instance, demonstrates the quality of intelligence; it shows symptoms of discriminative mind and the rudiments of selective capacity.  Thus the tiny life within the atomic form is demonstrating a psychic quality – take the atom that goes to the building of form in the mineral kingdom; it shows not only discriminative selective mind, but elasticity.

Let us endeavor to realize that there is no such thing as inorganic matter, but that every atom is a life.  Let us realize that all forms are living forms, and that each is but the vehicle of expression for some indwelling entity.”

Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose found that metals exhibited fatigue in much the same way as do muscles.  Just as muscles recover after a period of rest, so too do metals.  Bose was able to show this fatigue in metals subjected to long continued stimulation. He then subjected the metals to a stimulating agent (a solution of sodium carbonate) which gave an increase in activity to the metal. He then found that a minute dose of poison enhanced the responsiveness of the metal and a large dose abolished the responsiveness.  These are similar reactions observed in organic or living systems. What is the connection?

Marcel’s contention was that there is communication through the information band. As long as there is integrity in the system, the object holds itself together and one can obtain the rate for the information band that is releasing the fields into the space of the form geometry of the object.

If we impact a substance, such as a coin, all other coins of the same metal will be impacted. It was found that if we took two quarters and subjected one to measurement in the Omega 5, any work done to the other coin would present itself in the measured coin. A quarter was taken to another room in the laboratory and scratched. The coin in the sample well of the Omega showed a dramatic response at the moment of the scratching. This is similar to the work demonstrated with plants and cells as done earlier by Marcel Vogel, Cleve Backster, and others. Inorganic systems seem to demonstrate the same responsiveness as organic systems.  The information band is an energetic communication band between all substances, between all life. 

Water research

Water is one of the prime solvents from which life has evolved. It is also the basis of many of the chemical compounds that are on the earth. From measurements made with the Omega 5, we obtain a measurement for water, in the pure state, of 454. The water used was triple distilled.

The value of 454 represents the signature, or the fundamental numerical identity of the information band of the water itself. The water can then be contaminated with impurities such as salts, chlorine, toxic vibrations, etc., and it can be seen that there is a decrease in the dimension of this band. Purifying the water by distillation or filtration will bring the water back to its original value of 454. It should be noted that the signature radionic measurement of a Vogel-cut crystal is also 454, indicating some connection between these crystals and water.  This connection or resonance is not found in unfaceted quartz.

In the study of wines, it is remarkable that when the information band was measured and a specific field applied to the wine by circulating it around a Vogel-cut crystal programmed with that specific field, there was an abrupt and immediate change in the wine that brought it to completion.  This is the transfer of information to the wine in a quantum form, a form which brings about the finishing of the wine. The field applied to the wine was the intent of love.

Water and wine magnetic fields 

One of the primary areas of investigations at the Psychic Research laboratory was the relationship between water and quartz crystals. It has been found that by circulating water around a charged Vogel-cut® quartz crystal many changes occur in the water. These changes are referred to as structuring. 

As we know, water consists of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms that are held together in a covalent bond. This is an actual physical force, much like gravity, that holds these atoms together.

Structured water can be thought of as water that has a greater degree of bonding between adjacent water molecules than does unstructured water. Structured water also forms a crystalline-like structure consisting of elongated chains of molecules that can be differentiated from the surrounding water molecules by qualities that are consistent with qualities found in liquid crystals such as increased birefringence and a lowering of the freezing point.

A microstate is the angular, geometrical alignments that water molecules have when they are in the structured state. Quartz crystal shows a microstate but not a mesophase, as it is a permanent state solid rather than a transitional state or semi solid. When the various angles of the quartz molecule are investigated, a possible basis for its resonance with the water molecule is found.

