Consciousness, Speculation and Seeing the Un-see-able.

More and more I suspect that consciousness is far more complex, rich, and all pervasive than we can even conceive of. My feelings currently, lead me to say that not only is consciousness a part of everything, but that it functions on more levels and connects in more ways than we can process. We see such a small sliver of our existence. We see a very limited view, and we see it through our little bubble of self-awareness and ego. That is how we interact with this wonderful world, though. We need that ego, that sense of identity here to have this experience. I do believe it is not unlike playing a computer game. Our higher self, or whatever you want to call it, is the player, outside the computer, and in order to access the game we need an interface, which is the computer, or our brain, that allows us to live in cyberspace. The closer to virtual reality we get, the more accurate this description may be. I am not saying I think we are living in the matrix or a computer simulation, although I by no means rule it out. I am just using it as an analogy. The character you play in the game has limited information compared to what you do. Maybe, if we could construct a game where the character learns and your part is to guide it to what it needs to know and learn in order to get where it needs to go, that may be the best analogy to who we are here. Some players are good, some are not. Some can communicate to their character in ways that make it very clear to it what way to go. Synchronicities, signs, omens. Other players are asleep at the wheel, or just really bad at getting through to their characters. They become the materialists. The closed minded. And maybe that is part of the game, variations are needed to progress the world.

I look at the research being done on children who can recall past lives, and it seems that many of them died violent deaths. The same is said of haunted locales. The ghosts are the ones who died a violent death. Is there something about dying suddenly or violently that loses an ending process the rest go through? If you die in your sleep, peacefully, is there a transition that takes us back to that higher self? Maybe when you die violently, you stick around, you want to play again, so you haunt if you were really attached here, or you just want to reset and try again. These are not beliefs on my part, just some idle speculation. Maybe the reason some children remember past lives is because they didn’t process things properly because of the way they died. I can hold a decent amount of doubt about hypnotically regressed past lives. Hypnosis is unreliable, and once you’ve lived more than a few years, you really don’t know what information you have been exposed to subconsciously. Our brains seem to work as a filter as much as anything else. Takes in 100%, shows you .0001%. Shows you what is important or what fits your belief system. It’s a tool; you have to train it otherwise by breaking patterns and habits. Then it shows you more. Then you start to see the shadows, not just the light. Children, though, there are some very good cases where there is no way the child could have reasonably known what they know, especially at such young ages. Even training from parents can’t explain it, if they were attempting a hoax. These kids seem to be recalling very specific, detailed information. They seem to show genuine emotion about the events they recall. And sometimes those past lives have been found and information verified. It takes one, just one, to be genuine. I think we have far more than that. Which then begs for an explanation. I honestly can think of only a few possibilities. One, and most likely, is that it was their past life. I think Occam’s Razor points there. It simply is what it seems to be. It may also be, that consciousness, working like an all-encompassing field, allows one to access it and focus in on one specific part. Maybe that is what happens, these kids, not yet trained in the ways of this world, focus in on a life, recorded in that field, and attach themselves to it. I think this is less likely, and I am hard pressed to come up with any other good possibilities. We can’t dismiss them, well you can, but that would not be intellectually honest. If even one is genuine, that is all you need. I think there are plenty of genuine cases. Maybe it’s that computer user communicating information about their past character In the game, intentionally or not.

I heard someone say on Coast to Coast a couple months ago, that consciousness is just in the brain, we know this, the science is finished on it. Really? Well, there is a headline, when exactly did science PROVE, beyond any doubt or further possible study, that consciousness is just in the brain? Right, never. I think the first key to knowing someone has an agenda or dogma present, has to be when one says, the science is finished. By its nature, that is never true. There is always more to learn. It’s been said many times in the past, Charles Fort used to make fun of that claim back in the early 1900’s when, I believe, The Royal Academy of Sciences said science was complete. I could be wrong about the institution, it’s been a while since I’ve read his books. They said this, while still saying that rocks couldn’t fall from the sky. I think that anytime someone says the science is complete, they automatically lose credibility. You hear it in debates about evolution, about global warming, about consciousness. I think that, if anything, cutting edge science is actually proving that consciousness is NOT just in the brain. Taking an honest look at scientific studies of PSI, they statistically prove that it exists. Debunkers, with no knowledge of statistics, and an agenda, claim they are unimpressive. They are not. They are solid science that consciousness can access data from outside in ways that are not understood. One of the most common points I hear made is this, if you get knocked out, you’re out. When you regain consciousness, you realize you didn’t continue to exist while knocked out. Well now, sounds reasonable. Proves nothing, especially when you realize that you have many dreams every night, yet remember very few, some remember none. Does that mean they were not there? No. If you character gets knocked out in the game, your higher consciousness is unaffected, your user is still there, but unable to influence the character in the game. The same with brain damage. This is also cited as proof that consciousness is in the brain and only in the brain. But again, if your computer has issues, or your game character has some damage, it doesn’t affect the user. Your higher self is still intact. In another way of looking at it, you drive your car. If the car blows a break line and you can’t stop it, does that prove that the driver is the car? It makes as much sense as saying that brain damage proves that consciousness is a side effect of the brain. Neither thing is proof. The brain is more likely an interface, not a generator of consciousness. It is the vehicle we use.

