The God Spot

[Twig]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =110997741

There is a lot of information on this site; I'm not quite sure which forum is belongs to...

[wolf560]

Thank you,
That was very informative (and kind of a fun read as well).

I did especially like "the God Spot"....

[Twig]

Hi, Wolf560. I'm glad you posted your message. I'd forgotten all about this article, so I got a chance to read it again.

[wolf560]

No worries Twig..!!!

I have been looking through the articles here since I rejoined.... there are a lot of articles to read. The real shame is that with the auto-pruning feature, some of them will go away before others can read them.

This article is something I had long thought about.... I was surprised that someone had actually done a study on it.

[Oneonine]

Reading Part I : The God Chemical, I saw

research suggests that chemicals that act on the serotonin system trigger mystical experiences that are life-altering. Serotonin is a chemical messenger that helps regulate mood and sleep.

and

The research raises the question, is God a delusion created by brain chemistry, or is brain chemistry a necessary conduit for people to reach God?

and immediately thought of the sensory deprivation rituals of druids and other cultures, most especially deprivation of sight.

Serotonin is made when you are in complete darkeness.

Coincidence? Or the belief in the second option, that something you produce when in complete darkness is a necessary conduit for people to reach God.

[wolf560]

Yes, I agree...

One of the rituals was called the "Tarb Feis" I believe.
Wrapped in a ceremonial bulls hide and in a dream-like state.
http://www.maryjones.us/jce/tarbfeis.html

[DJ Droood]

Yes, I agree...

One of the rituals was called the "Tarb Feis" I believe.
Wrapped in a ceremonial bulls hide and in a dream-like state.
http://www.maryjones.us/jce/tarbfeis.html

It only works if you have several other druids chanting over you.

[DJ Droood]

Coincidence? Or the belief in the second option, that something you produce when in complete darkness is a necessary conduit for people to reach God.

I think that sort of shamanic experience is at the core of druidic work.

[Twig]

I didn't know about the in-the-dark ritual... I keep wondering why, no matter how hard I try, I cannot get to bed before 4 AM anymore. I used to be a morning person, up by 5 or 6. Now, the cloak of darkness is too seductive to fight. I cheat, though; I keep the lights on! But I still sense the darkness around me.

[Oneonine]

Yeah, even the light from the digital displays or extension leads can interfere with your ability to produce hormones. I have blackout blinds and draught excluders across any sources of outside light, and went round removing or taping over any other sources. Made a huge difference what with the difference in daylight hours between summer and winter in the north of the UK. Also I worked shifts and often had to sleep during the day, so was often never asleep in the dark previously. I knew I should be, but getting around to making the change took a while.

If being awake during the dark is seductive, or you do a lot of work in the night hours, as many druids have been known to be night owls, you should make sure when you do go to bed at 4am it is in a room with the light sources blocked, so you can still sleep in darkness too. Perhaps that's why druids are associated with living in caves. Places with no light to sleep in during the day.

Other rituals include the darkness of caves, or man made "ovens" built of stone the same way they built ovens and steam rooms. A big part of the ritual is the return of the sense previously denied of course, which is when a thunderbolt of enlightenment is supposed to occur, conceieved out of the long hours of meditation and sense deprivation. Sensory overload after sendsory deprivation.

With the chanting, it's still sensory deprivation. If you leave someone in silence, their own body noises become louder, and it's hard to exlude all outside sound, which would interrupt the deprivation. So you add chanting. Today we'd add white noise, probably. You become attuned to other things with senses cut off, and extra sensitive to impression when they come back online.

[DJ Droood]

Other rituals include the darkness of caves, or man made "ovens" built of stone the same way they built ovens and steam rooms.

or the tarps and blankets of a light-tight sweatlodge.

[Oneonine]

Yeah

Another area of neurological interest to me, in shamanic practice, are the ones that raise the intercranial pressure of the brain, making certain previously dormant areas become active.

Remember Phenomenon with John Travolta, where his tumour makes him more "supernatural" than before? It's like that.

Purging, fasting, and the drugs they use in such rituals do the same thing as a tumour does, raises the intercranial pressure. Unfortunately this can press on the eyeball causing blindness too, so not a practice anyone in their right mind would want to do, knowing the risks.

Perhaps that's why blindness is so often connected with seers though? Either through actual blindness caused by extreme shamanic practices, or the idea of them living in the dark, like bats.

There are legends of groups of women seers raised in the darkness in various cultures.

[DJ Droood]

Perhaps that's why blindness is so often connected with seers though? Either through actual blindness caused by extreme shamanic practices, or the idea of them living in the dark, like bats.

fascinating..yes...

[Oneonine]

Women are more susceptible to intra-cranial hypertension, so they don't have to abuse their bodies as hard as a man to get to that point. Another reason women are more often connected with seerdom as men. Though in Scotland, there have been a lot of male seers. They abuse themselves with haggis though....

[wolf560]

They abuse themselves with haggis though....

LOL
Too funny....

[Oneonine]

Perhaps I should have said they abuse their digestive systems by ingesting haggis?

[wolf560]

.....even MORE funny.....


I have found that I am able to get into a state of heightened awareness, but for me it takes not only relaxation but also of mindlessness. "Stilling the Voice inside" I used to advise my students and "don't try to think at all". Some of them merely went to sleep, others reached the "Gate" as I call it.

I am imagining trying to do that after a dish of Haggis now.....

[Oneonine]

Here... have a deep fried mars/milkyway bar for dessert.

[Twig]

I experienced a sweat lodge when I lived in New Mexico, but I just about passed out from over-heating. Not too inspirational.

Just wondering: Maybe the current fascination with vampires is a subconscious desire to find the "Gate?"

Just wondering II: Why would someone who has been successful at meditating and quieting the mind NOT be able to do it anymore, nor have the desire to? And, no, the situation does not involve haggis.

I've got black-out shades in my bedroom, but at this time of the year, the sun can creep around the edges of my shades causing me to awaken earlier than I'd like, causing a state of grumpiness.