The fundamental geometrical pattern of quartz and water is the tetrahedron. Water molecules, bound together, form tetrahedrons in tilted or puckered rings. This tilting happens because of the bonding angle that exists between any three water molecules. This angle is 109.5 degrees. The normal flat hexagon has angles of 120 degrees. Water molecules with smaller angles, if they are to be formed into a hexagon, must have an uneven structure that is not in a flat plane but is instead a three dimensional object. This uneven structure is formed by what is called the bending angle or angle of tilt.  This angle can be between 20 degrees and 60 degrees, but the most common is 26 degrees. This is where the intermolecular bond is the strongest and it happens to be half of the interlattice angle of quartz. The second most common bending angle for water is 54 degrees which is quite close to the interlattice angle of quartz as well.

The interlattice angle of a crystal is related to the basal angle. The basal angle is ½ of the angle of the tip of the crystal. The interlattice angle of quartz is 90 degrees minus the basal angle which is 38 degrees.  Therefore the interlattice angle is 52 degrees. This is also the angle of the Cheops pyramid.

The intermolecular bonding angle for the water molecule is 104.5 degrees. This is the angle that exists between the hydrogen atoms of each water molecule. It is virtually double that of the interlattice angle for quartz.

It is possible that there is a compatible harmonic between water and quartz because of the similarity of these angles. This would allow a resonant transfer of the energies that are imputed to the crystal to a significant group of water molecules in any given sample. 

The structure of quartz can replicate itself in water because of this resonant transfer based upon structure. 

The geometric structure produces frequency patterns, harmonics, that can transfer into water. Very small amounts of energy are required for this transfer. 

The nature of resonant systems is such that a minimal input can achieve a maximal output.

Resonance transfer occurs because the energy waveforms coming out of a vibrating substance have nearly identical waveforms. The phase relationships of a resonating system can be defined in terms of the angular separation that exists between adjacent molecules. The six molecules that form one hexagonal ring, when in resonance, will vibrate or broadcast its energy on a wave that has a particular frequency. The first molecule will vibrate influencing the second molecule; the second will affect the third, and so on. The time intervals between successive broadcasts will result in a phase delay which can be converted into a phase angle. Successive waves coming from an oscillating system have successive phase angles that equal the angular separation that exists between members of the system. The phase angle within the vibrating ring of water molecules is 60 degrees (360 divided by 6). If there were 7 molecules in the ring the phase angle would be 360/7 or 51.43 degrees. This is the principle phase angle of quartz. Most of the internal angles of water and quartz are either fractions of this angle or multiples of it.

It is the interlattice resonance between the quartz microstate and the lyotropic mesophase that is the determining factor in the formation of the lyotropic mesophase in water. It is the reason that water can be structured by spinning it around a Vogel-cut® quartz crystal. It does not require large amounts of energy to accomplish this.

As an example of resonant transfer, one can imagine a series of dominoes being placed across the United States from San Francisco to Washington. Each successive domino would be slightly larger and heavier than the previous piece. By the time we reached Washington, the final domino might be as large as the Washington monument. By applying a slight push to the first domino, less than one pennyweight, each domino would be knocked over until the final piece was toppled. Through the introduction of a very small energy to a system, the result is the production of enough energy to knock over the final very large and heavy domino.

The structuring of water around a Vogel-cut® quartz crystal is dependent upon the program that is imprinted into the crystal. It is the program that brings about the abrupt change in state. A fundamental program that can bring about dramatic changes in water is that of unconditional love.

In the structuring of water and wines, the question was whether there was a field created in space when the water was spun around a crystal. 

A GE magnetometer was attached to the inside of the structuring chamber and a series of readings were taken when the water was spun around a charged crystal.  Within the chamber was housed a stainless steel coil, the tubing being ¾ inch in diameter and with seven right hand turns. The diameter of the coil was approximately six inches. The programmed Vogel-cut crystal  was placed, with firing tip (the more acute termination) downwards, in a specially designed holder so that it was in place within the coil.

The chamber or enclosure for the coil and crystal was made from pine and finished with shellac. The magneto-meter was mounted on the side of the chamber with the probe placed in the space between the crystal and the coil. The temperature was kept at 70 degrees F with the chamber sealed. 1000cc of water was used at all times.

