Women
Prefer Men Like Dad
In
a continuation of research confirming Edgar Cayce’s assertion that aroma was
the most powerful of stimuli affecting the senses, scientists at the University
of Chicago found that women prefer the scent of a man whose genes were similar
to their father’s.
In
a study published in Nature Genetics, researchers asked women to sniff
t-shirts and pick the one with the most pleasant smell. A different man had worn
each t-shirt. The t-shirt favored by a woman depended upon the man’s genes. As
it turns out, according to a description of the study given by USA Today,
it was the immune system genes that determined the favoritism, genes the
women inherited from their fathers. The women preferred men whose immune-system
genes were similar to those the women had received from their fathers. According
to Martha McClintock, who was the chief investigator in this study, women “can
smell differences as small as a single gene.”
For
more information on this study, see www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=115553
Aromas
Can Affect Classroom
Researchers
have found that odors have
the
ability to affect the behavior of children. Psychologist Rachel Herz of Brown
University had children work on a task in a room scented with an odor the
children had never encountered before. She highly motivated the children with
promises of prizes, but unknown to the children, the task was impossible to
complete. The children became quite frustrated. Later the children were taken to
one of three rooms to work on a simple task. One room was unscented, the second
was scented with a new aroma, while the third one was scented with the same
aroma as was present in the room where the children had been frustrated. The
children in this third room performed significantly more poorly at the simple
task than the children in the other two rooms. The study showed that odors can
be linked to conditioned responses and govern future behavior.
For
more information on this research, go to http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/dec/research_011210.html
Experiment
in Dream Incubation Offered
Do
you have a question you’d like to ask your dreams for their inspiration?
There’s an online dream incubation experiment being offered by the Dreams
Foundation of Canada that you may enjoy. As part of the experiment you receive
instructions on improving dream recall. To incubate a dream, you are to meditate
on your question as you sit on the edge of your bed, then lie back into bed with
your question in mind. There’s a voluntary feedback form to submit, as the web
site will be analyzing results and publishing them on the website.
For
further information, go to www.dreams.ca
Has
God been Found in Non-Local Reality?
God,
defined as Spirit that is invisible, omnipresent, and all in all, may be found
in the interconnected web that modern Quantum physics have named “non-local
reality.” Dr . Lee E. Warren, writing in the Plim Report, has presented the
case for correlating attributes of the divine with attributes of the implicate
order that the universe displays. This non-local reality refers to such
qualities as electrons instantaneously responding to one another over great
distances, faster than the speed of light and through no known medium. The
author explains the efficacy of prayer by referring to the non-locality of
thought and intentions. He explains many of God’s actions in the Bible as
examples of action via non-local reality.
For
further information, see www.plim.org/nonlocal.htm
Free
Nightmare Service Offered
The
National Nightmare Hotline--866-DRMS911 is a project for the Association for the
Study of Dreams created in response to the 9-11 tragedy. It is a place for the
general public to debrief their nightmares. It ia also an educational tool for
those who call for information. It is available for any dream crisis, for those
people who may need this service. It is staffed by volunteers, skilled and
experienced dreamworkers and therapists, who have been qualified by ASD. It is
available for any dream crisis, for those
who need the service.
You
can find out more about ASD and this service at www.asdreams.org
Can
You See the Pattern in the Chaos?
Consider
these numbers: 16, 25, 36, 49. What are the next two numbers? Educators have
tested mathematical skills by presenting such number series to students to see
if they can determine the pattern and compute the next numbers in the series. In
this example, we have 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, 7x7, and the next numbers would be 8x8 = 64
and 9x9 = 81. In more difficult sequences, the patterns would be much less
obvious. Researchers have used subtle number patterns to test intuition rather
than mathematical knowledge.
In
further developments of this research, random series of numbers (having no
pattern) have been compared to series of number series generated by chaotic
systems in nature. To be able to foresee the next numbers in a truly random
series would require precognition, as there is no pattern to detect. To be able
to foresee the numbers in a series generated from a natural chaotic system would
require a different skill. Researchers at the University of Sunderland, in Great
Britain, have found that, although no one has been able to predict the next four
numbers to come in a truly random series, one in two people can indeed foresee
at least the next two numbers in a chaotic series.
It
is not yet known how these people are able to respond to an unperceptible
pattern. According to an article published in New Scientist, researchers believe
that some special form of intuition is involved, or a special sensitivity to
certain type of patterns. They speculate that persons gifted in this kind of
perception could make good predictors of the financial market.
For
more information, see http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992003
Sleep
on it for Better Performance
Edgar
Cayce’s notion that during sleep and dreams we review the day is receiving
further support by research showing that sleep is beneficial to the retention of
skills learned during the day. According to an article in the journal Nature,
research has found that sleeping enhances the performance of manual dexterity
and visual acuity skills. "I think sleep is involved in rehearsing,
restructuring and reclassifying our existing world view,” said Robert
Stickgold of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the researchers
interviewed, “to allow us to function better."
The
same for animals. Brain cell research has found that birds practice their songs
while they sleep and rats practice their running.
One
implication of this research is that by missing out on sleep, we miss out on an
important educational activity.
For
more information, see http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-20.html
Research
on Health Imagery Archived
The
ability we have to affect our health and recover from illnesses through the use
of mental imagery has been receiving increasing research support. A commercial
provider of guided imagery resources has now set up a website devoted to posting
and then archiving the research on healing imagery. Included among the
conditions covered by research are asthma, arthritis, bone fractures, cancer,
depression, diabetes, fibromyalgia, headache, insomnia, pain, skin problems and
weight loss
For
more information, see http://www.healthjourneys.com/hotresearch.asp
Inspirational
Websites Nominated
Organizations
with printed publications are increasingly mentioning worthy websites that may
be of interest to their readers. As a case in point, the Institute of Noetic
Sciences have mentioned these four inspirational websites:
Psi
Research would welcome nominations from readers concering websites that are
especially informative, inspirational or otherwise worthy of note.
