These Ancient Civilizations Knew About Our Third Eye
The Seat of the Soul
The significance of the pineal gland has been the subject of investigation for centuries, with its first documentation tracing back to a Greek doctor and philosopher known as Galen. Galen’s colleagues believed the pineal regulated the flow of ‘psychic pneuma,’ or an ethereal substance referred to as ‘the first instrument of the soul.’ But Galen refuted this, instead, thinking the pineal was simply a gland that regulated blood flow.
A resurgence of supernatural characteristics associated with the pineal returned when René Descartes took interest in it. He asserted it was ‘the principal seat of the soul,’ and believed it to be the source of all thought. Descartes was essentially credited with reflex theory or the involuntary system of actions carried out in the body’s function.
René Descartes
He thought of this in the sense that the mind could be separated from the body, with the ability to take over the animal instincts, making its entrance through the pineal gland. Descartes believed the pineal was unique because it did not have a matching pair, like most other sensory organs.
“It must necessarily be the case that the impressions which enter by the two eyes or by the two ears, and so on, unite with each other in some part of the body before being considered by the soul. Now it is impossible to find any such place in the whole head except this gland; moreover, it is situated in the most suitable possible place for this purpose, in the middle of all the concavities.” – Réne Descartes
Hinduism’s Third Eye
Shiva and other Hindu deities are often depicted with a literal third eye on their forehead. This eye represents an awakening, or enlightenment, as the ability to see into higher realms of existence and consciousness. Many interpret this third eye as the pineal gland.
Shiva’s dreaded hair wrapped in snakes looks strikingly similar to a pinecone, the namesake of the gland itself. Snakes in Hinduism are thought to be auspicious, most notably seen in imagery surrounding Kundalini Yoga. The body’s chakras are often depicted in Kundalini by a winged staff encircled by two snakes, or a Caduceus as it is known in Greek mythology. The snakes meet at the Ajna chakra, where the pineal and pituitary glands are located. This chakra is known as the source of consciousness, with Ajna translating to command or guidance.
Ancient Egypt’s Eye of Horus/Eye of Ra
Many are familiar with the Eye of Ra and the Eye of Horus from ancient Egyptian iconography. Aside from the eye’s striking resemblance to a lateral view of the pineal gland within the brain, these depictions in Egyptian hieroglyphs are always singular. In addition to its lack of a counterpart, it was often drawn on the center of the foreheads on sarcophagi. Another reference to the location of the pineal, mirroring Hindu mythology is that of a snake emerging from the center of the forehead, also seen on pharaohs’ sarcophagi. Egyptians regarded the snake auspiciously as well, associating it with wisdom.
Pinecone Imagery
Many portrayals of Sumerian gods depict a pinecone extended in one hand. These gods are believed to be a representation of the Anunnaki, or an ancient extraterrestrial visitor race and their ability to access the pineal for its consciousness-expanding abilities. Pinecones can be found in ancient Greek mythology on the staff of Dionysus, or his Roman iteration Bacchus.
A pinecone staff with snakes wrapped around it is also carried by Osiris in Egyptian lore. Cambodian temples in Angkor Wat bear a striking resemblance to pinecones and there is even a massive pinecone statue at the Vatican, originally situated next to a temple for the Egyptian god Isis, in ancient Rome.
These ancient ancestors clearly had a healthy awareness of our pineal gland and the mysticism surrounding its connection to a higher level of consciousness. Its pinecone shape adds to the mysterious symbolism seen across cultures. It comes as no surprise that the pinecone also forms in a sacred geometric pattern from Fibonacci’s golden ratio.
What did our ancestors know about the pineal gland that we don’t?
About the Author
Researchers Find Genetic Signature in People With Channeling Abilities
New research into channeling is getting closer to validating and explaining the ancient practice, and is showing that everyone had the innate ability to channel.
While the practice of channeling has existed throughout all of history, it has always been shrouded in mystery and misunderstanding. Doctor Helané Wahbeh is the director of research for the Institute of Noetic Sciences, or IONS, whose mission is to reveal the interconnected nature of reality through scientific exploration. Dr. Wahbeh has been practicing and researching channeling for decades. She is the author of the newly released book “The Science of Channeling.”
“The way I define channeling is the process of accessing information and energy beyond our conventional notions of time and space that can appear receptive or expressive,” Dr. Wahbeh said.
“We propose that anybody can channel; that it’s actually this innate human capacity that anybody has. Channeling phenomenon exists on a spectrum from, perhaps, intuition and hunches that everyone can probably say they’ve had at one time or another, to more rare experiences like trance channeling or mediumship or mind-over-matter psychokinesis. And then you have everything in-between, like being able to sense the future or mind-to-mind communication,” she said.
Dr. Wahbeh and the team at IONS have just completed a study in which they analyze the characteristics of 500 channelers to answer the question “what makes a channeler?” They call the unique way in which a channeler receives and uses information their ‘noetic signature.’
“So we coined this term the ‘noetic signature,’ that refers to this unique and diverse fingerprint, if you will, of people’s channeling abilities, and we created a measure to be able to see what that looks like. We call it the noetic Myers-Briggs, which is a personality test, to be able to understand people’s channeling expression. We have 12 different categories of channeling or noetic experiences that make up this noetic signature,” Dr. Wahbeh said.
Now that the inventory is complete, IONS will soon be making it available to the public so that everyone can assess their own unique noetic signature. IONS has also been doing some fascinating research on the genetic basis of channeling abilities. They recently completed a study in which they analyzed the DNA of a group of channelers.
“There are many, many anecdotes where people share that their experiences of channeling run in family, so we did a case-control study. We found 13 high-functioning psychics who had various channeling abilities, we had them give us a saliva sample and we looked at their DNA. So this TNRC18 gene was statistically significantly different in the channelers versus the controls. The controls, the people who said they didn’t have channeling abilities, had the mutation whereas all of the channelers had the original version of that gene,” Dr. Wahbeh said.
“The notion of this supports this concept that we actually all have an innate capacity to channel on some level.”
