Night Terror Reseach

I recently stumbled onto a post on one of my favorite forums "The Night Terror Research Center." Here an interesting individual posted about their understanding of what causes NT's. After reading their post, I had a few remarks of my own about the views of fear being a definate cause for the experincinces of NT. I would not dissagree that fear is involved in the experince, but I tend to believe that fear is not the cause, more a result. Here is what was talked about:

I am a psychotherapist, and I too suffer from severe night terrors.  I am currently working on a dissertation for my doctorate in clinical psycholgy, and I am coming accross some information that may help some people out there with questions about possible theoretical reasons for them.  This next exerpt is from John Bowlby, the founder of Attachment theory.

...seperation from an attachmetn figure (in life) is found to be one of a class of situations of which is likely to elicit fear reactions but have no intrinstic nor real danger behind these reactions.  These situations comprise amongst others darkness, sudden large changes of stimulii level including loud noises, sudden movement, strange people, and strange things.  Evidence shows that many species are alarmed by similar situations, and that this is true of human adults and children.  Furthermore fear is likely to be elicited when two or more of these stimuli are present simultaneusly, for example hearing a loud noise when alone in the dark.   The explanation as to why individuals should so regularly respond to fear to these situations is because even thought these situtions are not dangerous in themselves, each carries with it an [i]increase risk[/i] of danger.  Noise, strangeness, isolation, and for many species, darkness, are all conditions statistacallly associated with an increased risk of danger.  Noise may be a warning of a natural disaster, like fire, floods, or landslides.  To a young animal, a predator is strange, it moves, and it often strikes at night, and it is more likely to do so when the potential victim is alone.  Because to behave so promotes survival and breeding success, the theory runs, the offspring of species that have survived, including man, have been genetically predisposed and biased to have developed an increased response to the properties of noise, strangeness, sudden approach, and darkness by avoiding action or running away-they behave in fact as if danger were actually present.  In a comparable way they respond to isolation by seeking company (hence getting appropriate attachment and bonding). Fear responses elicited by such naturally occuring clues to danger are part of a mans basic behavioural equipment.

Fear seems to be a common explanation for the experience of NT type hallucinations however many people do not experience fear prior to experiencing the hallucinations. From current research into the causes for such behavior its more likely that NT's are a result of complication in the process of modulation or demodulation of the brain. This fear that many people experience could be explained by the hyperactive amygdala during the modulation into REM sleep. Yes I know NT's dont happen during REM sleep, however during the first complete phase of sleep the sleep phases do go through the process of 1-5 (in that order) and after jump from 2-5 making it possible for the NT to fall into a REM like cycle. Determining if the individual is pushing into REM while experiencing a NT is practically impossible. With that, most NT's happen in the first few instances of sleep.   The real problem behind NT's is that the majority of sleep disorder doctors don't know how to treat the problem let alone properly diagnose the disorders. You commonly have individuals that experience the old hag syndrome expressing that they have NT's when they are completely different events and occur in different phases of sleep. We need more doctors keeping up on the current research into NT or even the last 30 years of research and break the trend of bad medical practice. We need to stop looking to Freud for the answers and start paying attention to individuals like Dr. Hobson and his activation synthesis theory.

Night Terror Reseach

I recently stumbled onto a post on one of my favorite forums "The Night Terror Research Center." Here an interesting individual posted about their understanding of what causes NT's. After reading their post, I had a few remarks of my own about the views of fear being a definate cause for the experincinces of NT. I would not dissagree that fear is involved in the experince, but I tend to believe that fear is not the cause, more a result. Here is what was talked about:

I am a psychotherapist, and I too suffer from severe night terrors.  I am currently working on a dissertation for my doctorate in clinical psycholgy, and I am coming accross some information that may help some people out there with questions about possible theoretical reasons for them.  This next exerpt is from John Bowlby, the founder of Attachment theory.

...seperation from an attachmetn figure (in life) is found to be one of a class of situations of which is likely to elicit fear reactions but have no intrinstic nor real danger behind these reactions.  These situations comprise amongst others darkness, sudden large changes of stimulii level including loud noises, sudden movement, strange people, and strange things.  Evidence shows that many species are alarmed by similar situations, and that this is true of human adults and children.  Furthermore fear is likely to be elicited when two or more of these stimuli are present simultaneusly, for example hearing a loud noise when alone in the dark.   The explanation as to why individuals should so regularly respond to fear to these situations is because even thought these situtions are not dangerous in themselves, each carries with it an [i]increase risk[/i] of danger.  Noise, strangeness, isolation, and for many species, darkness, are all conditions statistacallly associated with an increased risk of danger.  Noise may be a warning of a natural disaster, like fire, floods, or landslides.  To a young animal, a predator is strange, it moves, and it often strikes at night, and it is more likely to do so when the potential victim is alone.  Because to behave so promotes survival and breeding success, the theory runs, the offspring of species that have survived, including man, have been genetically predisposed and biased to have developed an increased response to the properties of noise, strangeness, sudden approach, and darkness by avoiding action or running away-they behave in fact as if danger were actually present.  In a comparable way they respond to isolation by seeking company (hence getting appropriate attachment and bonding). Fear responses elicited by such naturally occuring clues to danger are part of a mans basic behavioural equipment.

Fear seems to be a common explanation for the experience of NT type hallucinations however many people do not experience fear prior to experiencing the hallucinations. From current research into the causes for such behavior its more likely that NT's are a result of complication in the process of modulation or demodulation of the brain. This fear that many people experience could be explained by the hyperactive amygdala during the modulation into REM sleep. Yes I know NT's dont happen during REM sleep, however during the first complete phase of sleep the sleep phases do go through the process of 1-5 (in that order) and after jump from 2-5 making it possible for the NT to fall into a REM like cycle. Determining if the individual is pushing into REM while experiencing a NT is practically impossible. With that, most NT's happen in the first few instances of sleep.   The real problem behind NT's is that the majority of sleep disorder doctors don't know how to treat the problem let alone properly diagnose the disorders. You commonly have individuals that experience the old hag syndrome expressing that they have NT's when they are completely different events and occur in different phases of sleep. We need more doctors keeping up on the current research into NT or even the last 30 years of research and break the trend of bad medical practice. We need to stop looking to Freud for the answers and start paying attention to individuals like Dr. Hobson and his activation synthesis theory.

Night Terror Reseach

I recently stumbled onto a post on one of my favorite forums "The Night Terror Research Center." Here an interesting individual posted about their understanding of what causes NT's. After reading their post, I had a few remarks of my own about the views of fear being a definate cause for the experincinces of NT. I would not dissagree that fear is involved in the experince, but I tend to believe that fear is not the cause, more a result. Here is what was talked about:

I am a psychotherapist, and I too suffer from severe night terrors.  I am currently working on a dissertation for my doctorate in clinical psycholgy, and I am coming accross some information that may help some people out there with questions about possible theoretical reasons for them.  This next exerpt is from John Bowlby, the founder of Attachment theory.

...seperation from an attachmetn figure (in life) is found to be one of a class of situations of which is likely to elicit fear reactions but have no intrinstic nor real danger behind these reactions.  These situations comprise amongst others darkness, sudden large changes of stimulii level including loud noises, sudden movement, strange people, and strange things.  Evidence shows that many species are alarmed by similar situations, and that this is true of human adults and children.  Furthermore fear is likely to be elicited when two or more of these stimuli are present simultaneusly, for example hearing a loud noise when alone in the dark.   The explanation as to why individuals should so regularly respond to fear to these situations is because even thought these situtions are not dangerous in themselves, each carries with it an [i]increase risk[/i] of danger.  Noise, strangeness, isolation, and for many species, darkness, are all conditions statistacallly associated with an increased risk of danger.  Noise may be a warning of a natural disaster, like fire, floods, or landslides.  To a young animal, a predator is strange, it moves, and it often strikes at night, and it is more likely to do so when the potential victim is alone.  Because to behave so promotes survival and breeding success, the theory runs, the offspring of species that have survived, including man, have been genetically predisposed and biased to have developed an increased response to the properties of noise, strangeness, sudden approach, and darkness by avoiding action or running away-they behave in fact as if danger were actually present.  In a comparable way they respond to isolation by seeking company (hence getting appropriate attachment and bonding). Fear responses elicited by such naturally occuring clues to danger are part of a mans basic behavioural equipment.

Fear seems to be a common explanation for the experience of NT type hallucinations however many people do not experience fear prior to experiencing the hallucinations. From current research into the causes for such behavior its more likely that NT's are a result of complication in the process of modulation or demodulation of the brain. This fear that many people experience could be explained by the hyperactive amygdala during the modulation into REM sleep. Yes I know NT's dont happen during REM sleep, however during the first complete phase of sleep the sleep phases do go through the process of 1-5 (in that order) and after jump from 2-5 making it possible for the NT to fall into a REM like cycle. Determining if the individual is pushing into REM while experiencing a NT is practically impossible. With that, most NT's happen in the first few instances of sleep.   The real problem behind NT's is that the majority of sleep disorder doctors don't know how to treat the problem let alone properly diagnose the disorders. You commonly have individuals that experience the old hag syndrome expressing that they have NT's when they are completely different events and occur in different phases of sleep. We need more doctors keeping up on the current research into NT or even the last 30 years of research and break the trend of bad medical practice. We need to stop looking to Freud for the answers and start paying attention to individuals like Dr. Hobson and his activation synthesis theory.