Let’s take it a step further. When we look at paranormal phenomena, let’s say UFO’s, we see that they somewhat conform to our expectations. Kenneth Arnold saw flying V shaped craft. Boomerang like. The press called them Flying Saucers. Later, actual saucers were seen. Does that mean these sightings were false, or, are people seeing something that has no definitive form to us? We put it on the phenomena. Monster sightings may be more of the same. Something is there, and until it has a form, descriptions may vary, but the more that see it, the more it defines itself, using our conscious expectations. People are certainly seeing something in the skies, on the ground, and elsewhere, that defy easy explanation. Sure, there are misidentifications, and hoaxes, and such, but there are simply too many strange encounters by reputable people, sometimes with a level of evidence as well, to dismiss them all. And what about that evidence? It never lives up to what it is expected to be. That pancake from the flying saucer? All normal ingredients, although rather unpleasant to taste for some reason. A hoaxer would have tried to make it exotic, not simple and bad tasting. These things may be an intrusion into our reality of something that needs our conscious expectations to give it form that we can interact with. We may see a flying saucer or bigfoot, but what is really there is much stranger to us, so much so we can’t see it’s actual form with our limited senses and perception.

To take this even further, all of reality may function like this. In the last few decades the idea that if you want something enough you can cause it to happen with a sort of magical wish fulfillment is likely complete nonsense, but on a deeper level, we may draw to us what we need. As individuals, families, towns, etc. Consciousness may bring out that which needs to happen, which may occasionally be what we want to happen. It’s kind of like saying, if you want your wish to come true, make the right wish. Our users, out there beyond the game, may be able to control the environment we are in. And maybe there are users above them, and they are consciousness of the group, the family, town, planet, etc. Go deep enough, and maybe you can interact with them, make some requests, have a subtle amount of influence. Work some Magick. Isn’t that what most Magick and ritual is all about in the end? Affecting the unseen. Tweaking the hidden structure. Accessing the deep consciousness that pervades everything. It’s rich and complex, and we can’t understand it. Our brains are very limited devices. Eventually we’ll get an upgrade. Maybe as a reward for a certain level of success here. World peace, for real, and everyone get booted up level and we have all new challenges. Doesn’t look very hopeful right now if that is the case. I think it’s important to watch for those hints from our Higher Selves. I find life gets much easier the more you can see. Is that an illusion? I doubt it, but even if it is, the result is positive, so why change it? There’s no real way to know. If it works for you, use it! It’s a matter of faith. Not religious faith, not belief in a deity or dogma, but faith that if you listen, the universe will guide you. Subtly but effectively. We are made of consciousness. It’s in everything, everywhere. This can’t be proven, but to some of us, it is very hard to not see.

Paranormal Radio Shows

*EDIT* We have just started our own radio show, called Where Did the Road Go? Go to www.wheredidtheroadgo.com for more info and upcoming schedule! *EDIT*

