Shamanic initiation crisis or it's counter pa

[markprice]

it's about context. If you answer the call and you are close to nature there will be animal totams. If you are indoctrinated into a religion it will be gods, angles, or Demi gods. Powerful medicine is purely subjective. Animals are powerful to me but a Christian mystic, will have angles, Mary, or even BChrist.

That's interesting because I come from a heavy-metal background where concerts were my church(like nature), so I had to work through all of that imagery. So I must say that music is another way to work through the realm. I'm googeling all these plants and making tea to help recover from some serious food poisoning at the moment(It was the poison cheese!).

Bobert Bly, the poet, said while quoting someone from another century, "The animals had a real connection with the hunters until the sound of the first gunshot broke that connection."

[puridalan]

Welcome, excellent post, something fresh is always good for a read. I agree that no one is greater than one another, we do not need books or society to lead us to such thing of greatness and pure contention for we our true selves can find such things easily if only listening to our inner being/higher collective subconcious. Does not matter what family you come from, where you grew up...we are all energy beings, and to unite together in love is something that I hope others start to see in the future. Thanks for the post.

[crystal sage]

Hey this may be relevant...

My 'awakening' happened many years ago after a 6 week illness that left me so weak I could barely walk.. couldn't lift a book to read.. I just had to lie there.. I ended up spending many hours just staring around me... after a while I started to notice clouds .. energy around things.. then colors.. then random energy masses moving around the room. I started to become more aware .. could sense more.. had some really weird dreams that were almost like I was a part of other worlds.. I could feel things that were not of our reality.. but seemed important.. emotions.. flashes of other lives.. like I could hear other's thoughts..feel what they felt.. like I had possessed them...

I saw energy around plants.. could hear high pitched whines.. when they needed to be watered. As I could barely move.. I started visualizing making things move just by thought alone.. could make branches of bushes move closer together.. could make some hanging pieces of jewellery in the room sway.

I could make bits of folded paper move when my hands were only a few centermetres away from them. Could feel energy from my handes when I held them close.. It felt like two magnets repelling each other..

These things continued for a number of years.

I was more intuitive.. sometimes had prophetic dreams.. would just wonder about something.. and then suddenly they would happen.. or imagine something I would really like.. and shortly afterwards would be drawn to a particular store and would find the exact thing I visualized there in the store... at a really unbelievable price.. Often the store owner said they didn't know they stocked that particular item.. but sold it to me anyway at an awesome price whilst shaking their head..

I'd experience time shifts whilst driving.. ( not imagined as I had passengers and they too were amazed at how short a time we reached certain destinations.. for example a 40 minute trip would only take about 15 minutes.. and then we would randomly walk into someone we knew.. as if this happened on purpose so that we could meet up .. nearly every time we would experience the time deficit.. and gain time .. eg.. move from one destination to another and find that should have taken a few minutes but ended up taking half an hour...

electrics acted strange.. computers froze when I went near them... bulbs blew... a new battery in a torch would only last seconds..

like I was absorbing energy... our power bills are ridiculous... 2.. to 3 times what they should be...

These are just some of my experiences that started from that one illness....

Edited September 4, 2010 by crystal sage

[White Crane Feather]

Hey this may be relevant...

My 'awakening' happened many years ago after a 6 week illness that left me so weak I could barely walk.. couldn't lift a book to read.. I just had to lie there.. I ended up spending many hours just staring around me... after a while I started to notice clouds .. energy around things.. then colors.. then random energy masses moving around the room. I started to become more aware .. could sense more.. had some really weird dreams that were almost like I was a part of other worlds.. I could feel things that were not of our reality.. but seemed important.. emotions.. flashes of other lives.. like I could hear other's thoughts..feel what they felt.. like I had possessed them...

I saw energy around plants.. could hear high pitched whines.. when they needed to be watered. As I could barely move.. I started visualizing making things move just by thought alone.. could make branches of bushes move closer together.. could make some hanging pieces of jewellery in the room sway.