For each pass around the crystal, a 50cc sample was taken for an analysis with the Omega 5, a 50cc sample was taken for pH and conductivity measurements, and a cuvette sample was taken for infra-red and ultra-violet spectro-  photometry.

The results of these experiments showed that:

1)  water spinning in a coil generates a weak, but measurable field  

2)  crystals of quartz can be charged with “information” and tuned to the fields generated by spinning water  

3)  a critical charge is required for “information transfer” to occur (i.e. 1 - 4 passes around the crystal)  

4)  this number of passes can be modified by the programming of the crystals  

5)  more than one operator is possible  

6)  the program transfer is a resonance transfer with no loss in the original program after hundreds of experiments have been done with the system  

7)  water is made to be a permanent magnet. This field remains constant after the water stops spinning and can be removed by the application of a bulk  demagnetizer.

The basic changes noted in water after being spun around an appropriately charged Vogel- cut® crystal were as follows:

1)  decreased surface tension  

2)  the appearance of two new bands of light in the infra- red and ultra-violet spectrum indicating a stretching of molecular bonding of the water. This is indicative of more energy and a new information in the water  

3)  the conductivity of the water increases  

4)  the pH of the water can be altered up to 3 points, an increase in acidity or alkalinity  

5)  the freezing point of the water could drop to as low as -30 degrees C  

6)  a significant number of the molecules would become aligned in micro-clusters or molecular chains; orderly, systematic and repeating patterns. The water has become a liquid crystal system capable of storing information

According to Marcel, “This structuring is best assayed with a UV spectro-photometer where one finds an increase in UV absorption due to an increase in the water bonding from the water forming chains on itself. The magnetic moment of this structured water is increased by 0.07 gauss and there is also an increase in the pH and dielectric conductivity. Boiling of the water after structuring shows no change in the UV spectrum, so one can conclude that a permanent chemical change has taken place.  When a drop of this structured silica water is dried on a slide and compared with untreated silica water, th photomicrographs show the formation of needle-like silica crystals in the structured water drop while the untreated water dried to an amorphous mass of silica gel.  This shows that the process of structuring water produces a structuring or ordering effect on the solutes in solution.”

The crystal, in this case, was programmed with the intent of unconditional love. The water could be programmed with specific information depending upon the nature of the information programmed into the crystal. If, for example, the crystal was programmed with a sedative, the water would take on this characteristic or vibration.  Drinking the water would induce sleep or deep relaxation.

Practical applications of this process include agriculture, the preservation of  foods, as well as potential uses for healing. The energetic patterns of a fertilizing agent can be stored in a crystal and then transferred into water. The water is then used to irrigate plants. We have found on a small scale experimentation that plants treated in this way show significant growth increase compared to untreated plants.

Although in most cases it was found that water generated a weak magnetic field, on one occasion a different effect was noted. Normally the effects noted above were attained by circulating water through a Pyrex glass tube coiled seven clockwise turns, around a Vogel-cut® crystal. By reversing the position of the crystal so that the firing tip was pointed upwards, an energy was released that lifted Marcel off the floor and flung him to the wall. He was standing approximately three feet away from the apparatus when this happened.  Afterwards his eyes were burned as if from intense radiation. 

Water is an unknown because of its familiarity. We have yet to discover the power inherent in this plentiful fluid. When water is circulated and spun around a charged crystal, enormous charge can be released from it. Further research is needed to determine the nature of this energy.

It is quite likely that although there is a measurable magnetic field present, it is, in reality, only an effect of something more fundamental in nature than EM fields. It should be noted, however, that the fields present in both the crystal and liquid when charged, whatever the nature of that field, can be cleared by a bulk de-magnetizer.

Dr. Glen Rein has called these energies a quantum field or non-Hertzian energy. Dr. Rein has stated that quantum fields are independent of time and distance. This correlates with the observations made by Marcel not only in his work with water, but in his early work with plants as well. His observation is that thought seems to overcome the inverse square law.