Over the last year or so, I have found myself thoroughly enjoying the various talk radio shows on the paranormal that exist out there. It started when Graham Hancock posted a torrent with a bunch of his Coast to Coast AM interviews. I had heard of this show and never really paid it much attention. The interviews were excellent, and I looked more into who else they have on. Now I find myself listening to a good number of their shows every month. Some of the shows, well, aren't very good. Some of the guests make you wonder why they have them on at all, but I realized that when you are doing 4 hours of radio every night, it's probably not that easy to find good guests every night. The hosts are all decent, with different strong and weak points. The main host, George Noory, for example, sometimes has a habit of talking over his guests or asking questions that suggest he isn't really listening to what they have to say. This is forgivable, as I can say from personal experience, when running a radio show, you do sometimes get distracted by other important aspects of things while doing an interview. He may be reading an e-mail with the next question, or something of that ilk, I don't know. Really, though, that is the biggest issue I can raise with the show.  Overall, it's entertaining and informative. I do a music show that is on once a week for six hours and that takes a lot out of me, they get much respect for keeping up with things 4 hours a night, and they take calls on air. Always a risky enterprise. Some of the calls are intelligent, and some are hard to even follow, but they always seem to stay respectful of the callers, and I'm sure that must take a lot of patience at times. Anyways, they are on AM radio all over the country, and you can easily find stations that stream their broadcast. Coast to Coast is easily the most well known of this type of radio show.

Now, on the other hand, out of Sweden comes Red Ice Radio. This may, at least in some ways, be the best show of this type. The host is clearly smart and well informed, and he also tends to just let his guest talk, to the point where you almost forget he is there sometimes. They usually have a 2 hour show, posted online, and the first hour is always free. The second hour you need a subscription for, but they sometimes post that for free as well. I'm not sure if they have a set schedule for how often they upload shows, but it seems to be every few days they upload a new show. They have a very good selection of guests, and a well done website.

Then there is Just Energy Radio. Dr. Rita Louise is the host, and she has some really interesting guests on from time to time. Airing once a week, with an excellent archive, that not only allows you to listen to recent shows, but each show connects to a page with info on the guest and links to previous shows they may have been on. Rita, however, is not the best interviewer. She often sounds distracted, and will too often ask questions that are at odds with what her guest was just talking about. Some shows are better than others. Also, she leans a little more towards the New Age type guests than more hard science types. There is also an issue with the production values, with the music bed at the beginning, end, and middle, being WAY too loud as compared to the discussion. It can kill you if you are not near the volume. There are also some shows where you really can't hear the guest at all. Hit and miss on this one, but the good interviews do tend to be very good.

Last, and certainly not least, is Walter Cruttenden's radio show, The Cosmic Influence. The downside here is it no longer on regularly. It was till late 2009, and since then there have only been a handful of shows. Walter and his cohosts interview people in various fields dealing with lost civilizations, the cyclic nature of time, and much more. Very well, done the hosts are smart and well informed, and know when to just let their guests talk. The entire archive is available free, and you can subscribe on iTunes. 

If you know of any other shows like this that I should check out, please leave a comment! Thus far, these seem to be the best, at least that are still on the air.

Book Review: DMT - The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman, M.D.

DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences by Rick Strassman M.D.

There are people who feel that science and the paranormal cannot co-exist, usually forgetting that many things were paranormal until explained by science. In today's world, talk of things like Alien Abductions and Near Death Experiences often get one ridiculed by people who are more, scientific. In DMT, The Spirit Molecule, Dr. Strassman proceeds in a completely scientific manor to investigate the effects of DMT on various volunteers. The results though, may help to identify certain mechanisms that may be involved in such ridiculed events such as Alien Abductions. Make no mistake, this is not a New Age book. Dr. Strassman is an accredited and peer reviewed scientist, who did not set out to deal with the subjects that he eventually did. Like any good scientist, he followed the data. It led him to very surprising places.

DMT Experiences, although often unique, also have certain common qualities to them. One of them is meeting ‘beings’, and experiencing some of what happens in an Alien Abduction. Dr. Strassman, as much as he seems to have resisted it, eventually had to admit that the experiences did not bear the markings of being just an hallucination. The fact that DMT occurs naturally in the body, being secreted by the Pineal Gland, makes it even more interesting. The book itself is very well, written, very scientific, and quite enjoyable. Just reading about all the hoops he had to jump through to get to do the research in the first place is amazing.

It has made me wonder about paranormal experiences in new ways. For example, anyone who studies UFO’s seriously will point out that DMT can’t explain multiple witness sightings, radar tracking, and physical traces. But what if we are dealing with two different things. What if the only connection between the odd lights in the sky and the alien abduction scenario is that whatever causes the ‘physical’ UFO, sets off a release of DMT in the observer, who then has an internal experience? I think this could be a potential breakthrough in the study of UFO’s. It doesn’t explain what causes the lights, but if whatever does, affects people in the right way, it may lead to an encounter that is not ‘of’ those lights. Like a heavy wind blowing open a door you didn’t know was there. The wind and the room beyond may not be directly related, but one unlocked the other. It could also be that the beings that are contacted via DMT are also trying to come here, and they do so in what appear to us as UFO’s (and possibly other unexplained phenomena).