I could make bits of folded paper move when my hands were only a few centermetres away from them. Could feel energy from my handes when I held them close.. It felt like two magnets repelling each other..

These things continued for a number of years.

I was more intuitive.. sometimes had prophetic dreams.. would just wonder about something.. and then suddenly they would happen.. or imagine something I would really like.. and shortly afterwards would be drawn to a particular store and would find the exact thing I visualized there in the store... at a really unbelievable price.. Often the store owner said they didn't know they stocked that particular item.. but sold it to me anyway at an awesome price whilst shaking their head..

I'd experience time shifts whilst driving.. ( not imagined as I had passengers and they too were amazed at how short a time we reached certain destinations.. for example a 40 minute trip would only take about 15 minutes.. and then we would randomly walk into someone we knew.. as if this happened on purpose so that we could meet up .. nearly every time we would experience the time deficit.. and gain time .. eg.. move from one destination to another and find that should have taken a few minutes but ended up taking half an hour...

electrics acted strange.. computers froze when I went near them... bulbs blew... a new battery in a torch would only last seconds..

like I was absorbing energy... our power bills are ridiculous... 2.. to 3 times what they should be...

These are just some of my experiences that started from that one illness....

Wow. Very interesting. Is it still hapening. What is happening to you now?

[Piney]

Harvest brodia everywhere In the sierras, in the early part of the of the summer yampas later. Plenty of milk thistle greens, miners letuce, curled dock, sow thistle, plantain, and mustard greens in the winter, but plantain and sow thistle grow all the time as long as there is water.

My favorite is to catch trout and roast it in an earth oven with thimble berry leaves. I stuff the their bellies with brodias, camas, or yampas and swamp onions. Mmmmmmm.

I have a milk jug full of dried and ground mullen, yarrow, plantain, mint, and willow catkins. It's incredible for cold, flu, congestion. You name it. I just take coffe filters tied at the top for tea bags. Some years I leave out the mullen and the yarrow, grind much finer and make a thick green soup. Consuming the whole plant is much more powerful. And if you toss a chicken bullion cube in with it you can get kids to love it.

The fresh water mussels are starting to return. I cook them with wild garlic. My guest said "These a great New Zealand mussels, where did they come from?" I said "Clarks pond."

The patches of "wild" garlic found here and in the Carolina Piney Woods outside of Ft. Bragg were planted and maintained for centuries before European contact.

Lapiche

[Virtual Particle]

Welcome, excellent post, something fresh is always good for a read. I agree that no one is greater than one another, we do not need books or society to lead us to such thing of greatness and pure contention for we our true selves can find such things easily if only listening to our inner being/higher collective subconcious. Does not matter what family you come from, where you grew up...we are all energy beings, and to unite together in love is something that I hope others start to see in the future. Thanks for the post.

Often times we relate to the idea of a Shaman as related to ancient cultures....that is incorrect...one can talk to a person, listen to there words and realize that despite the fact they were raised in "modern" society?

They are Shamans in there own right...Thank you Puridalan I was pressed for words... but clearly you are Kindred.

This is one World......

Edited September 5, 2010 by Virtual Particle

[White Crane Feather]

Welcome, excellent post, something fresh is always good for a read. I agree that no one is greater than one another, we do not need books or society to lead us to such thing of greatness and pure contention for we our true selves can find such things easily if only listening to our inner being/higher collective subconcious. Does not matter what family you come from, where you grew up...we are all energy beings, and to unite together in love is something that I hope others start to see in the future. Thanks for the post.

Yes I beleive with great passion that if mankind is going to evolve, progress, even survive, there is going to have to major paradim shift in how we relate to each other. I think it is going to have to start with people like virtual, puradalan, and others. We have to educate people somehow. Just preaching and talking about love and brotherhood gets you written off as a hippy. It has to be shown, we need mainstream to relize that the spirit world is right here with us. We need proof and valadation.