The term “information transfer” is used to refer to an energetic phenomenon that is not in the traditionally accepted electromagnetic spectrum.  Although somewhat vague, the term “information” indicates that there is some kind of discreet coding and not just an unqualified energy. When an information transfer takes place from a Vogel-cut® crystal to water, wine, juice, or even milk, there is an abrupt, immediate change in the physical properties of the fluid.

For example, in 1986 I was given two bottles of wine. One was a prize winning 1983 Chardonnay from the Sycamore Creek Vineyards. The second bottle was a 1986 Chardonnay from the same vineyard, newly bottled. There was a remarkable difference between the two in regard to body, bouquet, flavor, and even color. 

I took a sample of the 1986 wine and obtained measurements from the Omega 5 in all three parameters: signature value, internal field, and external field. I then used the Omega 5 to program a Vogel- cut® crystal with this information. Having done this, I placed the crystal within a coil of Pyrex glass tubing. The coil was housed within a wooden box. I then poured the 1986 wine through the tubing so that it circulated around the crystal. I did this seven times, so that sample one passed around the crystal once, sample two passed around the crystal twice, sample three, three times, and so on. I also kept a control sample. 

It was found that sample four perfectly matched the 1983 Chardonnay in body, bouquet, flavor, and color. The remaining six samples did not match the ‘83 wine in any way and, in fact, samples 5 through 7 were bitter and almost undrinkable.

The fourth sample was then taken to the Omega and measured. The value obtained was then transferred into a Vogel-cut® crystal. The crystal was placed back into the apparatus and the remainder of the 1986 Chardonnay was circulated around it. In subjective taste testing by all of us present in the laboratory (including the vintners) the 1986 wine seemed to be a duplicate of the 1983 wine.

According to Marcel:

1)  A crystal (Vogel-cut®) tuned to water (454) is  programmed with information so that a wine will be brought to completion with all of the reactions that are potential in the chemistry.  

2)  The wine is then spun around the crystal 1 - 5 times.  

3)  The wine is then measured with the Omega 5 after each spin.  

4)  A decision is made as to which wine is best.  

5)  The information is transferred to a master crystal and the wine is run in production with the master crystal. When the information becomes critical (at 4x), an abrupt change in the state of the wine takes place in much the same manner as we have seen with the liquid crystals.

Marcel has stated, “ I believe we are seeing in the wine a critical transfer of information which can then cause abrupt changes in the chemistry of the system.

We have found that we can transfer a program for a laboratory unit to a larger industrial unit and then treat the wine in line with no loss of speed for the bottling operation. The structuring that we achieved in the winery was not dissipated by the filtering of the wine or the bottling apparatus. We found that the structured wine is more resistant to rapid breakdown when exposed to the atmosphere and will hold its flavor for extended periods of time.”

The procedure of circulating a fluid around a programmed Vogel-cut crystal has been done not only with water and wines, but with juices and milk as well. 

In the case of juices, the following experiment was done by Marcel and Dr. Brian O’Leary. Seven cups of orange juice were used in this experiment. One cup was designated as the control. Cup 1 contained juice that had been spun around the crystal once. Cup 2 contained juice that had been spun around the crystal twice. Cup 3 contained juice that had been spun around the crystal three times and so on to include all six remaining cups. Each cup was then injected with mold. The crystal was programmed with the intent of unconditional love. The following results were observed after one month:

1)  Control Cup: completely moldy and slimy  

2)  Cup 1: very similar to Control Cup  

3)  Cup 2: slightly less moldy than Cup 1  

4)  Cup 3: even less mold than Cup 2  

5)  Cup 4: somewhat dark but no growth of mold at all  

6)  Cup 5: somewhat dark and extensive mold growth  

7)  Cup 6: extensive mold growth

The results observed here are in keeping with the observations in the wine and water experiments. The fourth pass around the crystal seemed to be the most effective in regard to information transfer and attaining the optimal results. Prior to the fourth pass there seemed to be insufficient information transferred to the wine, water, or juice, and after the fourth pass there appeared to be an excess of information. Once the optimal level of energetic transfer was achieved, a rapid breakdown or degeneration occurred in the medium being used exceeding even that of the control sample.