Podcast 188 - “The Ethnobotany of Shamanism” Part 2

Visit the podcast over at Lorenzo's site here

PROGRAM NOTES:

[NOTE: All quotations are by Terence McKenna.]

"One of the things that’s so striking about shamanism in the native context is the absence of mental illness."

"Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage."

"This is what I talked about last night about the archaic revival as the notion of making a sharp left turn away from the momentum that the historical vehicle wants to follow."

"We now have no choice in the matter of business as usual. There will not, apparently, be business as usual."

"You either have a plan, or you are a part of somebody else’s plan."

"The psychedelic sets you at the beginning of the path, and then people do all kinds of things with it."

"We are reaping the fruits of ten thousand, fifty thousand years of sowing of the fields of mind. And it is being dropped into our laps for us to create human-machine interfacing, control of genetic material, redefinition of social reality, re engineering of languages, revisioning of the planetary ecology, all these things fall upon us."

"I’m fascinated by hallucinations. I mean, to me that is the sina qua non that you’re getting somewhere."

"If you actually look at the etymology of the word ‘hallucination’, what it’s come to mean in English is a delusion. But what it really means in the original language is to wander in the mind. That’s the meaning of ‘hallucination’, to wander in the mind."

"For unknown reasons, there is a tremendous concentration of psychoactive plants on the South American continent. The South American continent has more known hallucinogens than the rest of the planet combined."

"Patanjali specifically says that there are three paths to the goal of yoga. And they are, control of the breath, control of posture, and light-filled herbs. It says it right there. Stanza 6 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali."

Podcast 188 - “The Ethnobotany of Shamanism” Part 2

Visit the podcast over at Lorenzo's site here

PROGRAM NOTES:

[NOTE: All quotations are by Terence McKenna.]

"One of the things that’s so striking about shamanism in the native context is the absence of mental illness."

"Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage."

"This is what I talked about last night about the archaic revival as the notion of making a sharp left turn away from the momentum that the historical vehicle wants to follow."

"We now have no choice in the matter of business as usual. There will not, apparently, be business as usual."

"You either have a plan, or you are a part of somebody else’s plan."

"The psychedelic sets you at the beginning of the path, and then people do all kinds of things with it."

"We are reaping the fruits of ten thousand, fifty thousand years of sowing of the fields of mind. And it is being dropped into our laps for us to create human-machine interfacing, control of genetic material, redefinition of social reality, re engineering of languages, revisioning of the planetary ecology, all these things fall upon us."

"I’m fascinated by hallucinations. I mean, to me that is the sina qua non that you’re getting somewhere."

"If you actually look at the etymology of the word ‘hallucination’, what it’s come to mean in English is a delusion. But what it really means in the original language is to wander in the mind. That’s the meaning of ‘hallucination’, to wander in the mind."

"For unknown reasons, there is a tremendous concentration of psychoactive plants on the South American continent. The South American continent has more known hallucinogens than the rest of the planet combined."

"Patanjali specifically says that there are three paths to the goal of yoga. And they are, control of the breath, control of posture, and light-filled herbs. It says it right there. Stanza 6 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali."

Podcast 188 - “The Ethnobotany of Shamanism” Part 2

Visit the podcast over at Lorenzo's site here

PROGRAM NOTES:

[NOTE: All quotations are by Terence McKenna.]

"One of the things that’s so striking about shamanism in the native context is the absence of mental illness."

"Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage."

"This is what I talked about last night about the archaic revival as the notion of making a sharp left turn away from the momentum that the historical vehicle wants to follow."

"We now have no choice in the matter of business as usual. There will not, apparently, be business as usual."

"You either have a plan, or you are a part of somebody else’s plan."

"The psychedelic sets you at the beginning of the path, and then people do all kinds of things with it."

"We are reaping the fruits of ten thousand, fifty thousand years of sowing of the fields of mind. And it is being dropped into our laps for us to create human-machine interfacing, control of genetic material, redefinition of social reality, re engineering of languages, revisioning of the planetary ecology, all these things fall upon us."

"I’m fascinated by hallucinations. I mean, to me that is the sina qua non that you’re getting somewhere."

"If you actually look at the etymology of the word ‘hallucination’, what it’s come to mean in English is a delusion. But what it really means in the original language is to wander in the mind. That’s the meaning of ‘hallucination’, to wander in the mind."

"For unknown reasons, there is a tremendous concentration of psychoactive plants on the South American continent. The South American continent has more known hallucinogens than the rest of the planet combined."

"Patanjali specifically says that there are three paths to the goal of yoga. And they are, control of the breath, control of posture, and light-filled herbs. It says it right there. Stanza 6 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali."

Nightmares: The Science and Solution of Those Frightening Visions during Sleep (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution) Nightmares: The Science and Solution of Those Frightening Visions during Sleep

Searching for a new book to read, I stumbled upon a review by a M. E. Tappan on amazon.com that I thought was very informative about this book.  Apparently in the book the writer talks about the possible conflict between the subconscious and the conscious causing what we know as the sleep paralysis and Nightmare effects. This is a theory that R and I worked on for a while but never perused as we were trying to learn more about the experience itself before we made more hypotheses about the disorder.

Here is what M. E. Tappan had to say abou tthe book:

The author of this book concludes that a nightmare is: a horrific or disturbing vision of a physiological processes, a meaningless occurrence (in any practical sense of emotional or self understanding), a gender magnet for the opposite sex (at least to our pre-modern ancestors), a schizoid event, a lethal threat to the weak heart, a non-metaphorical construct, a story-line for the ancient shaman, and a real downer.

The author theorizes that nightmares persist in human experience as a vestige of ancestral human pre-history when natural selection gave the advantage to those who gained social prominence, prestige and respect by compellingly reporting their night-time dream struggles and battles. The effect of reporting these nightmarish dreams in the culture of our "pre modern" ancestors, McNamara states, not only acted to elevate social status, but served to funnel these creative individuals (those with a frequent history of nightmares) into spiritual (shamanic) and healing "professions." According to the author, the prestige gained increased the likelihood of survival and "positive selection" within tribal communities. McNamara also theorizes that the stories of nightmares themselves, if believed, could have led to increased vigilance and thus improved chances of survival in a hostile world.

McNamara contends that the figure of a dreamed "supernatural monster" or demon who wants to possess or take over the dreamer's sense of self is central to the understanding of nightmares. Because the dreamer knows nothing about the inner psychic workings of his or her own created nightmare-demon (other than that it intends to do harm), and because McNamara believes that the knowing mind of the nightmare sufferer cannot generate an unknown construct, he reasons that the nightmarish image must come from some other place independent from the dreamer's will or traditional view of a single mind. That other place, he postulates, is from the human genome itself and represents the struggle between two opposing physiological forces to attain homeostasis or balance. The conflicted forces in the case of nightmares, McNamara reasons, are opposing sleep-state inhibitory and excitatory processes that control the movement in and out of REM sleep.

We are thus, according to McNamara, of more than one mind; a mind of maternal origin moving us out of REM sleep, and another of paternal origin moving us into REM sleep. He likens this dual-mind or multi-mind concept especially to dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple personality disorder. And McNamara reports research that describes models of the "...self as comprised of at least two major and distinct subpersonalities or agents with distinct interests that compete for control over the individual's attentional resources and decision-making capacities." McNamara sees this theory of "self" as model for the nightmare: a visual representation of the forces of biology battling for the mind of the dreamer.

Though it could be argued that McNamara views the nightmare (especially those dealing with demonic possession) as a metaphor for biological competition within the human organism (the struggle of one physiological process over another for example), he does not view nightmares as metaphorical. "Unlike dreams," McNamara writes, "nightmares are not particularly metaphorical." Metaphors provide ways that abstract concepts can be understood by likening them to understood concrete terms. But McNamara states that the abstract is not being confronted in nightmares, "Instead," he writes, "the nightmare deals with primal emotional energies and unadorned and terrifying imagery."

According to McNamara, nightmares are not only terrifying, but dangerous. He cites his own research indicating that the biology of nightmares, or the dreams occurring during REM dreaming, have negative and even injurious effects on health. McNamara cites other studies too for example, showing a correlation between the time of cardiac arrest and the late morning hours coincident with the final REM period of sleep when nightmares are likely to occur. Of course, heart failure occurs often too during strenuous exercise and sex. And few scientists devote books as warning to their dangers.