[White Crane Feather]

Often times we relate to the idea of a Shaman as related to ancient cultures....that is incorrect...one can talk to a person, listen to there words and realize that despite the fact they were raised in "modern" society?

They are Shamans in there own right...Thank you Puridalan I was pressed for words... but clearly you are Kindred.

This is one World......

yes the call can come to anyone. But with reguards to the ancient ways. I think it is imparitive that a shamen should be very close to nature, and have a depth of knowledge of nature and the spirits. I don't think somone can have this without total immerison in nature and the life force. Furthermore, all leaders not just shamen should cultivate solitude on a regular basis. Solatude allows you to focus inward for a time. After much practice one learns to Cary self reflection with them at all times.

[Virtual Particle]

yes the call can come to anyone. But with reguards to the ancient ways. I think it is imparitive that a shamen should be very close to nature, and have a depth of knowledge of nature and the spirits. I don't think somone can have this without total immerison in nature and the life force. Furthermore, all leaders not just shamen should cultivate solitude on a regular basis. Solatude allows you to focus inward for a time. After much practice one learns to Cary self reflection with them at all times.

The Lion could lay, with the Lamb because of Manna

Edited September 5, 2010 by Virtual Particle

[crystal sage]

The Lion could lay, with the Lamb because of Manna

I don't think it was " Manna"

Animals experience 'Oneness' too..

Instinct... " mothers" love and care for " life"

My link

Edited September 6, 2010 by crystal sage

[crystal sage]

I don't think it was " Manna"

Animals experience 'Oneness' too..

Instinct... " mothers" love and care for " life"

My link

I think some women, if not all, may experience a moment of " Oneness" of perhaps differing levels when giving birth..

I recall how I felt a moment of connectedness.. how all violence..and some other forms of negativity between people even those shown on movies made me feel violently ill. During pregnancy and for a time aftwerwards I could not tollerate the scent of raw meat so had problems cooking. I couldn't walk anywhere near butchers.

Maybe the sensitivity.. and weepiness is not just the hormones.. but maybe something to do with the subconscious memories of that moment of "connectedness" that gets blurred/ or overshaddowed with the drama that goes on with giving birth . I have sensed the Zenlike.. the radiating calmness, peace and love that gets projected from animals/pets when they give birth. Sometimes the aura of that awesome experience stays with the mother for quite sometime until the mundane routine and dramas of life takes over and submerges it.

Maybe they should invent a new form of therapy for mothers that perhaps reveals the unconsious experience of connectedness.

Maybe it will help with some of the post natal depression. It could be caused by the split second strong connectedness to 'Light' ..universe.. collective unconsciousness.. Godforce... and then in contrast finding oneself thrown back in the comparative starkness of day to day earthly/dimensional reality.

Maybe if they can realize that a part of themselves.. their spirit.. soul is always connected to this light.. that this is their true self... that they can bathe in this light whenever they choose as they now 'know' it is there.. that they have already glimpsed or passed through that door.. that they only need to allow themselves to be open.. and let go ..be aware of this.. . they wouldn't feel so lost...

Edited September 6, 2010 by crystal sage

[White Crane Feather]

I think some women, if not all, may experience a moment of " Oneness" of perhaps differing levels when giving birth..

I recall how I felt a moment of connectedness.. how all violence..and some other forms of negativity between people even those shown on movies made me feel violently ill. During pregnancy and for a time aftwerwards I could not tollerate the scent of raw meat so had problems cooking. I couldn't walk anywhere near butchers.

Maybe the sensitivity.. and weepiness is not just the hormones.. but maybe something to do with the subconscious memories of that moment of "connectedness" that gets blurred/ or overshaddowed with the drama that goes on with giving birth . I have sensed the Zenlike.. the radiating calmness, peace and love that gets projected from animals/pets when they give birth. Sometimes the aura of that awesome experience stays with the mother for quite sometime until the mundane routine and dramas of life takes over and submerges it.

Maybe they should invent a new form of therapy for mothers that perhaps reveals the unconsious experience of connectedness.

