How do different cultures view the pineal gland?

For Buddhists, the pineal is a symbol of spiritual awakening.
In Hinduism, the pineal is the seat of intuition and clairvoyance.
For Taoists, the pineal is the consciousness’ eye or heavenly eye.
Ancient Greeks believed the pineal was our connection to thought itself.
In ancient Egypt, we find numerous references to the third eye and the pineal region, in particular the Eye of Ra.
“Seat of the rational soul”, said Descartes.

The pineal gland is thought by many different cultures over the last few centuries to be the doorway as such between our physical world, and the psychic dimension which sits beyond it. One speculation being heard more and more is a possible connection between the pineal gland and DMT and that DMT in some way is the “key” that helps one to unlock the door to spirituality.

Does the pineal gland secrete DMT?

It has been speculated that the pineal gland is responsible for producing DMT otherwise known as dimethyltryptamine. It is referred to as the “spirit hormone”. This is a natural biochemical substance which invokes experiences that are similar to near death experiences. As plants contain DMT, some cultures use this as a part of spiritually awakening ceremonies and to aid in expanding a person’s consciousness. It is thought by some that the pineal gland secretes DMT during birth and near death which is offered as one of the explanations for an altered state of consciousness during a near death experience. It is also thought to secrete DMT during sleep. This in part again could offer some sort of correlation to pre cognitive dreams. While this is speculation, researcher David E. Nichols who is an adjunct professor of chemical biology and medicinal chemistry at the University of North Carolina has said it is impossible. In his paper for Psychopharmacology he states:

“The pineal gland has a romantic history, from pharaonic Egypt, where it was equated with the eye of Horus, through various religious traditions, where it was considered the seat of the soul, the third eye, etc. Recent incarnations of these notions have suggested that N,N-dimethyltryptamine is secreted by the pineal gland at birth, during dreaming, and at near death to produce out of body experiences. Scientific evidence, however, is not consistent with these ideas. The adult pineal gland weighs less than 0.2 g, and its principal function is to produce about 30 µg per day of melatonin, a hormone that regulates circadian rhythm through very high affinity interactions with melatonin receptors. It is clear that very minute concentrations of N,N-dimethyltryptamine have been detected in the brain, but they are not sufficient to produce psychoactive effects. Alternative explanations are presented to explain how stress and near death can produce altered states of consciousness without invoking the intermediacy of N,N-dimethyltryptamine.”

Calcification of the pineal gland

As we age, the pineal gland begins to calcify. It is also said that fluoride is the cause of this. The gland itself though does in fact calcify from the onset of puberty and as we get older. A lot of people believe that it is this calcification that is blocking everyday people from unlocking their full potential. Let’s explore this theory a little deeper.

When you speak to a lot of sensitive people, they comment that anyone is capable of psychic development. Often it is speculated that when you are a child, you are the most open to the spiritual world. As you grow and learn about the world, the invisible friends that you spoke to as a child disappear as you start to learn the “truth” about the world. We often tell our kids “there is no such thing as ghosts” so that they won’t be scared. If they are perhaps talking to someone that isn’t there we quickly put it to the side and tell them it is just their imagination. It is thought that this is one of the reasons that as a child gets older, they slowly start to lose this openness to the spiritual world. If the pineal gland is some way a contributing factor to psychic abilities, the fact that it calcifies as we get older could be a link.

It would be interesting to see some actual studies to back up some of these claims. It would be particularly interesting to see a study of individuals who attempt to decalcify their pineal gland and not only see CT scans to see the progress of the physical development, but to also see if this in part has any effect of the potential psychical abilities. The pineal gland itself is something that has almost been worshipped for centuries and is seen not only just in one but several cultures as being the pivotal link to spiritual enlightenment.

This is all speculation of course, but certainly worth thinking about. Meanwhile, it would be interesting to go a little further into the hormonal side of this to look at a female’s hormones more in depth. A lot of poltergeist cases report telekinesis-like abilities which are attributed to pre-teen girls who are going through a hormonal transition. There are some people who tell that they have noticed similar occurrences happening around women entering menopause – an equally significant hormonal milestone for a woman.

Do our hormones contribute to psychical abilities? Some people tell yes, and some tell no. It is going to be tricky weather to navigate as a lot of people are on different medications which can change a person’s hormone levels, but it is at least worth asking the question and exploring.

yogaesoteric
November 27, 2019