I have never been sure what to make of implants in UFO abduction cases, but people in DMT studies receive implants. There is no physical implant in these people, but plenty of abductees have claimed to have found physical implants right where they say they were implanted. Some of these implants, when removed, seem to be, at the very least, odd. Now, as I said, I am not sure what to make of this. There isn’t enough conclusive evidence one way or another, but I would say that Dr. Strassman’s research into DMT may be a very important clue in understanding the UFO Phenomenon, as well as consciousness and the human condition in general.

If any of this even vaguely interests you, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book. You can look at it as DMT causing hallucinations or as DMT tapping into another realm, either way, the book is very interesting and opens up all new avenues of questions. Personally, I believe that it retunes us to another world. How much so probably depends on the situation and amount of DMT received, either naturally or by design. Dr. Strassman uses the analogy of the brain as a television, tuned by default to ‘channel normal’. DMT tunes it to other wavelengths.

I would like to thank Dr. Rick Strassman for the courage to see this study through and the strength it took him to actually get to do it. If you read this, you will understand what I mean. His research may have broken new ground in various fields, but only time will tell.

The Light and the Moon...

Standing at the end of the path, fields surround. The moon, bright in the sky, casts everything in a beautiful glow. Quick moving clouds skirt across the sky, in patches dimming the glow occasionally, but none the less, there is a beauty to it all. A breeze, comes across from the West, guiding the clouds on their way. As I watch, I notice a light in one of the fields, strange that, as there is nothing out there to create a light. It is at first, though, only a passing interest. Despite my severely clear sense of consciousness, things start to happen... First a flash, like someone taking a picture. The flash is there, but without a sharp climax, and then an odd decay. Interesting, and hard to focus on, like it comes from somewhere we don't normally have access to. Then, oddness becomes outstanding. As I gaze up at the clouds starting to cover the moon, the lunar body suddenly bursts through the thick clouds and shakes wildly. Clearly a hallucination. I look away, at that odd light in the field. It blinks on and off at regular intervals. I look up and the moon is normal again, for a moment, then it starts its impossible dance. Bewildered I look away. I look inward to examine my seeming clarity of mind, and find that it still seems to be intact. That light is still there. I stare at it, and it goes out and doesn't come back on. Odd. I look at the bizarre lunar dance again, and once again, it seems like it should at first, then it performs it's convulsion. If it was an optical illusion, would that not be there as soon as I look? I notice the light is back, I look at it, trying to determine something, anything, about it. It goes out and stays out. Frustrating. I wait and it fails to relight. I look away, and from the corner of my eye, it returns. Like a game. I watch it from the corner of my eye, and it blinks on and off every seven seconds. Fine, I think, so there is a pattern to this seemingly out of place luminosity. As it ignites, I look at it, it stays on seven seconds, goes out, and does not come back... Till I look elsewhere, then it resumes it's blinking. Now how can that be. It is a good distance away, yet it seems to be interacting with me. It is not unusually bright and it stays perfectly still. What sense can be made of this. If I look when it is out, it stays out till I look away. Subtle, yet, so striking in it's action. I look up, the moon, free of clouds seems like it should, but the flashes on the landscape remain on occasion. I wonder if I should feel scared by all this? Worried about my own sanity, yet I know, this is something that is definitely there, this is not a mental hallucination.