Maybe it will help with some of the post natal depression. It could be caused by the split second strong connectedness to 'Light' ..universe.. collective unconsciousness.. Godforce... and then in contrast finding oneself thrown back in the comparative starkness of day to day earthly/dimensional reality.

Maybe if they can realize that a part of themselves.. their spirit.. soul is always connected to this light.. that this is their true self... that they can bathe in this light whenever they choose as they now 'know' it is there.. that they have already glimpsed or passed through that door.. that they only need to allow themselves to be open.. and let go ..be aware of this.. . they wouldn't feel so lost...

wow crystal you could be a poet.

I think your right about connectedness. On a more physical level mothers today are sent home while their husbands go to work. Then they are their alone with the baby. In aboriginal societies every day the mother would be surrounded by constant other support from other woman they would resume their rutine imeadiatly. Other children and woman would take turns playing with and taking care of the baby instead of being locked up in school. I think we are loosing our nature and it is devastating. Did you know that in other more "primative" cultures they cannot fathom why Americans do not want to sleep with their children. I have always beleived that the oneness is here physically to and the reason it is so powerful when you feel it is because it is totaly absent from modern life. I to went through the depression when my son was born. My wife works a normal career, I own a business where I only go in a couple days a week in the evenings. I was home alone with my child, disconnected, no training from an elder, no one around because everyone works. I was not about to send my kids to zombie land daycare. It's no wonder the world is full of narcisist, we are living outside of our nature, in spirit, in social interations, in diet, in well everything.

[White Crane Feather]

I think some women, if not all, may experience a moment of " Oneness" of perhaps differing levels when giving birth..

I recall how I felt a moment of connectedness.. how all violence..and some other forms of negativity between people even those shown on movies made me feel violently ill. During pregnancy and for a time aftwerwards I could not tollerate the scent of raw meat so had problems cooking. I couldn't walk anywhere near butchers.

Maybe the sensitivity.. and weepiness is not just the hormones.. but maybe something to do with the subconscious memories of that moment of "connectedness" that gets blurred/ or overshaddowed with the drama that goes on with giving birth . I have sensed the Zenlike.. the radiating calmness, peace and love that gets projected from animals/pets when they give birth. Sometimes the aura of that awesome experience stays with the mother for quite sometime until the mundane routine and dramas of life takes over and submerges it.

Maybe they should invent a new form of therapy for mothers that perhaps reveals the unconsious experience of connectedness.

Maybe it will help with some of the post natal depression. It could be caused by the split second strong connectedness to 'Light' ..universe.. collective unconsciousness.. Godforce... and then in contrast finding oneself thrown back in the comparative starkness of day to day earthly/dimensional reality.

Maybe if they can realize that a part of themselves.. their spirit.. soul is always connected to this light.. that this is their true self... that they can bathe in this light whenever they choose as they now 'know' it is there.. that they have already glimpsed or passed through that door.. that they only need to allow themselves to be open.. and let go ..be aware of this.. . they wouldn't feel so lost...

a true story about connectedness. This was yesterday. . I taught my son this how to gently aproach a squirle lay down, call him your brother/sister in your heart, avert his eyes lie still extend his hand laying in complete submission to him and feed him with his bare hands. My wife watcht in amazmrnt. The power of love that passed between us and the complete joy in my sons eyes at learning the value of compassion and stillness was well overwhelming. I'm tearing up just writting about it. I was taught this by spirits

[Piney]

a true story about connectedness. This was yesterday. . I taught my son this how to gently aproach a squirle lay down, call him your brother/sister in your heart, avert his eyes lie still extend his hand laying in complete submission to him and feed him with his bare hands. My wife watcht in amazmrnt. The power of love that passed between us and the complete joy in my sons eyes at learning the value of compassion and stillness was well overwhelming. I'm tearing up just writting about it. I was taught this by spirits

My dogs and some of my horses are rescues. My cats were feral kittens. I approach them more or less the same way. This is advice that works!

