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If we identify DMT as the software, then the pineal gland we can label the hardware. DMT is the endogenous hallucinogenic that research appears to find is responsible for enabling people to enter an altered state of consciousness complete with “spiritual” visions and a sense of wonder and communion with something greater and beyond the individual. This research though has been dependent on external injections of DMT made to subjects via IV. The theory put forward by Dr Rick Strassman, the foremost expert on the subject, is that it is the pineal gland that produces excess amounts of endogenous DMT during times of great relaxation and stress, leading to the experience of mystical states.
This tiny gland, about the size of the nail on your little finger, is situated in the middle of the brain and vaguely shaped as a pine cone (hence the name though it is properly termed the epiphysis). Properly speaking, it is not a gland but is in fact the remains of (literally) a third eye that once protruded from the top of our heads before retreating into the skull as evolution worked its magic. Nowadays however, it is still referred to as being a third eye, but in the mystical sense of an inner eye that can perceive different spiritual realms. Is this the source of the blinding white light that mystics through the ages say accompany enlightenment (literally meaning “to see the light”)? (Note that some anthropologists believe the origin of the term enlightenment is related to ancient sun worship…to see the sun was to see the light). Spiritualists would argue that this enlightenment is the cumulative result of specific training designed to move consciousness progressively through ever higher levels of awareness and energy centers (called, among other names, chakras). The final destination is the center of the crown of the head, the area where the pineal gland would once have been located. According to the Taoists for example, it is from this point that an Immortal would experience his chi (energy) exploding from his skull to unite with the energy of the larger universe.
The gland is unique. Although it is not in fact a part of the brain and is only situated in that area, other brain sites are mirrored and it has been a mystery for at least a couple of thousand years why this should not be so for the pineal gland. Though its original role is known (as a real third eye) it remains unclear why evolution would have determined its retreat into our brain area and what role it currently serves us. The gland itself has a hollow interior filled with a watery fluid and receives tremendous blood flow second only to the kidneys.
History tells us that the pineal gland was first identified by Herophilus, a third century B.C. Greek physician contemporary with Alexander the Great with other notable early commentators including Pythagoras and Plato. However it seems that the serpent headdresses seen in ancient Egyptian art points to the pineal with the snake symbolizing esoteric knowledge. The red dot still adorning the center of foreheads of Hindus today is also believed to indicate the third eye. Given the fascination that our ancient ancestors, across many cultures, had with the pineal gland we should not be surprised to find that it featured in sacred art and architecture all over the world and the accompanying pictures below will support this assertion.
Another interesting speculation is the importance ancient cultures placed on sacred mountains that were believed to have been the first land to emerge from the primordial sea during the separation of Heaven and Earth. The Sumerians maintained this tradition, as did the Babylonians who went further and held that this sacred mountain was also the axis mundi, the axis that the world moves around. These massive features were also representative of the pineal gland. While the physical mountain is held to be the point where the spiritual meets the physical, the theory of Dr Rick Strassman (see below) is that the pineal gland is where our life force (the spiritual) enters our body (the physical).
Along with the Greeks, another key philosopher to bring further attention to this strange gland was none other than Descartes. Descartes held that it was only possible to hold one thought at a time. Where did these solitary thoughts arise from? Perhaps the pineal gland, the only single organ in the brain? He further believed that thoughts flowed from the gland into and through cerebrospinal fluid (though the existence of this fluid was unknown at that time) and thus throughout the brain. The famous philosopher went further than this though and argued that the pineal was the bridge between the spiritual and the physical, with the two phenomena affecting one another directly in the gland.
We find a mix of these ideas represented throughout history.
The ancient Egyptians had the Benben stone which was further represented as the apex of each pyramid (themselves representative, quite possibly among many other things, of the sacred mountain). This is most commonly seen nowadays on the one dollar bill used in the United States. The picture depicts a pyramid (the sacred mountain) capped with a Benben stone (representing the pineal gland) which itself encompasses an eye (remember that the pineal was once literally a third eye but for centuries has been understood to be a spiritual gateway to perceiving other realities).
In Hinduism the Shiva lingam has been the subject of all kinds of interpretations, the most obvious that it is a phallic symbol. Professor Wendy Doniger notes that some Hindu texts understand the lingam to be a pillar of light or as a symbol of God. Though the design of the lingam does vary from one artisan to the next, there are cases of the lingam being shaped as a pinecone.
Representations of Shiva are also very interesting. As you can see in the picture, Shiva sports a pinecone-like hairstyle, has a fully opened third eye and has the kundalini serpents writhing around his neck.
In ancient Greece there was the Omphalos stone, kept at the Oracle at Delphi, and also shaped like a pine cone. The Greeks believed that Apollo resided within the stone and that oracles could contact him…again demonstrating the idea of the physical realm meeting the spiritual realm. Of further interest is that omphalos means “the center of the earth” and also “navel”. In many Asian martial traditions emphasis is placed on developing power and coordination in the lower abdominal area (the tanden in Japanese) around which all techniques flow. Also the area located just below the navel is where many elementary breathing exercises want to center attention and draw breath into. From here this energy is raised up through the body before exiting the top of the head.
