Psi and Psychedelics - Paranthropology - Weebly

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PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL VOL. 2 NO. 2 Light-dark cycles So let us first investigate the role of melatonin, serotonin and pinoline in sleep, since it is during sleep and dreaming that the majority of spontaneous psychic experiences are reported. 30 There is a nocturnal increase in electrical activity in the pineal. Pineal activities are driven by the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), which are linked to the pineal via the sympathetic nerves of the ANS. Reppert et al. 31 have found that most of the melatonin is found in the SCN which is located very close to the optic nerves, at the front of the hypothalamus near the base of the brain. There are specific nerves from the retina to the SCN, so that the pineal has its own supply of nerves, separate from the optic nerves, transmitting information about whether or not it is night or day. When these nerves are activated by light, the pineal becomes dormant, sleeping. When it gets dark the pineal becomes active. In other words when it gets dark the pineal gland starts making melatonin and pinoline. Peak levels of melatonin occur at 2 a.m., when cortisol and serotonin concentrations are at their lowest. I have found only one reference to a circadian rhythm of pinoline, which is not very specific, but I assume that it too has its peak at night. 32 Callaway 33 and Whitehouse 34 have both connected this rise in melatonin with REM (rapid eye movement) dreaming sleep. Whitehouse notes that babies, foetuses and small children dream and sleep a lot and have higher melatonin levels. They are also considered to be more psychic. 35 Whitehouse suggests that melatonin influences the serotonergic cells of the reticular activating system (RAS), which is considered by Norman Dixon 36 to be central to the processing of subliminal perception, and so could also be linked with the awareness of psi information. Most people who sleep will have four dreams every night of their lives. The dreams occur every ninety minutes through the night. Callaway 37 has suggested that the periodicity of REM sleep is due to the interaction between pinoline and serotonin; that pinoline is functional in inducing REM dreaming, lucid dreaming and other naturally occurring ASCs. He proposes that the melatonin production beginning with the onset of dark affects the RAS to cause sleep onset. Melatonin production continues to a point where it reaches sufficient concentration for production of pinoline to begin. At a certain concentration this triggers dreaming because of its interaction with the serotonin creating the hallucinogenic DMT. At first there are only small amounts of DMT so the dreams are very short. This cycle recurs through the night, the increasing concentrations of pinoline acting to increase dream duration progressively until morning arrives. Parapsychologists have found that most spontaneous psychic experiences such as precognition and bereavement hallucinations occur at night and precognition is linked most commonly with dreams. Psychosis, psychedelics and the pineal This is probably the most insubstantial part of my hypothesis, and I include it more for the sake of completeness than from satisfaction that I have researched it sufficiently, since I like the way in which it links with the rest. Anthropological 30 PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL
PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL VOL. 2 NO. 2 studies suggest that some epileptics, and certain very sensitive people, who in our society sometimes end up being labelled psychotic, are often chosen for training as shamans, since they are considered, as a result of their spiritual emergence experience, to be linked in some special way with the world of spirits and psi abilities. People in possession trance also sometimes appear to be in a state very similar to certain phases of epilepsy or of, what is called in the West, psychosis. And folklore of psychosis links it with the psychic. Melatonin has been shown to have an anti-epileptic effect, epileptics often being considered to be seers in olden times; and, together with thyrotropin, is involved in coping with persistent long-term stress. It is well-known that many shamans and mystics will undergo a rigorous training that puts them under persistent long-term stress, and during this time they tend to have mystical visions, out-of-body and psychic experiences. Another interesting snippet of information is that the highest concentrations of serotonin have been f o u n d i n t h e p i n e a l g l a n d s o f schizophrenics. A dysfunction of central serotonin metabolism in schizophrenia has been repeatedly suggested as a trigger for the onset of psychosis; this would fit in with the cyclic seasonal nature of some manic-depressives. Melatonin elevates cerebral serotonin, particularly in the mid-brain. Schizophrenics often exhibit sleep disturbances; insomnia may be the first symptom of a psychotic episode, while changes in REM sleep and in EEG patterns during sleep have been observed. Also arousal level, thus implicating the RAS, is altered in psychotics. All of these are connected with serotonin and melatonin. And finally, several people have suggested that the beta-carbolines may play some sort of role in psychosis since they have hallucinogenic effects because of the interaction with serotonin creating DMT. An acute psychotic episode is remarkably like a psychedelic experience gone wild, out-of-control and unable to be stopped. A dream can be as hallucinogenic as a psychedelic trip; could it be that the endogenous psychedelic dream mechanism in our brains has gone out-of-order for people in psychosis? For more detail about this topic please go to my web site where there is an article called “Walking Between the Worlds” which can be downloaded. 38 Conclusion As yet there is no clear brain functioning linked with psychological aspects of psychic functioning. However, the pieces of the puzzle are turning up and the picture is becoming clearer, and the information I have presented here validates a lot of folk and magical lore concerning psychic functioning. Although it is at present unclear as to the exact mechanism within the brain of the pineal chemicals, and their exact effects on our state of consciousness and behaviour, this t h e s i s c o u l d l e a d t o a g r e a t e r understanding of the physiological process underlying certain psiconducive states of consciousness. Notes 1. e.g. Honorton (1977); Braud and Braud (1974), Krippner, Honorton and Ullman (1972). The original version of this chapter was published in the Journal of 31 PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL
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