Lapiche

[Virtual Particle]

My dogs and some of my horses are rescues. My cats were feral kittens. I approach them more or less the same way. This is advice that works!

Lapiche

Projecting Love to the living in your presence...absolutely

[Yinarchy]

I think some women, if not all, may experience a moment of " Oneness" of perhaps differing levels when giving birth..

This is Yinarchy again and I'm not sure how this works, but Crystal, Mothers give birth and at the same time,,, death. To give life is to give death and that depressed me. Always the decision: Yes/no. Say YES. You are so right about the oneness of birth. I've heard said it is like your heart outside yourself walking around. To see them socialized is a confrontation to the spiritual.

[Yinarchy]

I think some women, if not all, may experience a moment of " Oneness" of perhaps differing levels when giving birth..

This is Yinarchy again and I'm not sure how this works, but Crystal, Mothers give birth and at the same time,,, death. To give life is to give death and that depressed me. Always the decision: Yes/no. Say YES. You are so right about the oneness of birth. I've heard said it is like your heart outside yourself walking around. To see them socialized is a confrontation to the spiritual.

Reading this forum is like coming home.

[Virtual Particle]

About seven weeks ago I got a Dalmatian about 2 months old.. I have been working with her in acourding to our traditions....so far she destroyed the power cord to my computer and last night she got a hold of my wallet, it ended up the the last place one would think to look Her name is Princess and otherwise she is clearly very intelligent; she already knows how to sit and when approached with a leash outdoors she stops running around and allows me place it on her. She also understands when I cannot play with her...I just clap twice. I say "otherwise," but those are things I pay attention to.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Virtual Particle

[White Crane Feather]

I think some women, if not all, may experience a moment of " Oneness" of perhaps differing levels when giving birth..

This is Yinarchy again and I'm not sure how this works, but Crystal, Mothers give birth and at the same time,,, death. To give life is to give death and that depressed me. Always the decision: Yes/no. Say YES. You are so right about the oneness of birth. I've heard said it is like your heart outside yourself walking around. To see them socialized is a confrontation to the spiritual.

Reading this forum is like coming home.

Im man so can't experience it that way, but when both my boys were born the first time I saw them both births, there was a wave if warmth and chills that flooded over me wonderful feeling. I have experienced the oneness before while meditating. It was very brief.

Also a spirit of a little girl crawled into bed with me one morning, while I was in an altered state. She told me she wanted to be born. My wife and I are discussing it.

[White Crane Feather]

Oh if anyone is interested there is a brain chemical called oxitosin. It floods a womans brain upon giving birth. Children also force adults to produce more of it, and when you are makeing love it is produced as well.

I beleive that the physical and spiritual are two sides of the same coin, so please don't think I was trying to cheapen such an amazing thing, just thought some people might be interested.

[SlimJim22]

It's amazing that the most posiively potent chemicals are produced by our own brain naturally.

Found this excellent artcile on the connection between psychotic disorders and mystical experience. Well worth a look.

http://www.spiritualcompetency.com/se/dxtx/diagnosticcriteria-mystical.html

Could it even be that our failure to respect subconscious archetypes actually generates more severe and higher frequency of pyschotic disorders? If it something that was so natural to us until relatively recently when we started to lose touch more and more then it might explain a few things.

We should allow ourselves a certain amount of psychosis before we deem ourselves insane. The difference is knowing the boundary between real and unreal.

[Virtual Particle]

CONCLUSION

Throughout her hospitalization, another person in the midst of a similar episode told the staff "Listen . . . I've had this incredible mystical experience." Today she writes,

Now, more than eight years later, I can look back and say, "Listen . . . I had this incredible mystical experience." It integrated and made sense of everything that had ever happened to me or that I had ever done. It showed me the meaning and purpose of life. It was a birth into a state of consciousness I did not even know existed, but which is now a permanent part of my life (Brown, personal communication).

