Secret_History

Chapter 2: The Chemistry of Alchemy 93
cell to open and there is some sort of exchange of atomic potentials that constitute
the “information” that is “sent into the cell”. What happens next is quite amazing.
The receptor, having received a message, transmits it from the surface of the cell
deep into the cell’s interior, where the message can change the state of the cell
dramatically. A chain reaction of biochemical events is initiated as tiny cellular
machines go into action and, depending on the message of the ligand, begin any
number of activities — manufacturing new proteins, making decisions about cell
division, opening or closing ion channels, adding or subtracting energetic chemical
groups like the phosphates — to name just a few. In short, whatever a given cell is
up to at any moment, is determined by which receptors are on its surface, and
whether those receptors are occupied by ligands or not. On a larger scale, these
tiny physiological phenomena at the cell level can translate to major changes in
behavior, physical activity, even mood — and ABILITY.
So, to review: as the ligands drift by in the stream of fluid surrounding every
cell, only those ligands that have molecules in exactly the right shape can bind to a
particular kind of receptor. The process of binding is very selective and specific!
Researchers in the field say that, “binding occurs as a result of receptor specificity,
meaning the receptor ignores all but the particular ligand that’s made to fit it”. In
other words, the cell is the engine that drives all life, and the receptors are the
buttons on the control panel of that engine. The ligands or other neurotransmitters,
known as peptides, are the fingers that push the buttons. The “musical hum of the
receptors as they bind to their many ligands, often in the far-flung parts of the
organism, creates an integration of structure and function that allows the organism
to run smoothly and in “alignment” with the function of the specific ligands that
are binding. Can we say AUM?
Referring to receptors and ligands, let’s apply our “as above, so below” principle
to these ideas. The information that we receive into our organism as a whole —
our interaction with our environment — seems to operate on exactly the same
principle. Information that “enters” the “cell” of our mental-body acts on us in the
same way as a ligand acts on the cell when it binds to the receptor. The mind, our
spirit receptor, having received information, transmits it deep into the interior of
our consciousness, where the message can change the state of awareness
dramatically. A chain reaction of psycho-spiritual events is initiated as the
consciousness realigns itself based on the information received. This realignment
then affects the entire self, the reality, and all support systems of the consciousness
involved. In short, your BEing is determined by your state of awareness which is a
function of your knowledge which depends on what “ligands” — or information
units — are “bound” to your spirit, so to say. And just as ligands can produce
cascades of cellular events with far reaching effects, so can your state of Being
change because increased awareness can initiate major changes in your reality —
the larger “body” in which you “live” as a “cell” of All that is.
Spiritual Drugs
Remember what we started with here: chemists came up with the idea that drugs
worked in the body by attaching themselves to something in the body. Now we
know about receptors and that they are receptive to chemicals manufactured by the