Before proceeding any further with our explanation of energy, it is useful to give some examples of the kinds of forces appearing within the spectrum of physical energies.

The first situation we are going to discuss concerns the motion of a physical body when exposed to mechanical input sufficient to change the current position of that body. Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) formulated three essential laws describing how inertial bodies, macroscopic bodies moving at slow speeds, interact with gravitational and other mechanical forces (Figure 2)1.

These formulations are represented by the equations of classical motion expressed by Newton’s second law, particularly,

F = [dp/dt]                                       (2)
where the applied force is given by the time-rate of change of a body’s momentum (p = mass x velocity), m equals the inertial mass of a body (units of mass) and v equals velocity (units length/time). The units of physical force are always the same and are given as mass-length/time2.
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Figure 2

Newton’s Triad of Physical Forces

Newton’s First Law states the every body continues in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed on it.

Newton’s Second Law states that the change of motion is proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.

Newton’s Third Law states that to every action there is always opposed an equal reaction: or, the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to opposite parts.

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In most everyday, non-relativistic situations (i.e., when particle velocity is very much less than the velocity of light), the inertial mass of a body remains constant. Therefore, equation (2) becomes,

F = m * [dv/dt] = m * a                    (2a)

where the time-rate of change of velocity is defined as the acceleration “a” that a body is experiencing (units of length/time2).

A second common category of forces observable in the macroscopic world are composed of vector type forces working through 1/r2 fields. Two examples are the gravitational attractive force between two inertial bodies (taken as ‘negative’ by definition) and the electrostatic, or Coulombic, force existing between two charged bodies (negative attractive, positive repulsive.

These forces are given by the expressions,

F gravity = – g * [m1 * m2 ] / r2                 (3)

F electrostatic = k * [q1 * g2] / r2               (4)
where g and k are proportionality factors, m equals inertial mass, q equals the quantity of electric charge, and r is the distance between each mass or each charge.

Other physical forces of interest to scientists in their attempts to understand the structure of the physical universe are the forces responsible for radioactive decay, the weak nuclear force, and for counteracting the electrostatic repulsion present between the protons comprising the atomic nucleus, the strong nuclear force.

To the casual, sleeping observer, today’s world exhibits a vast panoply of forces. Looking about, we observe the effects of the moon’s gravitational attraction as we swim in the ocean’s tides; the force of electricity is apparent when your hair stands upon end as the charge accumulated in a Van der Graff generator is transferred to your person; we rely upon the magnetic field of the earth whenever we employ a compass to establish our bearings; destructive forces are released in the explosion of an atomic bomb. The forces of adhesion, friction and muscular work, all these forces have such varying effects that most people still believe them to be separate and unrelated manifestations of the Great, Divine Mother.

This common misconception contrasts starkly with both the teachings of the ancient mystery schools and those of modern cosmologists.

Both groups have and continue to search for the “unity contained within the diversity”; continue to search for ways to demonstrate that all the forces of creation are the “same in essence, differing only in expression”.

By the turn of the 20th century, beginning with the unification of electricity and magnetism in 1864 by the English physicist, James Clerk Maxwell (1881 – 1879), modern physics could explain all the physical forces observed in nature as combinations of only four fundamental forces: electromagnetism, the weak and strong nuclear forces and gravity.