The incidence of MEPF cases treated in hospital environments designed to suppress mystical experiences is not known. Thc adoption of operational criteria for identifying these individuals will lead to more accurate identification of these cases. In turn, this would promote the development of more effective treatments which allow them to continue on and return from inner journeys with their lives and psyches intact or improved.

In summary, the point made by Bowers (1979) addresses this issue:

To evaluate psychotic experiences with regard to evidence of growth potential is not necessarily to be over-optimistic about the phenomenon of psychosis. It may allow us to be more precisely optimistic when the clinical data warrant, however, and urge us to re-examine our therapeutic strategies so that we foster growth whenever possible (p. 162).

To traditionally-trained mental health professionals, the proposition that some psychotic episodes are growthful may seem to be wishful or even magical thinking. Yet, the diagnostic approach suggested in this paper adheres to the existing diagnostic practices within the mental health field. It utilizes operational criteria based on empirical studies to identify a group of persons likely to have positive outcomes following psychotic episodes.

Psychiatric Patients do have incredible moments of clarity...I can elaborate, but for those who have worked with this...it is obvious..

Source above..

Edited September 11, 2010 by Virtual Particle

[crystal sage]

I think Mitochondria are involved here somewhere in psychic experiences.. If you look at various research (though the research has not quite highlighted this point) mitochondriac activity is heightened at birth.. when we are really ill.. when we are fasting.. or in starvation mode.

Note too that mitochondria is passed down the female line.. that psychic ability is passed down the female line. That children who are highly intuitive.. can sometimes see/ communicate with spirits have higher levels of mitochondria activity.

Sleep deprivation too seems to increase mitochondria activation.

The shamanistic visionquests that create great stress to the individuals.. In their weekened states they have greater visions.. psychic abilities.

Note too when people have had near death experiences..( experienced great physical stress) they tend to have moments of " Oneness" spiritual experiences.

My link

Human mitochondrial genetics is the study of the genetics of the DNA contained in human mitochondria. Mitochondria are small structures in cells that generate energy for the cell to use, and are hence referred to as the "powerhouses" of the cell.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is not transmitted through nuclear DNA (nDNA), and in most multicellular organisms, virtually all mitochondria are inherited from the mother's ovum, as it is unusual for sperm cells to contribute mitochondria when fertilising ova.[1]

Mitochondrial inheritance is therefore non-Mendelian, as Mendelian inheritance presumes that half the genetic material of a fertilized egg (zygote) derives from each parent.

Eighty percent of mitochondrial DNA codes for functional mitochondrial proteins, and therefore most mitochondrial DNA mutations lead to functional problems, which may be manifested as muscle disorders (myopathies).

Understanding the genetic mutations that affect mitochondria can help us to understand the inner workings of cells and organisms, as well as helping to suggest methods for successful therapeutic tissue and organ cloning, and to treatments or possibly cures for many devastating muscular disorders

It is not generally known that mitochondria in animals constitute nearly half the dry weight of our bodies, and that furthermore these mitochondria have their own quite separate DNA and genetic code, as if once they were a completely separate life form. When it comes to survival, we are almost totally in the hands of the mitochondria inside our cells, and each cell might contain as much as a thousand mitochondria. For these at least some regulatory intercommunication might be useful.[/sup]]

My link

It appears that ketosis ( atkins diet) improves mitochondrial functions slows aging...as it reduces oxidative damage..