Left unexplored in the book are more positive and historical views of nightmares representing a rich history of social and scientific inquiry. We may, for example, see ourselves as comprised of many different parts, or many different manifestations, without questioning whether we are insane or suffer from multiple personality disorder. We may entertain a more complete image of a "self" that does not pathologize behavioral changes (for better or worse) that occur with the influence of time, experience, history and the forces that impact our life.

Dreams (of the benign or frightening sort) have held a particularly important function in world cultures as an always emerging form of knowing. They have been seen as indicative of human reality... if not waking reality, than at least the unconscious reality that underpins our conscious awareness.

We are emotional creatures, even whimsical, willing and able to change as conditions warrant or dictate. Push us into a corner and we can become murderous. Sexism, racism, ageism and classism can make us killers of spirit. Mistaken beliefs can thwart our most authentic selves. Unless we recognize that we can do harm to ourselves and others through our own personal influence and actions, and that the proclivity to do harm does not simply reside in others but resides in us, we will be dumb and blind to the forces that terrorize us in our sleeping visions. If we externalize these frightening visions, we may also miss the symbolic representation of the ruthless spirit we need in ourselves to successfully expunge any life-long beliefs that keep us from mental health and wholeness.

There is danger in dismissing the rich tapestry of information available in our nigh-time dream journeys. The long-time dream analyst Jeremy Taylor says it best. Paying attention to threat, he states, whether that threat shows up in dreams or in waking life, is a survival issue. The nightmare tells us to wake up! Pay attention! Whatever is given symbolic shape in a dream is important to look at. There is always something elegant and meaningful in the nightmare. My own experience in shamanic cultures makes me certain that shamans understood this. Their compass is the psyche, not simply their own, but the psyche of the community of which they belong. They are masters of deriving meaning from the natural world, especially those aspects hidden from the unintuitive. Community members go to the shaman not to be dazzled by the shaman's dream, but to explore their own. And to ultimately face what is feared.

To take the path of dreams, we must take their images seriously, sojourn with them (at a distance if we must), suffer them and travel more deeply into their reality.

Nightmares: The Science and Solution of Those Frightening Visions during Sleep (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution) Nightmares: The Science and Solution of Those Frightening Visions during Sleep

Searching for a new book to read, I stumbled upon a review by a M. E. Tappan on amazon.com that I thought was very informative about this book.  Apparently in the book the writer talks about the possible conflict between the subconscious and the conscious causing what we know as the sleep paralysis and Nightmare effects. This is a theory that R and I worked on for a while but never perused as we were trying to learn more about the experience itself before we made more hypotheses about the disorder.

Here is what M. E. Tappan had to say abou tthe book:

The author of this book concludes that a nightmare is: a horrific or disturbing vision of a physiological processes, a meaningless occurrence (in any practical sense of emotional or self understanding), a gender magnet for the opposite sex (at least to our pre-modern ancestors), a schizoid event, a lethal threat to the weak heart, a non-metaphorical construct, a story-line for the ancient shaman, and a real downer.

The author theorizes that nightmares persist in human experience as a vestige of ancestral human pre-history when natural selection gave the advantage to those who gained social prominence, prestige and respect by compellingly reporting their night-time dream struggles and battles. The effect of reporting these nightmarish dreams in the culture of our "pre modern" ancestors, McNamara states, not only acted to elevate social status, but served to funnel these creative individuals (those with a frequent history of nightmares) into spiritual (shamanic) and healing "professions." According to the author, the prestige gained increased the likelihood of survival and "positive selection" within tribal communities. McNamara also theorizes that the stories of nightmares themselves, if believed, could have led to increased vigilance and thus improved chances of survival in a hostile world.

McNamara contends that the figure of a dreamed "supernatural monster" or demon who wants to possess or take over the dreamer's sense of self is central to the understanding of nightmares. Because the dreamer knows nothing about the inner psychic workings of his or her own created nightmare-demon (other than that it intends to do harm), and because McNamara believes that the knowing mind of the nightmare sufferer cannot generate an unknown construct, he reasons that the nightmarish image must come from some other place independent from the dreamer's will or traditional view of a single mind. That other place, he postulates, is from the human genome itself and represents the struggle between two opposing physiological forces to attain homeostasis or balance. The conflicted forces in the case of nightmares, McNamara reasons, are opposing sleep-state inhibitory and excitatory processes that control the movement in and out of REM sleep.

We are thus, according to McNamara, of more than one mind; a mind of maternal origin moving us out of REM sleep, and another of paternal origin moving us into REM sleep. He likens this dual-mind or multi-mind concept especially to dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple personality disorder. And McNamara reports research that describes models of the "...self as comprised of at least two major and distinct subpersonalities or agents with distinct interests that compete for control over the individual's attentional resources and decision-making capacities." McNamara sees this theory of "self" as model for the nightmare: a visual representation of the forces of biology battling for the mind of the dreamer.

Though it could be argued that McNamara views the nightmare (especially those dealing with demonic possession) as a metaphor for biological competition within the human organism (the struggle of one physiological process over another for example), he does not view nightmares as metaphorical. "Unlike dreams," McNamara writes, "nightmares are not particularly metaphorical." Metaphors provide ways that abstract concepts can be understood by likening them to understood concrete terms. But McNamara states that the abstract is not being confronted in nightmares, "Instead," he writes, "the nightmare deals with primal emotional energies and unadorned and terrifying imagery."

According to McNamara, nightmares are not only terrifying, but dangerous. He cites his own research indicating that the biology of nightmares, or the dreams occurring during REM dreaming, have negative and even injurious effects on health. McNamara cites other studies too for example, showing a correlation between the time of cardiac arrest and the late morning hours coincident with the final REM period of sleep when nightmares are likely to occur. Of course, heart failure occurs often too during strenuous exercise and sex. And few scientists devote books as warning to their dangers.

Left unexplored in the book are more positive and historical views of nightmares representing a rich history of social and scientific inquiry. We may, for example, see ourselves as comprised of many different parts, or many different manifestations, without questioning whether we are insane or suffer from multiple personality disorder. We may entertain a more complete image of a "self" that does not pathologize behavioral changes (for better or worse) that occur with the influence of time, experience, history and the forces that impact our life.

Dreams (of the benign or frightening sort) have held a particularly important function in world cultures as an always emerging form of knowing. They have been seen as indicative of human reality... if not waking reality, than at least the unconscious reality that underpins our conscious awareness.

We are emotional creatures, even whimsical, willing and able to change as conditions warrant or dictate. Push us into a corner and we can become murderous. Sexism, racism, ageism and classism can make us killers of spirit. Mistaken beliefs can thwart our most authentic selves. Unless we recognize that we can do harm to ourselves and others through our own personal influence and actions, and that the proclivity to do harm does not simply reside in others but resides in us, we will be dumb and blind to the forces that terrorize us in our sleeping visions. If we externalize these frightening visions, we may also miss the symbolic representation of the ruthless spirit we need in ourselves to successfully expunge any life-long beliefs that keep us from mental health and wholeness.

There is danger in dismissing the rich tapestry of information available in our nigh-time dream journeys. The long-time dream analyst Jeremy Taylor says it best. Paying attention to threat, he states, whether that threat shows up in dreams or in waking life, is a survival issue. The nightmare tells us to wake up! Pay attention! Whatever is given symbolic shape in a dream is important to look at. There is always something elegant and meaningful in the nightmare. My own experience in shamanic cultures makes me certain that shamans understood this. Their compass is the psyche, not simply their own, but the psyche of the community of which they belong. They are masters of deriving meaning from the natural world, especially those aspects hidden from the unintuitive. Community members go to the shaman not to be dazzled by the shaman's dream, but to explore their own. And to ultimately face what is feared.

To take the path of dreams, we must take their images seriously, sojourn with them (at a distance if we must), suffer them and travel more deeply into their reality.

Nightmares: The Science and Solution of Those Frightening Visions during Sleep (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution) Nightmares: The Science and Solution of Those Frightening Visions during Sleep

Searching for a new book to read, I stumbled upon a review by a M. E. Tappan on amazon.com that I thought was very informative about this book.  Apparently in the book the writer talks about the possible conflict between the subconscious and the conscious causing what we know as the sleep paralysis and Nightmare effects. This is a theory that R and I worked on for a while but never perused as we were trying to learn more about the experience itself before we made more hypotheses about the disorder.

Here is what M. E. Tappan had to say abou tthe book:

The author of this book concludes that a nightmare is: a horrific or disturbing vision of a physiological processes, a meaningless occurrence (in any practical sense of emotional or self understanding), a gender magnet for the opposite sex (at least to our pre-modern ancestors), a schizoid event, a lethal threat to the weak heart, a non-metaphorical construct, a story-line for the ancient shaman, and a real downer.

