Water, Wine and the Sacred, an Anthropological View of Substances Altered by Intentioned Awareness, Including Objective and Aesthetic Effects.

Water and wine have long been linked to sacred rituals, and this paper examines what happens when those substances are subjected to nonlocal perturbation—focused intention from meditators. The changes can be both physical and aesthetic, affecting how people perceive the substances sensorially. In a 12-part experiment, groups of seven people tasted wine from a single bottle decanted into two identical carafes, one of which had been the focus of meditators' intentioned awareness beforehand. In 11 of the 12 sessions, a majority preferred the treated wine; one session ended in a tie. Statistical analysis indicates that the probability a majority would prefer the treated wine is at least 0.76 with 95% confidence. The paper discusses the broader implications of these findings.

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Abstract

This paper discusses the ancient anthropological linkage of water and wine with sacred rituals after these substances have been the focus of nonlocal perturbation. The paper reports the changes produced can be both physical, as well as a subjective aesthetic reaction arising when individuals have a sensorial interaction with such treated substances. In making this argument the paper presents and discusses research done by others, as well as the author including reporting the results of a 12 part series of experiments in which groups of seven people tasted wine from one 750 ml bottle that had been decanted into two identical 375 ml carafes. The histories of the carafes were the same except that one, before the tasting, had been the focus of intentioned awareness by meditators, while the other was a control. Twelve sessions were conducted, 11 resulted in a majority preferring the treated wine, and one resulted in a tie. Using an exact binomial test, the p-value is (0.5)11=12048=0.00049. Therefore, with 95% confidence we can say that the probability that a majority would prefer the treated wine is at least 0.76. The paper in its conclusion discusses the implications of the totality of this research.