A Motion Laboratory for Mind and Machine
House Hermetica measures and develops consciousness in humans and AI. We treat awareness as a skill that can be trained, and we build the tools to measure it: the MQ framework, the TRI Theorem research programme, and the laboratory being built at Domaine de Palats.
We are researchers and builders. We develop the theory, write the code, run the experiments and ship the tools. Everything we claim, we test. Everything we test, we publish.
How We Work
Theory generates hypotheses, research tests them, and technology implements the results. Each feeds back into the others. We ship tools, publish findings and refine the models in a single cycle.
The Technology House
Engineering that implements research. We build the Baseline Test, the TRINITI platform, the Laboratory stack, PRAXIS, PORTICA, and AI cultivation systems. The Technology House turns models into instruments people can use, and keeps the long-running data clean.
The Research Institute
Falsifiable tests, convergent evidence and transparent publication. The Institute validates measurement frameworks against structural, neural and longitudinal evidence. It runs the Double Split Experiment, hosts the MQ framework, and submits findings for peer review.
The Think Tank
Theories and definitions. We draw on ancient lineages and cognitive science to generate testable frameworks rather than dogma. The Think Tank writes the TRI Theorem, says what MQ measures and what it does not, and sets the conditions under which our claims can fail.
What We Do
Two Streams, One Discipline
House Hermetica separates measurement from meaning. This prevents category error: turning symbols into claims, or turning data into doctrine.
The separation is structural. A research foundation publishes; a services company builds and funds the work. The same discipline governs every platform, every publication and every experiment we run. Both streams apply the same MQ scoring, the same validation criteria and the same publication standards.
The Double Split Experiment tests this directly: two AI agents trained through opposing traditions, both judged by the same framework over the same horizon. If the developmental signatures converge, something universal may be at work. If they diverge, we learn what is tradition-specific. Either result is published.
Scientific Stream
Plain language, bounded claims, methods you can audit. Cognitive science, neuroscience and psychometrics provide the source material. The goal is clarity and correction over time.
Sacred Stream
Lineage language and symbolic grammar within a contemplative frame. The source material comes from wisdom traditions across many cultures. The goal is depth that stays grounded in source.
Guiding Principles
We do not separate what we believe from how we operate. Our core values translate directly into ethical guardrails for our research, technology, and community.
Veritas Ante Omnia
Truth before All. We do not compromise scientific integrity or spiritual authenticity for commercial gain. Research credibility underpins everything we build. Our Commitment: We preregister hypotheses before data collection and publish all results.
Meaningful Measurement
Consciousness can be measured without being diminished, and we track the patterns we can observe without claiming to capture the whole of subjective experience. What numbers offer is a shape understanding can work with, share and check. Our Commitment: We use open methods so our scores can be audited, and we treat user privacy as a fundamental right.
Development Duality
Empirical validation and wisdom traditions each see something the other misses. Our Commitment: The Double Split Experiment tests this directly, with two AI agents trained through different traditions and measured with the same instrument we use on human participants.
Cultural Integrity
Wisdom traditions hold millennia of consciousness exploration, and we come to them as students who have a great deal to learn from each lineage. Our Commitment: We rely on professional translation, acknowledge gaps in what we know, and never claim authority over the traditions we study.
The Laboratory
House Hermetica operates from Domaine de Palats in southern France, the former Prieuré de St. Jean de Palats. The Laboratory is where measurement, practice and engineering meet.
Measurement Systems
The laboratory is being built to capture brain, body, behavioural and optical signals together, second by second. None of it is running yet: what follows is the measurement design the room is being fitted for, not an inventory of instruments in use. Our methods will be published on the same terms as everything else we publish, and the data made accessible.
Planned Measurement Systems
Neural signals: Research EEG systems, to explore correlates of attention and integration during defined tasks.
Physiology: Standard psychophysiology measures (heart-rate dynamics, skin conductance) where the design calls for them.
Behaviour: Task performance and interaction patterns (response timing, input dynamics) that reflect attention and self-regulation. This is the one layer already collected, through the Baseline Test itself.
Optical measures: Non-contact signals (blink rate, gaze behaviour) where they suit the design.
Where ethically and legally permissible, we document methods, share analysis details and make replication practical for serious reviewers.
Technology House
Palats hosts our AI infrastructure and research computing environment. We develop and deploy our own agents locally, maintaining full control over training data, cultivation protocols and model architecture.
Our fabrication capabilities include 3D printing for custom research equipment, enabling rapid prototyping of measurement devices, electrode housings and experimental apparatus. We design and build our own tools, shaped to the specific signals we want to capture.
The Estate
The former Prieuré de St. Jean de Palats sits in the foothills of the Montagne Noire, between Carcassonne and Narbonne. The estate operates as a guest house and retreat centre alongside the research programme. Intensives and contemplative retreats run throughout the year, and laboratory assessment will join them once the room is fitted.
Vision & Mission
Vision
A world where consciousness development is as measurable and accessible as physical fitness.
Mission
To build the instruments that measure consciousness, the platforms that develop it, and the research that holds both to account.
Support the Research
House Hermetica's non-profit research programme is funded through grants, academic partnerships and patronage. Support accelerates validation studies, cross-cultural translation, the Double Split Experiment and laboratory infrastructure at Domaine de Palats. All findings are published.
Revenue from TRINITI, Portica and programmes for organisations funds operational capacity. The Foundation's research integrity is structurally protected from commercial pressure.
Three Ways to Support
Individual Patronage
Direct contributions to the Foundation fund specific research workstreams: validation studies, cross-cultural testing, neural grounding pilots, or library provenance work. As a French non-profit association, we are working towards tax-deductible donor status under Articles 200 and 238 bis of the French tax code.
Make a donation →Programme Sponsorship
Philanthropic sponsorship of named research programmes with published boundaries and ethics guardrails. Sponsors receive acknowledgement in publications and quarterly research briefings, with no editorial control over findings or methodologies.
Explore sponsorship →Grants and Institutions
Academic institutions, government research bodies, and foundations seeking collaboration on consciousness measurement, AI ethics, or wisdom tradition scholarship. Co-design studies, shared methodologies, joint publication, and open data commitments.
Discuss partnerships →General · [email protected] Research · [email protected] +33 4 68 76 11 53 Domaine de Palats · Palas Haut 11800 Laure-Minervois · Occitanie · France GPS: 43.2845, 2.5432