The author theorizes that nightmares persist in human experience as a vestige of ancestral human pre-history when natural selection gave the advantage to those who gained social prominence, prestige and respect by compellingly reporting their night-time dream struggles and battles. The effect of reporting these nightmarish dreams in the culture of our "pre modern" ancestors, McNamara states, not only acted to elevate social status, but served to funnel these creative individuals (those with a frequent history of nightmares) into spiritual (shamanic) and healing "professions." According to the author, the prestige gained increased the likelihood of survival and "positive selection" within tribal communities. McNamara also theorizes that the stories of nightmares themselves, if believed, could have led to increased vigilance and thus improved chances of survival in a hostile world.

McNamara contends that the figure of a dreamed "supernatural monster" or demon who wants to possess or take over the dreamer's sense of self is central to the understanding of nightmares. Because the dreamer knows nothing about the inner psychic workings of his or her own created nightmare-demon (other than that it intends to do harm), and because McNamara believes that the knowing mind of the nightmare sufferer cannot generate an unknown construct, he reasons that the nightmarish image must come from some other place independent from the dreamer's will or traditional view of a single mind. That other place, he postulates, is from the human genome itself and represents the struggle between two opposing physiological forces to attain homeostasis or balance. The conflicted forces in the case of nightmares, McNamara reasons, are opposing sleep-state inhibitory and excitatory processes that control the movement in and out of REM sleep.

We are thus, according to McNamara, of more than one mind; a mind of maternal origin moving us out of REM sleep, and another of paternal origin moving us into REM sleep. He likens this dual-mind or multi-mind concept especially to dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple personality disorder. And McNamara reports research that describes models of the "...self as comprised of at least two major and distinct subpersonalities or agents with distinct interests that compete for control over the individual's attentional resources and decision-making capacities." McNamara sees this theory of "self" as model for the nightmare: a visual representation of the forces of biology battling for the mind of the dreamer.

Though it could be argued that McNamara views the nightmare (especially those dealing with demonic possession) as a metaphor for biological competition within the human organism (the struggle of one physiological process over another for example), he does not view nightmares as metaphorical. "Unlike dreams," McNamara writes, "nightmares are not particularly metaphorical." Metaphors provide ways that abstract concepts can be understood by likening them to understood concrete terms. But McNamara states that the abstract is not being confronted in nightmares, "Instead," he writes, "the nightmare deals with primal emotional energies and unadorned and terrifying imagery."

According to McNamara, nightmares are not only terrifying, but dangerous. He cites his own research indicating that the biology of nightmares, or the dreams occurring during REM dreaming, have negative and even injurious effects on health. McNamara cites other studies too for example, showing a correlation between the time of cardiac arrest and the late morning hours coincident with the final REM period of sleep when nightmares are likely to occur. Of course, heart failure occurs often too during strenuous exercise and sex. And few scientists devote books as warning to their dangers.

Left unexplored in the book are more positive and historical views of nightmares representing a rich history of social and scientific inquiry. We may, for example, see ourselves as comprised of many different parts, or many different manifestations, without questioning whether we are insane or suffer from multiple personality disorder. We may entertain a more complete image of a "self" that does not pathologize behavioral changes (for better or worse) that occur with the influence of time, experience, history and the forces that impact our life.

Dreams (of the benign or frightening sort) have held a particularly important function in world cultures as an always emerging form of knowing. They have been seen as indicative of human reality... if not waking reality, than at least the unconscious reality that underpins our conscious awareness.

We are emotional creatures, even whimsical, willing and able to change as conditions warrant or dictate. Push us into a corner and we can become murderous. Sexism, racism, ageism and classism can make us killers of spirit. Mistaken beliefs can thwart our most authentic selves. Unless we recognize that we can do harm to ourselves and others through our own personal influence and actions, and that the proclivity to do harm does not simply reside in others but resides in us, we will be dumb and blind to the forces that terrorize us in our sleeping visions. If we externalize these frightening visions, we may also miss the symbolic representation of the ruthless spirit we need in ourselves to successfully expunge any life-long beliefs that keep us from mental health and wholeness.

There is danger in dismissing the rich tapestry of information available in our nigh-time dream journeys. The long-time dream analyst Jeremy Taylor says it best. Paying attention to threat, he states, whether that threat shows up in dreams or in waking life, is a survival issue. The nightmare tells us to wake up! Pay attention! Whatever is given symbolic shape in a dream is important to look at. There is always something elegant and meaningful in the nightmare. My own experience in shamanic cultures makes me certain that shamans understood this. Their compass is the psyche, not simply their own, but the psyche of the community of which they belong. They are masters of deriving meaning from the natural world, especially those aspects hidden from the unintuitive. Community members go to the shaman not to be dazzled by the shaman's dream, but to explore their own. And to ultimately face what is feared.

To take the path of dreams, we must take their images seriously, sojourn with them (at a distance if we must), suffer them and travel more deeply into their reality.

Robert Sapolsky: Evolution, religion, schizophrenia and the schizotypal personality

I just watched this interesting video on some of the history of disorders and their correlations of religious practices. Its not really about sleep disorders, but I think its important to understand how some of these other disorders can effect our lives and our society while ultimately effecting what we dream about.

Anyways great video and very informative:

Robert Sapolsky is a professor of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and by courtesy, Neurosurgery, at Stanford University.

Robert Sapolsky: Evolution, religion, schizophrenia and the schizotypal personality

I just watched this interesting video on some of the history of disorders and their correlations of religious practices. Its not really about sleep disorders, but I think its important to understand how some of these other disorders can effect our lives and our society while ultimately effecting what we dream about.

Anyways great video and very informative:

Robert Sapolsky is a professor of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and by courtesy, Neurosurgery, at Stanford University.

Robert Sapolsky: Evolution, religion, schizophrenia and the schizotypal personality

I just watched this interesting video on some of the history of disorders and their correlations of religious practices. Its not really about sleep disorders, but I think its important to understand how some of these other disorders can effect our lives and our society while ultimately effecting what we dream about.

Anyways great video and very informative:

Robert Sapolsky is a professor of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and by courtesy, Neurosurgery, at Stanford University.

The End of the Terror

I just finished the book "The Terror That Comes in the Night" and must say that it was a very good read. I wanted to post something from in the book that I found important to the sleep paralysis community. These are the conclusions of the study done by David J. Hufford and are posted at the end of his book.

• The phenomena associated with what I have been calling the Old Hag constitute an experience with a complex and stable pattern, which is recognizable and is distinct from other experiences.

• This experience is found in a variety of cultural settings.


• The pattern of the experience and its distribution appear independent of the presence of explicit cultural models.
  The experience itself has played a significant, though no exclusive, role in the development of numerous traditions of supernatural assault.


• Cultural factors heavily determine the ways in which the experience is described (or withheld) and interpreted.
  The distribution of traditions about the experience, such as those involving the Old Hag or Eskimo augumangia, has frequently been confounded with the distribution of the experience itself.


• The frequency with which the experience occurs is surprisingly high, with those who have had at least one recognizable attack representing 15 percent or more of the general population.


• The state in which this experience occurs is probably best described as sleep paralysis with a particular kind of hypnagogic hallucination.


• Although there may be some connection between the etiology of this experience and narcolepsy, and although certain illnesses could be confused with the experience, the Old Hag experience itself does not indicate the presence of any serious pathology.


• The contents of this experience cannot be satisfactorily explained on the basis of current knowledge.

After reading his book and the evidence that was presented, I must also agree with Hufford in his explanation for the event. It is truly unknown why people experience the things they do. Its however impossible to say that these experiences are religious based as those who experience it seldom refer the experience to be anything based on their religion. Many people that experience it have little or no knowledge of the Old Hag, and most the time report being confused about the whole thing. One important aspect that is talked about much in the book, is the activation of movement seems to end the event. Maybe this is some type of trigger in the brain releasing it from its accidental sleep paralysis. Either way, there needs to be a lot more research done on the subject as even today there are really no good hypothesis of why this is happening to good normal individuals (15 percent of the population)

I hope all of you who are interested in night terrors, sleep paralysis, or the Old Hag, take some time out of your day and read this book, as it will give you a larger understanding of the world we live in. Maybe now that I am done reading it, I can sleep better.

The End of the Terror

I just finished the book "The Terror That Comes in the Night" and must say that it was a very good read. I wanted to post something from in the book that I found important to the sleep paralysis community. These are the conclusions of the study done by David J. Hufford and are posted at the end of his book.

• The phenomena associated with what I have been calling the Old Hag constitute an experience with a complex and stable pattern, which is recognizable and is distinct from other experiences.

• This experience is found in a variety of cultural settings.


• The pattern of the experience and its distribution appear independent of the presence of explicit cultural models.
  The experience itself has played a significant, though no exclusive, role in the development of numerous traditions of supernatural assault.


• Cultural factors heavily determine the ways in which the experience is described (or withheld) and interpreted.
  The distribution of traditions about the experience, such as those involving the Old Hag or Eskimo augumangia, has frequently been confounded with the distribution of the experience itself.


• The frequency with which the experience occurs is surprisingly high, with those who have had at least one recognizable attack representing 15 percent or more of the general population.