I recall that at Fatima, the sun was said to fall from the sky and fly around. I think about our need to believe in ghosts or aliens, or something else that we can somehow fit into our idea of logic. Perhaps, though, the world does not play by those rules. Perhaps that light is always there, but it takes a certain state of mind, or state of earth, or alignment with something, somewhere, for me to see this. And there it is. And more than anything, it wants contact. And maybe it has caused these other things, the flashes and the dancing moon, only to direct my attention to it. But what then. If a person were to sit in that lonely field and wait for perhaps me to wander this way, even with some nice night vision goggles and motivation, they could not detect the slight change in my vision that provokes the light to respond. It knows when I am looking at it, and it is telling me so. The clouds are passed, and the sun is coming soon. The light remains. I bid it farewell and return from where I came, with a great sense of wonder, invigorated by something so simple, yet so profound. Not a ghost, nor an alien, nor anything else we can fully comprehend in our world of logic and order.  Perhaps, though, something that seeks contact, something so strange to us, that we can't yet see what it truly is. Perhaps we lack the facilities to, the senses to. And if it is so strange to us, how can we even guess it's motivation? It's awareness is likely to be so foreign and alien to ours that how can we hope to really communicate. We are closed minded and arrogant. Yet it tries. We can not hope to apply to something our limited views and behaviours to it and hope to make any sense of them. It has been here, trying, for as long as we know. We have assigned it different faces, angels, demons, aliens, ghosts, fairies... But these were the illusions, which we provided as it tries to get through on some level. A light in a field, where there is no light, that responds in ways it can't. It's seems so trivial and small.

Clearly, though, it is patient.

Five Points...

So, I happened across this article on Digg earlier.

I felt after reading it, that it needed some commentary.

Number One, Lake Monsters. More often than not, I dismiss Lake Monsters. If one exists, ok, but evidence against them is rather strong, at least as far as what we expect them to be. That does not mean that people aren’t seeing monsters, just that perhaps they are not flesh and blood creatures, there may be a very good, and possibly more interesting explanation. However, number one holds some merit, good.

Number Two, Hoaxes. Also, good point, hoaxes at this point in time are so easy, not to mention the amount junk we have in our environment that may be misinterpreted. I find the UFO (read that as Unidentified Flying Object, NOT as Space Ship) sightings prior to our ability to fly sometimes more interesting because we know it couldn’t be us. There are plenty of those. Nowadays, hoaxes are so damned easy, and easy to make them look really good. So they are right that hoaxes are a problem, but they don’t argue against paranormal phenomenon, just a fact of culture and technology that it becomes a problem in determining real from fake.

Number Three, Unclaimed Large Cash Rewards. Here is where they lose ground. The problem with said cash awards is this, the die hard skeptics that offer them, make sure that no one will ever pass their tests. Of course they are unclaimed, they are more of a publicity stunt than anything else. If you live in New York City, and one day offer $100,000 to anyone who can bring you a live Moose in the next 5 minutes, good chance no one will, but that doesn’t mean that Moose are not real. Yet that is the logic of such cash prizes. Closed minded skeptics, like James Randi, mentioned in the article, will never see anything as proof. Nothing. Period. They have already made up their minds. No one will ever get the money, because no matter how much someone proves, it will not be enough. So on this point they fail miserably. This is not evidence against the paranormal, this is more a psychological exercise for the closed minded. Being an open minded skeptic is probably the best way to be, but a closed minded one will never learn anything new because they think they know it all already. It is not doubt that they have, but certainty.

Number Four, The Fermi Paradox. If we were to argue that space aliens were here, this may or may not add or detract from the argument. Basically, it is hypothetical. Everything in this point is hypothetical. What if. Sure, Richard Dawkins will tell you he is right, but that’s because he falls into that closed minded skeptic category. He already knows he is right about what he believes, so you can’t really make a point to such a person. Anyways, this is obviously an attempt to dismiss UFO sightings. Not only doesn’t it work on various levels, but any real analysis of the phenomenon does not point to ET, but something altogether stranger and more passive. And when that is comprehended, this whole point is, well, pointless.

Number Five, The God Helmet. This one is interesting. It proves that electromagnetic energy can produce interesting effects on the brain. This is a good point against the paranormal. Other things must be considered, though. Ok, so using this helmet can replicate certain paranormal mindsets. Feelings of others in the room with you, for instance. Two things must be worked out. One, are there? Just because we can’t see them in a normal state of being, by tweaking our brain, the brain in the case assumed to be a receiver, like a television, we tune to something outside the ‘norm’. Two, by pressing on certain nerves, you may feel like a part of you, which is not being touched at that time, is being touched. Does that mean that when it is really being touched it is just an illusion? Of course, you could go deep with this question, but I think we will stay on the shallow side for now. Research has been done that suggests that Ketamine can induce something that resembles a Near Death Experience. That is interesting. However, when someone has a real NDE, there is no trace of Ketamine in their system, so it really doesn’t work as a explanation, now does it? Just because something resembles the effects of something else, doesn’t mean that it is now explained. The people who did the initial research were pretty clear at the end that they did not think that Ketamine was in any way responsible for NDE’s, but that didn’t stop the skeptic army from eating that up and spitting it in everyone’s face. So, is the God helmet interesting? Hell, yes. Does it explain all spiritual states and paranormal experiences? Not even remotely. It is, however a tool that may be used for further understanding about the way our brain interacts with this reality that we share.


