Eight-circuit model of consciousness

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Leary formulated what became his eight-circuit model of consciousness in collaboration with writer Brian Barritt. The essay "The Seven Tongues of God" claimed that human brains have seven circuits producing seven levels of consciousness. This later became seven circuits in Leary's 1973 monograph Neurologic, which he wrote while he was in prison. The eight-circuit idea was not exhaustively formulated until the publication of Exo-Psychology by Leary and Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trigger in 1977. Wilson contributed to the model after befriending Leary in the early 1970s, and used it as a framework for further exposition in his book Prometheus Rising, among other works. Recent publications include 2025's 8-Circuit Ascension: A Guide to Metaprogramming the Multidimensional Self written by Drs. Douglas S. Wingate and Rachel Turetzky, which updates the model with current research in neuroscience and psychedelic research. Additionally, Wingate and Turetzky co-authored an accompanying workbook, 8-Circuit Ascension Workbook: Tools to Change Your Brain & Increase Intelligence (2026). Exploring the Eight-Circuit Model of Consciousness: A Pathway to Enhanced Mind-Body Health is the first peer-reviewed academic journal article written on the eight-circuit model of consciousness, co-authored by Kasian, Turetzky, and Wingate (2025). ==Overview==

Of the eight circuits in this model of consciousness, the first four circuits concern themselves with life on Earth, and the survival of the human species. The last four circuits are post-terrestrial, and concern themselves with the evolution of the human species as represented by so-called altered states of consciousness, enlightenment, mystical experiences, psychedelic states of mind, and psychic abilities. The proposal suggests that these altered states of consciousness are recently realized, but not widely utilized. Leary described the first four as "larval circuits", necessary for surviving and functioning in a terrestrial human society, and proposed that the post terrestrial circuits will be useful for future humans who, through a predetermined script, continue to act on their urge to migrate to outer space and live extra-terrestrially. Leary, Wilson, and Alli have written about the idea in depth, and have explored and attempted to define how each circuit operates, both in the lives of individual people and in societies and civilizations. • 1. The Oral Bio-Survival Circuit • 2. The Anal Emotional-Territorial Circuit • 3. The Time-Binding Semantic Circuit • 4. The “Moral” Socio-Sexual Circuit • 5. The Holistic Neurosomatic Circuit • 6. The Collective Neurogenetic Circuit • 7. The Meta-programming Circuit • 8. The Non-Local Quantum Circuit The term "circuit" is equated to a metaphor of the brain being computer hardware, and the wiring of the brain as circuitry. Leary used the eight circuits along with recapitulation theory to explain the evolution of the human species, the personal development of an individual, and the biological evolution of all life. ==See also==