• The state in which this experience occurs is probably best described as sleep paralysis with a particular kind of hypnagogic hallucination.


• Although there may be some connection between the etiology of this experience and narcolepsy, and although certain illnesses could be confused with the experience, the Old Hag experience itself does not indicate the presence of any serious pathology.


• The contents of this experience cannot be satisfactorily explained on the basis of current knowledge.

After reading his book and the evidence that was presented, I must also agree with Hufford in his explanation for the event. It is truly unknown why people experience the things they do. Its however impossible to say that these experiences are religious based as those who experience it seldom refer the experience to be anything based on their religion. Many people that experience it have little or no knowledge of the Old Hag, and most the time report being confused about the whole thing. One important aspect that is talked about much in the book, is the activation of movement seems to end the event. Maybe this is some type of trigger in the brain releasing it from its accidental sleep paralysis. Either way, there needs to be a lot more research done on the subject as even today there are really no good hypothesis of why this is happening to good normal individuals (15 percent of the population)

I hope all of you who are interested in night terrors, sleep paralysis, or the Old Hag, take some time out of your day and read this book, as it will give you a larger understanding of the world we live in. Maybe now that I am done reading it, I can sleep better.

The End of the Terror

I just finished the book "The Terror That Comes in the Night" and must say that it was a very good read. I wanted to post something from in the book that I found important to the sleep paralysis community. These are the conclusions of the study done by David J. Hufford and are posted at the end of his book.

• The phenomena associated with what I have been calling the Old Hag constitute an experience with a complex and stable pattern, which is recognizable and is distinct from other experiences.

• This experience is found in a variety of cultural settings.


• The pattern of the experience and its distribution appear independent of the presence of explicit cultural models.
  The experience itself has played a significant, though no exclusive, role in the development of numerous traditions of supernatural assault.


• Cultural factors heavily determine the ways in which the experience is described (or withheld) and interpreted.
  The distribution of traditions about the experience, such as those involving the Old Hag or Eskimo augumangia, has frequently been confounded with the distribution of the experience itself.


• The frequency with which the experience occurs is surprisingly high, with those who have had at least one recognizable attack representing 15 percent or more of the general population.


• The state in which this experience occurs is probably best described as sleep paralysis with a particular kind of hypnagogic hallucination.


• Although there may be some connection between the etiology of this experience and narcolepsy, and although certain illnesses could be confused with the experience, the Old Hag experience itself does not indicate the presence of any serious pathology.


• The contents of this experience cannot be satisfactorily explained on the basis of current knowledge.

After reading his book and the evidence that was presented, I must also agree with Hufford in his explanation for the event. It is truly unknown why people experience the things they do. Its however impossible to say that these experiences are religious based as those who experience it seldom refer the experience to be anything based on their religion. Many people that experience it have little or no knowledge of the Old Hag, and most the time report being confused about the whole thing. One important aspect that is talked about much in the book, is the activation of movement seems to end the event. Maybe this is some type of trigger in the brain releasing it from its accidental sleep paralysis. Either way, there needs to be a lot more research done on the subject as even today there are really no good hypothesis of why this is happening to good normal individuals (15 percent of the population)

I hope all of you who are interested in night terrors, sleep paralysis, or the Old Hag, take some time out of your day and read this book, as it will give you a larger understanding of the world we live in. Maybe now that I am done reading it, I can sleep better.

Almost Done

I have been reading the book “The Terrors That Comes in the Night” and am almost done with it. I have gotten to the point in the book where I ask myself many different questions. The book is about a study into the foundation of the Old Hag effect, or to some could be considered a combination of narcoleptic type sleep paralysis, and sleep induced hallucinations. One thing that concerns me is that the book points out some paralysis induced hallucinations that are not involved with sleep. The author of the book, David J. Hufford points out the evidence that these hallucinations are group experienced at times (meaning that many people see the same thing) and sometimes the experiences are very similar in a short amount of time.

Though our brains are very similar chemically, why is that some people experience the same thing when having what is considered an altered state type hallucination? Why is there such thing as group experienced hallucinations? Not many studies have gone into the mechanisms of these experiences as well as documenting hallucinations in general but it’s not hard to find related experiences in forums as well as historical documents, you just need to know where to look. R and I have been researching this topic for many years now and have both become greatly interested in it as we have and currently experience symptoms of NT and the Old Hag syndrome at times. I have managed to greatly reduce my symptoms but I still experience the traumatic fear that comes from a long history of being tormented while asleep. It’s also hard for me and many others to remember the experience as these processes occur at times where our brains ability to remember is greatly reduced.

The book produces a great amount of support into the reasons why we should research these sleep induced hallucinations and the distinct differences between each one as each one has been misdiagnosed through history as being either one of the other, just a bad dream, or even supernatural attacks. We should all focus on the research when approaching this topic and be very sympathetic with those who are troubled while asleep.

Almost Done

I have been reading the book “The Terrors That Comes in the Night” and am almost done with it. I have gotten to the point in the book where I ask myself many different questions. The book is about a study into the foundation of the Old Hag effect, or to some could be considered a combination of narcoleptic type sleep paralysis, and sleep induced hallucinations. One thing that concerns me is that the book points out some paralysis induced hallucinations that are not involved with sleep. The author of the book, David J. Hufford points out the evidence that these hallucinations are group experienced at times (meaning that many people see the same thing) and sometimes the experiences are very similar in a short amount of time.

Though our brains are very similar chemically, why is that some people experience the same thing when having what is considered an altered state type hallucination? Why is there such thing as group experienced hallucinations? Not many studies have gone into the mechanisms of these experiences as well as documenting hallucinations in general but it’s not hard to find related experiences in forums as well as historical documents, you just need to know where to look. R and I have been researching this topic for many years now and have both become greatly interested in it as we have and currently experience symptoms of NT and the Old Hag syndrome at times. I have managed to greatly reduce my symptoms but I still experience the traumatic fear that comes from a long history of being tormented while asleep. It’s also hard for me and many others to remember the experience as these processes occur at times where our brains ability to remember is greatly reduced.

The book produces a great amount of support into the reasons why we should research these sleep induced hallucinations and the distinct differences between each one as each one has been misdiagnosed through history as being either one of the other, just a bad dream, or even supernatural attacks. We should all focus on the research when approaching this topic and be very sympathetic with those who are troubled while asleep.

Almost Done

I have been reading the book “The Terrors That Comes in the Night” and am almost done with it. I have gotten to the point in the book where I ask myself many different questions. The book is about a study into the foundation of the Old Hag effect, or to some could be considered a combination of narcoleptic type sleep paralysis, and sleep induced hallucinations. One thing that concerns me is that the book points out some paralysis induced hallucinations that are not involved with sleep. The author of the book, David J. Hufford points out the evidence that these hallucinations are group experienced at times (meaning that many people see the same thing) and sometimes the experiences are very similar in a short amount of time.

Though our brains are very similar chemically, why is that some people experience the same thing when having what is considered an altered state type hallucination? Why is there such thing as group experienced hallucinations? Not many studies have gone into the mechanisms of these experiences as well as documenting hallucinations in general but it’s not hard to find related experiences in forums as well as historical documents, you just need to know where to look. R and I have been researching this topic for many years now and have both become greatly interested in it as we have and currently experience symptoms of NT and the Old Hag syndrome at times. I have managed to greatly reduce my symptoms but I still experience the traumatic fear that comes from a long history of being tormented while asleep. It’s also hard for me and many others to remember the experience as these processes occur at times where our brains ability to remember is greatly reduced.

The book produces a great amount of support into the reasons why we should research these sleep induced hallucinations and the distinct differences between each one as each one has been misdiagnosed through history as being either one of the other, just a bad dream, or even supernatural attacks. We should all focus on the research when approaching this topic and be very sympathetic with those who are troubled while asleep.

In the Terror of the Night

The last few days I have been reading the book “The Terror That Comes in the Night” which is a great book based on a study done by David J. Hufford and the supernatural assault traditions. Basically the book is about the “Old Hag” syndrome which is given the name from a experience of a combination of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations.

Though I am not done with the book yet, I did read a part of the book that I was most interested in as Hufford briefly talks about the other types of sleep disorders that sometimes are related to bad dreams and nightmares. Night Terrors been something that I have thought about a great deal of time and what causes the problem. One thing that I didn’t understand is how Night Terrors only seem to affect people while only in sleep stages NREM 3 and 4, but not 2. If you ask a Night Terror sufferer when this happened to them, they will reply with, I don’t remember (as they experience a type of amnesia during the event) or they will repeat what their doctor tells them. Many times Night Terrors do occur during the NREM stages 3 and 4, but also they do occur during stage 2, according to Hufford. This to me would mean that the event is not limited to the events occurring in the brain during stages 3 and 4 of sleep, but something in common of those events along with stage 2 of sleep. Also during the first 90 min of sleep your body goes through a complete cycle of stages 1-5 and back to 2-5, but after that amount of time it no longer goes to stages 3-4 after 5 but 2-5. This means that Night terrors most likely will occur in the first 90 minutes of sleep if limited to mainly stages 3 or 4 but if not; will occur more often than normal after 90 minutes of sleep.