The problem with the paranormal is, for us to begin to understand it, takes a whole new concept of reality. As long as people try to squeeze it into our current conceptions of how things are, we will not understand. Our narrow belief in how things are does not accommodate many of these phenomenon, which is why you have people arguing that UFO's are space ships, while others arguing, that, despite the evidence of something going on that is causing these experiences, they are somehow not real (aka hoaxes, or hallucinations, or whatever). Both sides are operating in a narrow band of which the true UFO Phenomenon supersedes. That is what the term paranormal means, really. Outside the norm. Someday we may evolve the wisdom to understand many of these things, and then we will look back on what we believe now and laugh at how primitive we were...

Kundalini

Kundalini is a tricky subject. There are two main forms of it, and it can be very easily mistaken for something else. Basically, Kundalini is an energy force that exists in everyone. In Eastern traditions it is seen as a Serpent, coiling, sleeping, at the base of the spine, just inside the tailbone. Some have called it the supreme force of Magic in man, others an spiritual evolutionary force. However you look at it, it is a powerful force when awakened. And that is when the two main forms come in. One is voluntary awakening. This is done most commonly through Kundalini Yoga, and is, if done right, slow and gradual, and mostly positive. Emphasis, on ‘if done right’. Kundalini can be a very unpleasant, and potentially deadly force if not controlled correctly. Thus, Kundalini Yoga should never be entered into lightly.

The other main form that Kundalini manifests as, is an involuntary awakening. No one knows why, but in some people, it just wakes up and wreaks havoc on them, mainly due to the imbalanced nature in which it awakens, and the lack of understanding in what is occuring. There are some known triggers. Certain types of injury, especially to the lower back have been known to awaken it. Also, Kenneth Ring in studying Near Death Experiencers and UFO Experiencers, found that one of the common aftereffects of both experiences was Kundalini Awakening. And there are some people, in which it awakens without any specific cause, it just wakes up, and it can make you think you’re going crazy.

The symptoms of it’s awakening are diverse and many. The following are some of the more common symptoms...

* Muscle twitches, cramps or spasms.

* Energy rushes or immense electricity circulating the body.

* Electro-Sensitivity. Sensitivity to electro-magnetic fields, or the ability to intentionally or unintentionally affect electrical devices (making computers crash just by touching them, for example).

* Itching, vibrating, prickling, tingling, stinging or crawling sensations.

* Intense heat or cold. These can alternate or be either. In example, you may find yourself very hot when it is cold out, to the point of giving off massive amounts of heat, or freezing, even in extremely hot environments.

* Involuntary bodily movements (occur more often during meditation, rest or sleep): jerking, tremors, shaking; feeling an inner force pushing one into postures or moving one's body in unusual ways. (May be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, restless legs syndrome (RLS), or PLMD.)

* Alterations in eating and sleeping patterns.

* Episodes of extreme hyperactivity or, conversely, overwhelming fatigue (some Chronic Fatigue Syndrome victims are experiencing Kundalini awakening).

* Intensified or diminished sexual desires. Kundalini is strongly associated with sexual force.

* Headaches, pressures within the skull. Cracked feeling in the head, as if your skull is shattering into pieces. The pressure sensation can be very intense.

* Racing heartbeat, pains in the chest.

* Digestive system problems.

* Numbness or pain in the limbs (particularly the left foot and leg).

* Pains and blockages anywhere; often in the back and neck (Many cases of FMS are Kundalini-related.)

* Emotional outbursts; rapid mood shifts; seemingly unprovoked or excessive episodes of grief, fear, rage, or depression.

* Spontaneous vocalizations (including laughing and weeping) -- are as unintentional and uncontrollable as hiccoughs.

* Hearing an inner sound or sounds, classically described as a flute, drum, waterfall, birds singing, bees buzzing but which may also sound like roaring, whooshing, or thunderous noises or like ringing in the ears.

* Mental confusion; difficulty concentrating.