In ancient Rome there was the baetyl stone, also shaped somewhat like a pine cone and also associated with oracles and prophesy. Again drawing parallels with the one dollar bill in the US, both the Omphalos and baetyl stones appeared on coins of the periods.
That Rome regarded the pineal gland as being something special was further confirmed when they placed a giant bronze statue of a pine cone in the Court of the Pine Cone in the Vatican (which also features ancient Egyptian symbolism and hieroglyphs) and also adorned the staff of the pope, as well as certain of his apparel, with pine cone imagery. According to Catholic orthodoxy the Pope is the mediator between God and his followers (the spiritual and the physical).
-- Matthew 6:22
Returning to the work of Dr Rick Strassman, his hypothesis connecting the pineal gland to DMT was: Does the pineal gland produce psychedelic amounts of DMT at extraordinary times in our lives?
Some of these “extraordinary times” would include when our individual “life force” enters our fetal body: does it pass through the pineal and trigger the first rush of DMT? Later, at actual birth, does the pineal release more DMT? Fast forward an entire lifetime and as we experience the change to death, does the life force flow through the pineal, thereby releasing another flood of the psychedelic molecule? In between these two extremes we may also experience deep meditation, psychosis and near-death experiences. Undoubtedly the pineal contains the necessary building blocks to manufacture DMT. Plus the pineal can make beta-carbolines; compounds that markedly enhance the effects of DMT.
Marduk (Nimrod) holding a pine cone
Birth, near-death and death experiences are all highly stressful events that generate huge quantities of stress-related hormones, including adrenaline and noradrenaline, both of which are pineal-stimulating.
Science tells us that DMT is present in newborn animals and it is supposed it would therefore also be present in human babies (and mothers may also be experienced heightened floods of DMT). Vaginal delivery in particular is believed to set in motion DMT release, followed, in terms of intensity, by anesthetized delivery and finally Cesarean. In support of this is an observation made by Dr Stanislav Grof, an LSD psychotherapist, who says that much of what takes place during psychedelic therapy sessions is a reenactment of the birth process. Grof has found that those born by Cesarean are less able to let go during psychedelic therapy than those born vaginally. Possibly this is because of psychedelic levels of DMT being present during normal birth.
Bacchus, Roman god of drunkenness and revelry holding a pine cone tipped staff
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are high impact psychological experiences often accompanied by psychedelic experiences and like birth, this may be because of a hugely increased flood of stress hormones stimulating DMT production.
Obviously when it comes to death there is not a great deal of information to go on. When precisely to we die? When we stop breathing? When brain activity stops? Many ancient spiritual traditions maintain strict guidelines regarding when a body can and cannot be moved or buried and we have to question why there is an effort to avoid possibly disturbing residual, post-death (if we deem ourselves to in fact be dead) consciousness. As our pineal gland decomposes, does this have any influence on any existing consciousness? Are we still producing DMT and experiencing its effects despite being clinically dead? Remember, although the pineal gland is located within the brain mass, it is not part of the brain. It is feasible that though there is no longer any brain activity there is still DMT having an active effect on our consciousness.
Angkor Wat profusely designed with pine cone symbols
The Tibetan Buddhist Book of the Dead holds that it takes forty-nine days for the soul of someone recently dead to reincarnate in a new physical body. The unborn embryo in the womb of the mother takes forty-nine days to develop the pineal gland…and forty-nine days is when the fetus splits between male or female gender. Of course, this is all supposition, but nevertheless there are plenty of traditions that argue for some kind of survival of consciousness beyond physical death followed, in some religions, by some form of reincarnation. Near-death experiences, if they are in fact an accurate prelude of actual death, certainly suggest this to be true.
In summary, one theory put forward by Dr Rick Strassman is that at death stress hormones are released that stimulate the production of DMT in the pineal gland and this opens our awareness to another realm beyond the physical. Though our bodies may cease to function, consciousness of a sort remains in a disembodied state for forty-nine days in this other realm. After seven weeks consciousness returns to a new body via the newly formed pineal gland and a surge of DMT “turns on” consciousness of the physical realm once more (albeit in the womb of our mother) and the first effect of this is the differentiation of our gender.
Staff of Osiris decorated with a pine cone
Summary
Consider that much of this information is highly speculative. There is no actual proof that the pineal gland is able to grant access to alternative dimensions, nor that such dimensions even exist in the first place. That said, there does seem to be considerable proof that something happens when we are experiencing extreme stress (such as the near-death phenomena) or extreme relaxation (when we are engaged in high level meditation) or when we imbibe hallucinogenic drugs (or if we are suffering from psychosis). The precise details vary from person to person but still commonalities can be found (serpents, as an example, are often seen in altered states of consciousness). What is also apparent is that ancient cultures regarded the pineal gland as being crucial in this process and the work of Dr Rick Strassman introducing DMT into his subjects suggests that the importance of the pineal may have been known hundreds and even thousands of years ago.
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