It would be interesting to find out what time frame the Night Terrors do occur dependent on the amount of time asleep. It would my guess that Night Terrors are not limited to a stage of sleep, but more a malfunction of a process during the phases of sleep.

In the Terror of the Night

The last few days I have been reading the book “The Terror That Comes in the Night” which is a great book based on a study done by David J. Hufford and the supernatural assault traditions. Basically the book is about the “Old Hag” syndrome which is given the name from a experience of a combination of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations.

Though I am not done with the book yet, I did read a part of the book that I was most interested in as Hufford briefly talks about the other types of sleep disorders that sometimes are related to bad dreams and nightmares. Night Terrors been something that I have thought about a great deal of time and what causes the problem. One thing that I didn’t understand is how Night Terrors only seem to affect people while only in sleep stages NREM 3 and 4, but not 2. If you ask a Night Terror sufferer when this happened to them, they will reply with, I don’t remember (as they experience a type of amnesia during the event) or they will repeat what their doctor tells them. Many times Night Terrors do occur during the NREM stages 3 and 4, but also they do occur during stage 2, according to Hufford. This to me would mean that the event is not limited to the events occurring in the brain during stages 3 and 4 of sleep, but something in common of those events along with stage 2 of sleep. Also during the first 90 min of sleep your body goes through a complete cycle of stages 1-5 and back to 2-5, but after that amount of time it no longer goes to stages 3-4 after 5 but 2-5. This means that Night terrors most likely will occur in the first 90 minutes of sleep if limited to mainly stages 3 or 4 but if not; will occur more often than normal after 90 minutes of sleep.

It would be interesting to find out what time frame the Night Terrors do occur dependent on the amount of time asleep. It would my guess that Night Terrors are not limited to a stage of sleep, but more a malfunction of a process during the phases of sleep.

In the Terror of the Night

The last few days I have been reading the book “The Terror That Comes in the Night” which is a great book based on a study done by David J. Hufford and the supernatural assault traditions. Basically the book is about the “Old Hag” syndrome which is given the name from a experience of a combination of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations.

Though I am not done with the book yet, I did read a part of the book that I was most interested in as Hufford briefly talks about the other types of sleep disorders that sometimes are related to bad dreams and nightmares. Night Terrors been something that I have thought about a great deal of time and what causes the problem. One thing that I didn’t understand is how Night Terrors only seem to affect people while only in sleep stages NREM 3 and 4, but not 2. If you ask a Night Terror sufferer when this happened to them, they will reply with, I don’t remember (as they experience a type of amnesia during the event) or they will repeat what their doctor tells them. Many times Night Terrors do occur during the NREM stages 3 and 4, but also they do occur during stage 2, according to Hufford. This to me would mean that the event is not limited to the events occurring in the brain during stages 3 and 4 of sleep, but something in common of those events along with stage 2 of sleep. Also during the first 90 min of sleep your body goes through a complete cycle of stages 1-5 and back to 2-5, but after that amount of time it no longer goes to stages 3-4 after 5 but 2-5. This means that Night terrors most likely will occur in the first 90 minutes of sleep if limited to mainly stages 3 or 4 but if not; will occur more often than normal after 90 minutes of sleep.

It would be interesting to find out what time frame the Night Terrors do occur dependent on the amount of time asleep. It would my guess that Night Terrors are not limited to a stage of sleep, but more a malfunction of a process during the phases of sleep.

Podcast 186 - “The Genesis Generation”

Another podcast over at the psychedelic Salon thanks to Lorenzo, but this time the guest speaker is the creator of the site, Lorenzo himself. The new podcast is a chapter out of Lorenzo's new audio book "The Genesis Generation" and though has nothing to do with dreaming itself, has a lot to do with altered consciousness. Check out his new podcast over at http://www.matrixmasters.net/blogs/

PROGRAM NOTES:

In today’s program there is no featured guest. Instead, Lorenzo presents the first chapter in his new novel, The Genesis Generation. In it, Lorenzo weaves the tale of a young man caught between two worlds, the world of corporate America and the world of the psychedelic community.

Podcast 186 - “The Genesis Generation”

Another podcast over at the psychedelic Salon thanks to Lorenzo, but this time the guest speaker is the creator of the site, Lorenzo himself. The new podcast is a chapter out of Lorenzo's new audio book "The Genesis Generation" and though has nothing to do with dreaming itself, has a lot to do with altered consciousness. Check out his new podcast over at http://www.matrixmasters.net/blogs/

PROGRAM NOTES:

In today’s program there is no featured guest. Instead, Lorenzo presents the first chapter in his new novel, The Genesis Generation. In it, Lorenzo weaves the tale of a young man caught between two worlds, the world of corporate America and the world of the psychedelic community.

Podcast 186 - “The Genesis Generation”

Another podcast over at the psychedelic Salon thanks to Lorenzo, but this time the guest speaker is the creator of the site, Lorenzo himself. The new podcast is a chapter out of Lorenzo's new audio book "The Genesis Generation" and though has nothing to do with dreaming itself, has a lot to do with altered consciousness. Check out his new podcast over at http://www.matrixmasters.net/blogs/

PROGRAM NOTES:

In today’s program there is no featured guest. Instead, Lorenzo presents the first chapter in his new novel, The Genesis Generation. In it, Lorenzo weaves the tale of a young man caught between two worlds, the world of corporate America and the world of the psychedelic community.

The Whoosh of Life

I recently started to read a new book that I got in the mail yesterday. DarkLore has become one of my most favorite reads of all times as I have gone through only the first few chapters. Though the name sounds all strange and out of the social norm, the content is what makes this book one of the best reads so far. The book is about the research of things that are strange or unexplainable, the facts and not made up pseudoscience that you find on TV or of the word of mouth of those who write on forums. So far, a great read.

What caught my attention about this book so far is that’s first chapter pertained to my last post about the correlations between those who have out of body experiences, night terrors, sleep paralysis, and psychedelic experiences. In the book they focus on the rigging or whooshing sounds that is most apparent during these experiences. Though I would love to write up all the text from the chapter and paste it into the blog, I don’t think it would be very legal and would also be very time consuming. I think that the book did a much better job in showing the correlations then I ever could do, so I’ll try to hit the good stuff.

Apparently many people that experience any type of alter state of consciousness hear the common sounds of:

• Buzzing/Humming


• Bells Tinkling/Chimes


• Thunder/Rushing of wind


• Stringed instruments


• Choir/hymns

These sounds pop up all over the writings of grate prophets of people in the Bible and other religions, lucid dreamers, during a sleep paralysis or night terror episodes, and sometimes near death experiences. Here are some of the quotes from past writings containing those experiences.

Near Death Experiences:

Georg Ritchie, in the book “Life After Life” written by Raymond Moody in the mid 1970’s writes about his experience:

“I heard a click and a whirr. The whirr went on and on. It was getting louder. The whirr was inside my head and my knees were made of rubber. They were bending and I was falling and all the time the whirr grew louder. I sat up with a start. What time was it? I looked at the bedside table but they’d taken the clock away. In fact, where was any of my stuff? I jumped out of bed in alarm, looking for my clothes. My uniform wasn’t on the chair. I turned around, then frozen. Someone was lying in that bed.”

To me this account sounds much like an out of the body experience induced while asleep. I could be mistaken though but it has a lot of the common traits of that type of experience.

Another near death experience:

“A man is dying and, as he reaches the point of greatest physical distress, he hears himself pronounced dead by his doctor. He begins to hear an uncomfortable noise, a loud ringing or buzzing, and at the same time feels himself moving very rapidly through a long dark tunnel."

In the Tibetan Book of the Dead:

“When you have spoken in this wise [magical names], you will hear thunder and rushing of the air-space all around; and you will yourself will feel that you are shaken to your depths…"

This to me again sounds like many of the experiences that lucid dreamers feel while having what I like to call the transitional phase occur. The buzzing or whooshing sound and the vibrations (shaken to the depths) are all common during lucid dreaming.

Hallucinations from Psychedelics:

Terence and Dennis McKenna’s (a senior research scientist for the Natural Health Products Research Group at the British Columbia Institute of Technology) wrote in an experience during a ‘magic mushroom trip’ from the book "True Hallucinations":

“But it was definitely at some point in time near to the conversation that I first heard the sound, immeasurable distant and faint, in the region between the ears, not outside, but definitely, incredibly there, perfectly distinct on the absolute edge of audible perception. A sound almost like a signal or very, very faint transmissions of radio buzzing from somewhere, something like tingling chimes at first, but gradually becoming amplified into snapping, popping, gurgling, crackling electrical sounds.“

The book goes into talking about Dr. Strassman’s (a medical doctor specialized in psychiatry with a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology research)work with DMT and how many of the patients experiences the sounds as well:

“Rather, there were simply sounds, variously described as “high pitched,” “whining and whirring,” “chattering,” “crinkling and crunching.”