* Altered states of consciousness: heightened awareness; spontaneous trance states; mystical experiences (if the individual's prior belief system is too threatened by these, they can lead to bouts of psychosis or self-grandiosity).

* Heat, strange activity, and/or blissful sensations in the head, particularly in the crown area.

* Ecstasy, bliss and intervals of tremendous joy, love, peace and compassion.

* Psychic experiences: extrasensory perception; out-of-body experiences; past life memories; astral travel; direct awareness of auras and chakras; contact with spirit guides through inner voices, dreams or visions; healing powers...

* Increased creativity: new interests in self-expression and spiritual communication through music, art, poetry, etc.

* Intensified understanding and sensitivity: insight into one's own essence; deeper understanding of spiritual truths; exquisite awareness of one's environment (including "vibes" from others)

* Enlightenment experiences: direct Knowing of a more expansive reality; transcendent awareness.

* Poltergeist activity, or other strange, paranormal-like activities.

As you can see, the list is long, complicated, and open to interpretation. Oftentimes Kundalini is misdiagnosed by ‘modern’ doctors as Epilepsy (as it may cause some similar brain patterns), Psychosis, or much worse. Sometimes, a victim of unintentional Kundalini awakening can become extremely frustrated by the lack of help for their symptoms that the medical profession can provide. There are good and bad sides to the whole awakening process...

It may be useful at this point to explain a little about how this energy affects us. For some of us, this takes an adjustment of how we look at things. In order for this to make sense, the concept that the body creates consciousness must be released. This is partially why the medical profession does not acknowledge Kundalini, Chakras, or anything of the like, despite the fact that it can be measured and tested. Kundalini only makes sense if you look at it the other way around, as the body created by consciousness (not that much of a stretch for anyone that realizes how consciousness interacts at a quantum level, now is it?). As Kundalini awakens and rises up the spine, it encounters ‘blocks’ in the body, usually located around the various chakras. These ‘blocks’ are really manifestations of mental blocks. As Kundalini ‘burns’ through them, it often causes a great deal of pain. The most common description, and the most painful, is the feeling like someone is stabbing you with a red hot knife, and slowly twisting it. It can create other sensations as well, but that is one that I’ve personally heard quite a few times and experienced myself. This burning, attempts to bring up whatever the block is made of and can cause a release of both thoughts and emotions that are associated. When you know what you are dealing with, you can work with it and try and ease the process as much as possible. When you don’t know what’s happening, well, you naturally tend to fight it, and that just makes matters worse. This situation is often just exasperated when you go to a Doctor and they tell you there is nothing wrong with you or that they can’t figure out what’s wrong. Not what you want to hear when in intense pain. But an understanding of what is happening only comes through time and open-mindedness.

I said in the beginning of this, that Kundalini can be deadly, and this is rare, but true. There are some cases of Kundalini where when the energy is not freed to rise and fall along the spine the illnesses that it can cause can be life threatening. A good book to pick up on this overall is John White’s “Kundalini, Evolution, and Enlightenment”. It is a compilation of stories and articles on the subject and reveals a lot of different sides to The Serpent. The other danger is in Spontaneous Human Combustion. It is entirely possible that the cause of this mysterious phenomenon may be an overload of Kundalini. To date, there has been no satisfactory explanation of what causes SHC, and this is a very likely candidate, especially since it can physically raise body temperature drastically and suddenly.

As I said, there are good and bad sides... The bad sides are pretty obvious, but the positive is more than worth it. It can bring you to a sense of self-awareness and enlightenment beyond words. It can bring a sense of peace and calm and ‘oneness’ that is ineffable. It can strengthen you, both mind and body, and completely revitalize your world view. The negative is worth the positive, but it’s getting there that is a major battle.

Obviously, if you don’t know what’s happening to you, there is little you can do about it aside from suffer. That’s one of the reasons that I wanted to create this page. I have met enough people who have at very least some Kundalini energy problems, and in some cases major problems, to know that it’s probably a much wider phenomenon than anyone is really expecting. Below are some links to other on-line resources that may be of help. Working through it is a matter of patience, meditation, self-exploration, self-awareness, and control. Everyone is different and there is not really a set method for dealing with it. I am very interested in hearing from other people who have had this experience, and anyone that has any questions or is looking for help is welcome to contact me as well. I will do what I can to answer based on my knowledge and experience.

Seriah Azkath
February 20, 2002