The Fourth Phase of Water

The Fourth Phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid and Vapor
By Gerald Pollack
Ebner and Sons, Seattle, 2013. 357 pages.

This is a spectacular book, a must-read for all those interested in the science behind “energy medicine” as well as science in general. Pollack gives us a revolutionary theory, solving puzzles that have vexed scientists for centuries. He backs up his speculations with solid, convincing experiments. The whole is presented in a very readable style, with excellent illustrations throughout. Of particular value for me were the short summaries at the end of each chapter. Mae-Won Ho, one of the hall of fame superstars in our pantheon, calls this “The most significant scientific discovery of this century” and I enthusiastically concur, without reservation.

To watch a 52 minute video lecture by author Gerald Pollack, including materials not found in the book, click here. Here is another version, with a health slant.

The message of the book is that there is a fourth phase of water, and that this new understanding holds the key to solving numerous puzzles. The fourth phase is a stage between ice and liquid, which behaves as a liquid crystal. This phase is found in a thin layer when regular water contacts surfaces of any kind, and provides the basis for an electromagnetic polarity that is the engine behind many observable phenomena. With two thirds of the water in the body being intracellular, meaning in tight contact with micro-sized surfaces, much of the water in the body is of the fourth phase.

The implications are enormous! In Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy we routinely hear about “liquid light” and the “fluid body,” and in Polarity Therapy we are fond of Randolph Stone’s aphorism, “Running water clears itself.” The findings in this book give a mechanism for these abstract ideas. The implications stretch out in all directions, also giving an explanation for the intelligence of water (Schauberger, Szent-Gorgi, Schwent, Oschman, Emoto), the morphogenic field (Sheldrake, Oschman), fascial signaling (Ho, Schliep et al, Myers, Pischinger) and the “wholistic shift” (Sills, Kern, Shea), and many more.

In addition, there is great value in having a realistic understanding of anatomy and physiology. If we understand the real nature of the body, we are much more likely to receive meaningful information during palpation. The fact that so primary a component as water (99% of the body’s molecules, by number, and 60%+ of the body’s weight) has been so misunderstood suggests that we could have many improvements in our perceptual interactions.

Clearly the state of the water in our bodies is central to health. The cell, brain and fascia are areas of particular interest, but really there are no parts of the body that are not composed of, and dependent on, water. Other anatomical features have received dramatic knowledge updates in the past decade (such as the heart, fascia, brain, embryo and autonomic nervous system); this book brings a similar revolution to the foundation of them all, water.

Pollack gives four principles: (1) water has four phases, (2) water stores energy, (3) water absorbs energy from light (especially the invisible, omnipresent infrared range) and (4) like-charged energies can attract each other due to subtleties in the charge differential between the liquid crystal phase and the normal “bulk water” phase. The two phases are always coinciding.

So, how does running water clear itself, and why is the most common comment from clients after a biodynamic craniosacral or polarity session, “I feel really different”? What happened, exactly? There are many candidates for answers (worthy of some separate writing), but I think this book elevates the discussion significantly.

In a session, the practitioner uses conscious presence and hand contacts to form a perceptual interface with subtle flows in the body, the Tide (osteopathy’s Primary Respiratory Mechanism) in the case of Craniosacral, and the Pulses (Eastern wisdom’s Three Principles/Five Elements energy anatomy) in the case of Polarity.

Based on this new understanding, the presence and contact of the practitioner maybe adds a new, specialized “surface” and changes the state of the client’s watery composition to a higher percentage of the liquid crystalline state. The liquid crystalline effects are magnified, including freshly charged polarization (more energy) both internally and externally. Liquid crystals naturally exclude impurities, so non-conforming debris (waste products, all positively charged– the body prefers a negative charge– but also maybe disharmonious feelings and thoughts) is pushed from its habitual encapsulation back into circulation, for elimination.

Liquid crystalline structures also generate flow (think capillary action up a giant Redwood tree), spiral patterning (think eddies in a stream) and wave forms (think puffs of vapor above a cup of hot tea). These are amply explained by Pollack as all arising from electro-magnetic polarization between the liquid crystal water (- charge) and the excluded H3O2 water (+ charge) that is more distant from the surface contact. Liquid crystalline water also has a cooling effect (anti-inflammation) and raises pH (alkalinizing effect). It is not a stretch to speculate that most disease conditions are caused or accompanied by de-polarization of the water in the body.

The effects of the fourth phase of water also include atmospheric phenomena, since water droplets are also present in the sky. There are even tantalizing possibilities for intergalactic phenomena, such as the matrix threads that seem to connect galaxies.

Left for further development are such rich questions as how water interacts with thoughts. Pollack has demonstrated that water responds to sound and pressure. If thoughts somehow affect the liquid crystalline form and function, we will have a measurable physical bridge to understand the power of positive thinking, visualization, empathy, prayer, Emoto’s Messages from Water, certain psychotherapeutic effects and a host of other topics. Similarly, might the (previously unexplained) efficiency of transmission of radio waves through the air be a clue for the well-documented transmission of thoughts (Sheldrake)?

Pollack is respectfully clear that modern materialistic science has lost its way. His comments are similar to those of Rupert Sheldrake and Mae-Won Ho. Pollack re-tells the tragic story of Jacques Benveniste (1935-2004), the early water researcher whose experimental “water has memory” findings did not fit the standard model. Benveniste was mercilessly persecuted by the establishment, including prestigious journals such as Nature and Science, and died in professional ruin. He is owed a posthumous apology, not unlike other modern science martyrs such as Ignaz Semmelweiss and Wilhelm Reich. When will the self-appointed lords of science, especially the “Skeptics,” ever learn, and why are they so vicious?

All in all, this book is fantastic. If you are a science enthusiast, read it and then take that perspective into your next session. I predict that your perceptual experience will be different, because your new expectations will be closer to reality!