Also here is an account of a DMT user that the book doesn’t reference but was found online on a popular forum at erowid.com:

Smudge wrote:

“Sometimes there is a monotone whirring sound, but mostly i get a whooshing sound in my right ear (like if being in a plane and changing altitude). My body becomes ridged and unable to open my eyes. Then on the right side of my face my skin appears to go elastic and is pulled outwards and upwards - with the rest of my body following. Other times my body will vibrate at speed (side to side) before the ‘pulling’ sensation.“

The book then talks about Ayahuasca users and how they experience the same type of sound. Ayahuasca contains a large amount of DMT which causes a psychedelic trip. Reichel-Dolmatoff (an anthropologist, known for his holistic approach and his in-depth fieldworks among tropical rainforest cultures) accounted for experiences of ayahuasca users as having several phases.

“The hallaucinations have several phases, and during the first the person feels and hears a violent current of air, as if a strong wing were pulling him along.”

Religious:

In the revelations to Mohammed from the Archangel Gabriel:

“The Prophet heard at times the noise of the tinkling of a bell. To him alone was known the meaning of the sound. He alone could distinguish in, and through it, the words which Gabriel wished him to understand.”

And again with the callsic treaties on Hatha Yoga, Shiva Samhita talks about the same experiences:

“The first sound is like the hum of the honey-intoxicated bee, next that of a flute, then of a harp; after this, by the gradual practice of Yoga, the destroyer of the darkness of the world, he hears the sounds of ringing bells, then sounds like roars of thunder.”

Night Terrors:

“A buzzing/ ringing/ roaring/ whistling / hissing / high-pitched screeching sound in the ears set in and become louder and louder to the point of becoming unbearable.”

In the 17th century, demonologist Fr. Sinistrari talks about a young lady:

“During the following night, while she was in bed with her husband and both asleep, she found herself awakened by an extremely find voice, somewhat like a high-pitched whistling sound. “

These same sounds also are not limited to only one person hearing them, but during what seem to be shared experience of the sound, in many accounts more than two people hearing the sounds followed by what seems to be hallucinations of gnome like men and angels.

So after reading all of this, many of you may be asking, “Well what does this all mean and how does it apply to sleep and consciousness.” Well the second question is easy to answer. We are dealing with some type of change in consciousness, either on the group level or singular allowing for a shared hallucination which happened to occur rarely but does still occur. The sound could be an indication of this change as stated in my previous post “Correlations in Disorders” as I talked about how the POG waves become activated during sleep, producing internal visual and auditory messages in the brain. These sounds we hear inside our heads during these altered states of consciousness are a good indication that our brains have produced a type of switching over of external information to internal allowing us to dream or hallucinate. Human brains are very similar and an altered state could cause a similar reaction between a group of individuals causing many to hear and see very similar things.

What does this all mean? Well that’s a little harder for me to explain or even guess about. With all the research, reading, and personal self reflection I have done, I am still no where closer to the answer of why we dream, or why we have these types of experiences when we do. Maybe it’s some type of defense mechanism, but that still doesn’t explain for the gnomes and alien sightings that groups of people have seen after hearing these same sounds. In the way of science, it must be some type of hallucination, but why, I have no idea. The only thing that I have learned from this chapter of DarkLore and researching these sounds for the last few years is that I know it’s a good indication that an altered state of mind has occurred and that whatever I am seeing is either not real, or can’t be explained.

I think that scientist should explore this area and study what areas of the brain are active for those who can produce these internal sounds on their own as it might get us closer to understanding what happens to our brains when we die, and why we experience these odd hallucinations.

The Whoosh of Life

I recently started to read a new book that I got in the mail yesterday. DarkLore has become one of my most favorite reads of all times as I have gone through only the first few chapters. Though the name sounds all strange and out of the social norm, the content is what makes this book one of the best reads so far. The book is about the research of things that are strange or unexplainable, the facts and not made up pseudoscience that you find on TV or of the word of mouth of those who write on forums. So far, a great read.

What caught my attention about this book so far is that’s first chapter pertained to my last post about the correlations between those who have out of body experiences, night terrors, sleep paralysis, and psychedelic experiences. In the book they focus on the rigging or whooshing sounds that is most apparent during these experiences. Though I would love to write up all the text from the chapter and paste it into the blog, I don’t think it would be very legal and would also be very time consuming. I think that the book did a much better job in showing the correlations then I ever could do, so I’ll try to hit the good stuff.

Apparently many people that experience any type of alter state of consciousness hear the common sounds of:

• Buzzing/Humming


• Bells Tinkling/Chimes


• Thunder/Rushing of wind


• Stringed instruments


• Choir/hymns

These sounds pop up all over the writings of grate prophets of people in the Bible and other religions, lucid dreamers, during a sleep paralysis or night terror episodes, and sometimes near death experiences. Here are some of the quotes from past writings containing those experiences.

Near Death Experiences:

Georg Ritchie, in the book “Life After Life” written by Raymond Moody in the mid 1970’s writes about his experience:

“I heard a click and a whirr. The whirr went on and on. It was getting louder. The whirr was inside my head and my knees were made of rubber. They were bending and I was falling and all the time the whirr grew louder. I sat up with a start. What time was it? I looked at the bedside table but they’d taken the clock away. In fact, where was any of my stuff? I jumped out of bed in alarm, looking for my clothes. My uniform wasn’t on the chair. I turned around, then frozen. Someone was lying in that bed.”

To me this account sounds much like an out of the body experience induced while asleep. I could be mistaken though but it has a lot of the common traits of that type of experience.

Another near death experience:

“A man is dying and, as he reaches the point of greatest physical distress, he hears himself pronounced dead by his doctor. He begins to hear an uncomfortable noise, a loud ringing or buzzing, and at the same time feels himself moving very rapidly through a long dark tunnel."

In the Tibetan Book of the Dead:

“When you have spoken in this wise [magical names], you will hear thunder and rushing of the air-space all around; and you will yourself will feel that you are shaken to your depths…"

This to me again sounds like many of the experiences that lucid dreamers feel while having what I like to call the transitional phase occur. The buzzing or whooshing sound and the vibrations (shaken to the depths) are all common during lucid dreaming.

Hallucinations from Psychedelics:

Terence and Dennis McKenna’s (a senior research scientist for the Natural Health Products Research Group at the British Columbia Institute of Technology) wrote in an experience during a ‘magic mushroom trip’ from the book "True Hallucinations":

“But it was definitely at some point in time near to the conversation that I first heard the sound, immeasurable distant and faint, in the region between the ears, not outside, but definitely, incredibly there, perfectly distinct on the absolute edge of audible perception. A sound almost like a signal or very, very faint transmissions of radio buzzing from somewhere, something like tingling chimes at first, but gradually becoming amplified into snapping, popping, gurgling, crackling electrical sounds.“

The book goes into talking about Dr. Strassman’s (a medical doctor specialized in psychiatry with a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology research)work with DMT and how many of the patients experiences the sounds as well:

“Rather, there were simply sounds, variously described as “high pitched,” “whining and whirring,” “chattering,” “crinkling and crunching.”

Also here is an account of a DMT user that the book doesn’t reference but was found online on a popular forum at erowid.com:

Smudge wrote:

“Sometimes there is a monotone whirring sound, but mostly i get a whooshing sound in my right ear (like if being in a plane and changing altitude). My body becomes ridged and unable to open my eyes. Then on the right side of my face my skin appears to go elastic and is pulled outwards and upwards - with the rest of my body following. Other times my body will vibrate at speed (side to side) before the ‘pulling’ sensation.“

The book then talks about Ayahuasca users and how they experience the same type of sound. Ayahuasca contains a large amount of DMT which causes a psychedelic trip. Reichel-Dolmatoff (an anthropologist, known for his holistic approach and his in-depth fieldworks among tropical rainforest cultures) accounted for experiences of ayahuasca users as having several phases.

“The hallaucinations have several phases, and during the first the person feels and hears a violent current of air, as if a strong wing were pulling him along.”

Religious:

In the revelations to Mohammed from the Archangel Gabriel:

“The Prophet heard at times the noise of the tinkling of a bell. To him alone was known the meaning of the sound. He alone could distinguish in, and through it, the words which Gabriel wished him to understand.”

And again with the callsic treaties on Hatha Yoga, Shiva Samhita talks about the same experiences:

“The first sound is like the hum of the honey-intoxicated bee, next that of a flute, then of a harp; after this, by the gradual practice of Yoga, the destroyer of the darkness of the world, he hears the sounds of ringing bells, then sounds like roars of thunder.”

Night Terrors:

“A buzzing/ ringing/ roaring/ whistling / hissing / high-pitched screeching sound in the ears set in and become louder and louder to the point of becoming unbearable.”

