One book in particular contained the key to understanding TOOL, it was called "Prometheus Rising"
The book is about the psychology concept known as "The 8 Circuits of Consciousness" created by Timothy Leary.
Notice that Timothy Leary and the Circuits are referenced in the Aenima booklet.
Now notice there is a dot of white light in the center of these 3 albums:
You're probably all like...
Each Tool album represents one of the 8 Circuits of Consciousness:
Circuit 1
Circuit 1: The Bio-Survival Circuit is concerned with the earliest modes of survival and the basic separation of objects into either harmful or safe. This circuit is said to have first appeared in the earliest evolution of the invertebrate brain. It is the first to be activated in an infant's mind. Leary says this circuit is stimulated by opioid drugs. This circuit introduces a one dimensional perception: forward and backward (i.e. forward towards food, and backwards away from danger). Also known as the Oral Bio-Survival Circuit.
Circuit 2
Circuit 2: The Emotional Circuit is concerned with raw emotion and the separation of behaviour into submissive and dominant. This circuit appeared first in vertebrate animals. In humans, it is activated when the child learns to walk. Leary associates this circuit with alcohol. This circuit introduces a second dimension, up-down, linked with territorial politics and tribal power games (up, as in swelling ones body in size to represent dominance, and down, as in the cowering, tail between the legs submissive stance. Also known as "Anal Emotional Territorial Circuit".
Circuit 3
Circuit 3: The Symbolic Circuit is concerned with logic and symbolic thought. Leary said this circuit first appeared when hominids started differentiating from the rest of the primates. Leary believed this circuit is stimulated by caffeine, cocaine and other stimulants. This circuit introduces the third dimension, left and right, related to the development of dexterous movement and handling "artifacts". Also known as "The Dexterity-Symbolism Circuit" or "The Semantic Circuit". Basically this is when humans developed symbols, numbers and language.
Circuit 4:
Circuit 4: The Domestic Circuit is concerned with operating within social networks and the transmission of culture across time. This circuit is said to have first appeared with the development of tribes. This fourth circuit deals with moral-social / sexual tribal rules passed through generations and is the introduction to the fourth dimension, time. Also known as the "Socio-Sexual Circuit".
Circuit 5:
Circuit 5: The Neurosomatic Circuit is the first of the right brain, "higher" circuits which are usually inactive in most humans. It allows one to see things in multi-dimensional space instead of the 4 dimensions of Euclidean space-time, and is there to aid in the future exploration of outer space. It is said to have first appeared with the development of leisure-class civilizations around 2000 BC. It is associated with hedonism and eroticism. Leary says this circuit is stimulated by cannabis and tantric yoga, or simply by experiencing the sensation of free fall at the right time.
Circuit 6:
Circuit 6: The Neuroelectric Circuit is concerned with the mind becoming aware of itself independent of the patterns imprinted by the previous five circuits. It is also called "meta-programming" or "consciousness of abstracting". Leary says this circuit enables telepathic communication, and that this circuit is impossible to explain to those who have only left-brain activity and is difficult to explain to those with active fifth circuits. It is said to have appeared in 500 BC, in connection with the Silk Road. Leary associates this circuit with peyote and psilocybin. Also known as "The Meta-programming Circuit".
Circuit 7:
Circuit 7: The Neurogenetic Circuit allows access to the genetic memory contained in DNA. It is connected to memories of past lives, the Akashic Records, and the collective unconscious, and allows for essential immortality in humans. This circuit first appeared among Hindu groups in the early first millennium and later reappeared in Sufi sects at the end of the first millennium (ca. 9th century). This circuit is stimulated by LSD, and Raja Yoga. Also known as "The Morphogenetic Circuit".
Circuit 8:
Circuit 8: The Psycho-atomic Circuit allows access to the intergalactic consciousness that predates life in the universe (characterized as the Godhead, the Over-mind or aliens), and lets humans operate outside of space-time and the constraints of relativity. It tunes the brain into the non-local quantum communication system suggested by physicists such as Bohm, Walker, Sarfatti, Bell, etc. Isreal Regardie compared this to the Buddhist concept of Indra's Net. Leary associates this circuit with ketamine and DMT. This circuit is also known as "The Neuro-Atomic Circuit" or "The Metaphysiological Circuit" or "The Non-Local Quantum Circuit".