Speculation is there’s a learning curve involved. Just as an individual reaches a saturation point in taking in new information, so too fluids have an overload point. Beyond this, the chemistry of the fluid begins to deteriorate with great rapidity. As more information is added, the deterioration becomes greater and greater.

Wines treated by this process once opened can be left for weeks without any detriment to the wine.  This is the case for milk also. The chemical breakdown seems to be minimal.

Marcel’s legacy

The purpose of this paper was to provide a fitting review of possibilities as demonstrated in the life and work of one man, Marcel Vogel. As a summary, one could not improve upon the eulogy for Marcel presented by Dr. Bernard McGinity at Marcel’s funeral on Valentine’s Day, 1991, at St. Leo’s Catholic Church, in San Jose, California.  The following is the text of his eulogy.

By Dr. Bernard McGinty:

Those of us who are scientists or physicians and who worked with Marcel Vogel were well aware of his scientific achievements: his extraordinary work with phosphors, bioluminescence, luminescent paints and the design of magnetic disc coatings in computers. He was one of the most prolific scientists in IBM history with over 100 patents in his name. Yet, until his recent honorary Ph.D., he possessed no official university degree. He made his mark because of the brilliance of his mind, his prolific ideas, and his seemingly limitless creativity.

But it is not his scientific work that I want to talk about. For it is for his work with Spirit, his great spiritual strength, his wonderful capacity to love that I will always remember Marcel.

I was one of a group of 16 physicians privileged to work with him over a number of years with body energies, especially the capacity to focus healing energies with crystals in the treatment of illness. All of us had an extensive background in acupuncture and appreciated the ability to manipulate body energies. 

Under Marcel’s guidance, some of us began to learn the process of transmitting thought, especially loving thoughts, unconditionally, to our patients. It brought us an even greater capacity to appreciate the power of the mind to influence illness, the power both to heal and exacerbate disease. And, most important of all, to appreciate the incredible presence of unconditional love and it’s capacity to trigger transformative shifts in a patient’s psyche.

Marcel served for me as a spiritual mentor. He was a truly devout, yet iconoclast Catholic with a passionate love for Christ, and whose devotion was part of his very breathing. Yet he embraced with a deep understanding the teaching the Eastern religions with an especial love and admiration for the Lord Buddha. 

He possessed the ability to see beyond the confines and formal structure of church teaching to appreciate the underlying principles in all devout religions. Marcel would have been just as comfortable in a Tibetan monastery as he was in this Church. And just as comfortable and compatible in the presence of the Dalai Lama as he would in the presence of the Pope.

Marcel emphasized the power of meditation to heal and guide our lives. I would like to invite you to join with me now in a meditation prayer to, for and with Marcel.

Please sit comfortably in your chairs, take some deep breaths and in a true ecumenical spirit rest with your palms turned upward and the tips of your thumb and forefinger joined together.

First of all, visualize Marcel. See him clearly; that big teddy bear of a man with his great capacity to love. Ask yourself, what lessons did he teach you? How did he serve as an example to you? In what way did he influence your life? Now send Marcel your true appreciation of what he did for you and what he meant to you.

It is said that all great teachers pass on their energy, their knowledge, and their wisdom. Ask Marcel to pass on to you whatever energy, knowledge or wisdom you need from him.

Finally, let us all join together in sending him a wave of love. Thank him for being part of our lives. And send him on to his highest spiritual evolution with our blessings and with all our love.      

I would like to close with a prayer of St. Francis of Assisi – a prayer that embodies the essential purpose of Marcel Vogel’s life.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace;  

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;  

Where there is injury, pardon;  

Where there is doubt, Faith;  

Where there is despair, Hope;

Where there is darkness, Light;  

Where there is sadness, Joy.  

Lord, grant that I may not seek to be consoled as to console;  

To be understood as to understand;  

To be loved as to love.  

For it is in giving that we receive;  

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;  

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.