In the 17th century, demonologist Fr. Sinistrari talks about a young lady:

“During the following night, while she was in bed with her husband and both asleep, she found herself awakened by an extremely find voice, somewhat like a high-pitched whistling sound. “

These same sounds also are not limited to only one person hearing them, but during what seem to be shared experience of the sound, in many accounts more than two people hearing the sounds followed by what seems to be hallucinations of gnome like men and angels.

So after reading all of this, many of you may be asking, “Well what does this all mean and how does it apply to sleep and consciousness.” Well the second question is easy to answer. We are dealing with some type of change in consciousness, either on the group level or singular allowing for a shared hallucination which happened to occur rarely but does still occur. The sound could be an indication of this change as stated in my previous post “Correlations in Disorders” as I talked about how the POG waves become activated during sleep, producing internal visual and auditory messages in the brain. These sounds we hear inside our heads during these altered states of consciousness are a good indication that our brains have produced a type of switching over of external information to internal allowing us to dream or hallucinate. Human brains are very similar and an altered state could cause a similar reaction between a group of individuals causing many to hear and see very similar things.

What does this all mean? Well that’s a little harder for me to explain or even guess about. With all the research, reading, and personal self reflection I have done, I am still no where closer to the answer of why we dream, or why we have these types of experiences when we do. Maybe it’s some type of defense mechanism, but that still doesn’t explain for the gnomes and alien sightings that groups of people have seen after hearing these same sounds. In the way of science, it must be some type of hallucination, but why, I have no idea. The only thing that I have learned from this chapter of DarkLore and researching these sounds for the last few years is that I know it’s a good indication that an altered state of mind has occurred and that whatever I am seeing is either not real, or can’t be explained.

I think that scientist should explore this area and study what areas of the brain are active for those who can produce these internal sounds on their own as it might get us closer to understanding what happens to our brains when we die, and why we experience these odd hallucinations.

The Whoosh of Life

I recently started to read a new book that I got in the mail yesterday. DarkLore has become one of my most favorite reads of all times as I have gone through only the first few chapters. Though the name sounds all strange and out of the social norm, the content is what makes this book one of the best reads so far. The book is about the research of things that are strange or unexplainable, the facts and not made up pseudoscience that you find on TV or of the word of mouth of those who write on forums. So far, a great read.

What caught my attention about this book so far is that’s first chapter pertained to my last post about the correlations between those who have out of body experiences, night terrors, sleep paralysis, and psychedelic experiences. In the book they focus on the rigging or whooshing sounds that is most apparent during these experiences. Though I would love to write up all the text from the chapter and paste it into the blog, I don’t think it would be very legal and would also be very time consuming. I think that the book did a much better job in showing the correlations then I ever could do, so I’ll try to hit the good stuff.

Apparently many people that experience any type of alter state of consciousness hear the common sounds of:

• Buzzing/Humming


• Bells Tinkling/Chimes


• Thunder/Rushing of wind


• Stringed instruments


• Choir/hymns

These sounds pop up all over the writings of grate prophets of people in the Bible and other religions, lucid dreamers, during a sleep paralysis or night terror episodes, and sometimes near death experiences. Here are some of the quotes from past writings containing those experiences.

Near Death Experiences:

Georg Ritchie, in the book “Life After Life” written by Raymond Moody in the mid 1970’s writes about his experience:

“I heard a click and a whirr. The whirr went on and on. It was getting louder. The whirr was inside my head and my knees were made of rubber. They were bending and I was falling and all the time the whirr grew louder. I sat up with a start. What time was it? I looked at the bedside table but they’d taken the clock away. In fact, where was any of my stuff? I jumped out of bed in alarm, looking for my clothes. My uniform wasn’t on the chair. I turned around, then frozen. Someone was lying in that bed.”

To me this account sounds much like an out of the body experience induced while asleep. I could be mistaken though but it has a lot of the common traits of that type of experience.

Another near death experience:

“A man is dying and, as he reaches the point of greatest physical distress, he hears himself pronounced dead by his doctor. He begins to hear an uncomfortable noise, a loud ringing or buzzing, and at the same time feels himself moving very rapidly through a long dark tunnel."

In the Tibetan Book of the Dead:

“When you have spoken in this wise [magical names], you will hear thunder and rushing of the air-space all around; and you will yourself will feel that you are shaken to your depths…"

This to me again sounds like many of the experiences that lucid dreamers feel while having what I like to call the transitional phase occur. The buzzing or whooshing sound and the vibrations (shaken to the depths) are all common during lucid dreaming.

Hallucinations from Psychedelics:

Terence and Dennis McKenna’s (a senior research scientist for the Natural Health Products Research Group at the British Columbia Institute of Technology) wrote in an experience during a ‘magic mushroom trip’ from the book "True Hallucinations":

“But it was definitely at some point in time near to the conversation that I first heard the sound, immeasurable distant and faint, in the region between the ears, not outside, but definitely, incredibly there, perfectly distinct on the absolute edge of audible perception. A sound almost like a signal or very, very faint transmissions of radio buzzing from somewhere, something like tingling chimes at first, but gradually becoming amplified into snapping, popping, gurgling, crackling electrical sounds.“

The book goes into talking about Dr. Strassman’s (a medical doctor specialized in psychiatry with a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology research)work with DMT and how many of the patients experiences the sounds as well:

“Rather, there were simply sounds, variously described as “high pitched,” “whining and whirring,” “chattering,” “crinkling and crunching.”

Also here is an account of a DMT user that the book doesn’t reference but was found online on a popular forum at erowid.com:

Smudge wrote:

“Sometimes there is a monotone whirring sound, but mostly i get a whooshing sound in my right ear (like if being in a plane and changing altitude). My body becomes ridged and unable to open my eyes. Then on the right side of my face my skin appears to go elastic and is pulled outwards and upwards - with the rest of my body following. Other times my body will vibrate at speed (side to side) before the ‘pulling’ sensation.“

The book then talks about Ayahuasca users and how they experience the same type of sound. Ayahuasca contains a large amount of DMT which causes a psychedelic trip. Reichel-Dolmatoff (an anthropologist, known for his holistic approach and his in-depth fieldworks among tropical rainforest cultures) accounted for experiences of ayahuasca users as having several phases.

“The hallaucinations have several phases, and during the first the person feels and hears a violent current of air, as if a strong wing were pulling him along.”

Religious:

In the revelations to Mohammed from the Archangel Gabriel:

“The Prophet heard at times the noise of the tinkling of a bell. To him alone was known the meaning of the sound. He alone could distinguish in, and through it, the words which Gabriel wished him to understand.”

And again with the callsic treaties on Hatha Yoga, Shiva Samhita talks about the same experiences:

“The first sound is like the hum of the honey-intoxicated bee, next that of a flute, then of a harp; after this, by the gradual practice of Yoga, the destroyer of the darkness of the world, he hears the sounds of ringing bells, then sounds like roars of thunder.”

Night Terrors:

“A buzzing/ ringing/ roaring/ whistling / hissing / high-pitched screeching sound in the ears set in and become louder and louder to the point of becoming unbearable.”

In the 17th century, demonologist Fr. Sinistrari talks about a young lady:

“During the following night, while she was in bed with her husband and both asleep, she found herself awakened by an extremely find voice, somewhat like a high-pitched whistling sound. “

These same sounds also are not limited to only one person hearing them, but during what seem to be shared experience of the sound, in many accounts more than two people hearing the sounds followed by what seems to be hallucinations of gnome like men and angels.

So after reading all of this, many of you may be asking, “Well what does this all mean and how does it apply to sleep and consciousness.” Well the second question is easy to answer. We are dealing with some type of change in consciousness, either on the group level or singular allowing for a shared hallucination which happened to occur rarely but does still occur. The sound could be an indication of this change as stated in my previous post “Correlations in Disorders” as I talked about how the POG waves become activated during sleep, producing internal visual and auditory messages in the brain. These sounds we hear inside our heads during these altered states of consciousness are a good indication that our brains have produced a type of switching over of external information to internal allowing us to dream or hallucinate. Human brains are very similar and an altered state could cause a similar reaction between a group of individuals causing many to hear and see very similar things.

What does this all mean? Well that’s a little harder for me to explain or even guess about. With all the research, reading, and personal self reflection I have done, I am still no where closer to the answer of why we dream, or why we have these types of experiences when we do. Maybe it’s some type of defense mechanism, but that still doesn’t explain for the gnomes and alien sightings that groups of people have seen after hearing these same sounds. In the way of science, it must be some type of hallucination, but why, I have no idea. The only thing that I have learned from this chapter of DarkLore and researching these sounds for the last few years is that I know it’s a good indication that an altered state of mind has occurred and that whatever I am seeing is either not real, or can’t be explained.

I think that scientist should explore this area and study what areas of the brain are active for those who can produce these internal sounds on their own as it might get us closer to understanding what happens to our brains when we die, and why we experience these odd hallucinations.