Resveratrol improves mitochondrial function and protects against metabolic disease by activating SIRT1 and PGC-1alpha. Cell. 2006 Dec 15;127(6): 1109-22 ...

http://www.curehunter.com/public/pubmed18582445.do

Region specific declines in the cerebral glucose metabolism are an early and progressive feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Such declines occur pre-symptomatically and offer a potential point of intervention in developing AD therapeutics. Medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), which are rapidly converted to ketone bodies, were tested for their ability to provide an alternate energy source to neurons suffering from compromised glucose metabolism. The present study determined the short-term effects of ketosis in aged dogs, a natural model of amyloidosis. The animals were administered a 2 g/kg/day dose of MCTs for 2 months. Mitochondrial function and oxidative damage assays were then conducted on the frontal and parietal lobes. Amyloid-beta (Abeta), amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing and beta-site APP cleaving enzyme (BACE1) assays were conducted on the frontal, parietal and occipital lobes. Aged dogs receiving MCTs, as compared to age-matched controls, showed dramatically improved mitochondrial function, as evidenced by increased active respiration rates. This effect was most prominent in the parietal lobe. The improved mitochondrial function may have been due to a decrease in oxidative damage, which was limited to the mitochondrial fraction. Steady-state APP levels were also decreased in the parietal lobe after short-term MCT administration. Finally, there was a trend towards a decrease in total Abeta levels in the parietal lobe. BACE1 levels remained unchanged. Combined, these findings suggest that short-term MCT administration improves energy metabolism and decreases APP levels in the aged dog brain.

My link

[crystal sage]

“The sheer number of cells within our bodies is astounding - estimated at between 50 and 100 trillion cells, or roughly 1,500 times the population of the earth. Their ability to stay in balance and harmony in our bodies is amazing. By the time we have an adult body, with all the cells we’re going to have, those cells are slowly replaced, at different rates. For instance, skin cells live about a month; red blood cells about four months - about three million red-blood cells are replaced in our bodies each second! Inside almost every cell, are all of the components needed for life: information (in the nucleus, where our DNA lives); communication among cells and to cells in the whole body (chemical information [is] released via [the] cell membrane and its nanotubes). There’s a power pack in each cell (the mitochondria) and there’s an action part of each cell (the endoplasmic reticulum), that’s able to synthesize all the enzymes and proteins are needed for life. And all of this churns along, in every single cell!”

My link

Then there are conclusions that Mitochondria are the power packs of consciousness!!!

My link

If mitochondria are the motors of consciousness because they can drive

certain neurons each at a single gamma frequency characteristic of that

neuron at any one time (or of a group of neurons of which it is a

member) it is possible that there has been natural selection for a

lower mitochondrial mutation rate in humans than in other animals. This

is so because higher consciousness (especially the ability to use

language) gives humans many advantages in the struggle to survive and

reproduce.

Mutations (either maternally inherited or somatic) in mitochondrial DNA

could produce populations of mitochondria that oscillated at different

frequencies in certain single neurons important in the creation of an

aspect of the conscious state. The driving of a single neuron at two or

more different gamma frequencies would presumably destroy the aspect of

consciousness that its firing would normally help to create.

Sleep deprivation causes an increase in the relative volume and swelling of mitochondria but a decrease in the inner membrane area and the number of crusts.

[bLu3 de 3n3rgy]

I don't have a clue about any of these findings and i do not have time to research these things for myself right now, so i would normally be cautious in saying anything, but i find the weight/food intake part particularly interesting.

I'm pretty sure i would not be the only one who has noticed that how receptive you feel on a day to day basis ties in with how you're eating generally and when you have eaten and how much you eat at any given time. My peak times are when i feel the leanest in the day/night. Before i have ate anything. For that reason i can understand why some people like to fast, however I end up with severe blondeitis if i go for too long without a meal in one day, let alone days.. and so any fasting for me would defeat the purpose.

On another scale for over time (weeks/months) i notice a difference performance wise like an athlete would i imagine, between eating very light and small portions day in day out - compared to eating eating large portions and junk food/heavy carbs/sugar. The later dulls me down all over in every aspect compared to the former.

As for sleep - another observation of mine (not an educated one) that come around the 18 - 20 hr (some people might take longer, some less) of being awake that our natural defences start to shift/relax. In that state receptivity levels can peak and perceptions shift to something a little different. However concentration levels may jeopardise that. Conversely, nothing is going to dull you down more than over sleeping. It can take a whole day or night to throw off the groggy feeling.

Anyone find these things too or something different ?