You
may email your nominations to henryreed@intuitive-connections.net
Bin
Laden Feared Detection through Dreams
An
event as momentous as the 9-11 tragedy, if history is any judge, was sure to
stimulate dreams, both afterwards and before. Premonitory dreams of this
terrorist act certainly exist and this column will be on the lookout for any
collection of them that surfaces in the media.
For
the moment, we do have the words of Bin Laden himself, who expressed concern
that his plans would be exposed by dreams. Robert Moss, a world renowned dream
expert, writing in Dream Network: A Journal Exploring Dreams and Mythology,
discusses the transcript of the video released by the Pentagon in December,
2001, showing Bin Laden discussing the 9-11 attack after the fact. He mentions
dreams some of his friends told him up to a year before the attack about a plane
crashing into a building. On the video he refers to these dreams and expresses
the concern he held prior to the attack that his secret plans would be revealed
in dreams. Thus he ordered his followers not to discuss such dreams.
To
see the apparently precognitive dreams of 9-11 collected by Robert Moss, go see www.mossdreams.com/toolkit3.htm
For
more information on the journal Dream Network, go see www.dreamnetwork.net
Spirits
Describe the Afterlife
What better way to find out about what it’s like after death than to ask the spirits who live on the other side? That’s what Spiritualists have done for decades. Spiritualism as a religion was at the peak of its popularity in the late 1800s and early 1900s, primarily because mediumship was providing answers to questions about life after death. What have they learned? Bunny Starr, an Atlantic University student, wanted to find out. For her Master’s Thesis, she researched the writings of Spiritualists from that period to compile information from the other side concerning existence in the afterlife.
Among
her findings: Life goes on in an uninterrupted manner, but in a different
condition. All things of earth find their spiritual counterpart. There are
different realms in the spirit world inhabited by spirits of different qualities
of development. Universal laws apply to the realm of spirits.
We
do not escape from ourselves when we leave our bodies; neither do we gain all
knowledge immediately. Death is viewed as the birth of the soul, which retains
the mind, knowledge, experience, habits of thought, and inclinations that one
had on earth. There is no loss of memory; ties and affections are the same, as
are the moral and intellectual status of the individual. After death, the mind
continues to think and has the same identity and attributes; the same emotions
are experienced.
You
can read the entire text at www.creativespirit.net/spiritworld
Food
Has Healing Power
It’s
not just what you eat, but how you eat that is important. Traditional nutrition
focuses on the ingredients in the food. The spiritual wisdom literature,
however, has additional perspectives on the value of food and how to obtain it.
In her book, The Healing Secrets of Food, (New World Library) Deborah
Kesten has integrated this information into a comprehensive view on how to
obtain the healing power of food.
There
is a social component. It matters who you eat with and the social atmosphere
during dining is important.
The
psychological dimension of food has to do with its effect upon our mood, just as
our mood can affect choices of food. Spices and other flavorings are important
to this component.
The
spiritual dimension of food involves mindfulness, gratitude and love. Saying a
blessing before a meal and paying attention to the eating process has an effect
on the nutritional value of the food.
Finally,
the biological dimension of food pertains to the nutrients in the food. The
action of these nutrients, however, are influenced by the other three components
of food.
For
more information on Deborah Kesten’s work on food, see her website at www.deborahkesten.com
To
Forgive is Divine
It
is better to forgive than to be forgiven. This piece of wisdom is the result of
psychological research, pioneering work that was born in recent years from work
with victims of abuse and other harm by others. The benefits of forgiveness are
not just psychological, but also include physical health benefits as well as
spiritual blessings. Research has developed the “technology of forgiveness,”
including the issue of proper timing, preparatory steps, and the practice of
forgiveness. One of the important findings in this research is that although
forgiveness does bestow a spiritual benefit, the act of forgiving need not be
based upon any matter of faith.
There
are two recent books describing this research and helping readers find their way
to the blessings of forgiveness:
The
Forgiving Self (Doubleday)
by Robert Karen uses stories of forgiveness as inspiration and provides steps
toward forgiving.
Five Steps to Forgiveness: The Art and Science of Forgiving (Crown Publishing) by Everett Worthington, Jr., shares the research he has conducted on making forgiveness a gradual process.
A
new organization has been creating “buzz” because of its call for research
on unconditional love, which it is willing to financially support. Here is a
portion of its mission statement:
“The
newly incorporated Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, an independent
non-profit entity currently located at the School of Medicine of Case Western
Reserve University, recognizes that while considerable ongoing scientific
research of the highest caliber is focused on negative psychological states and
mental illness, little high quality scientific research is focused on positive
states of psychological health and personality. There is a need for research on
positive human traits. Among the universally lauded positive human traits are
such phenomena as compassion, altruism, care, and forgiveness, all of which the
Institute views as modulations of the core value of unlimited love. It is the
intent of the Institute to foster ongoing collaboration with researchers on
these key human ideals.”
At
its website, one of the articles discusses research on the body’s hormonal
system and how it is positively affected by those peak experiences of altruism.
The Institute invites letters from prospective researchers concerning their
visions for truly inspirational research.
For
more information, go to http://www.unlimitedloveinstitute.org
Dreams
are a Spiritual Gateway
Authors
of dream books have offered many reasons why people should make the effort to
remember their dreams. Personal insight and creative living have been two of the
most frequently offered rationales. A new book, Dreams are Letters from the
Soul (Crown Publishing), by Connie Kaplan, presents the case that our dreams
are our connection to a spiritual life.
Responding
to the increasing interest in spirituality, the author offers dreams as a
natural path to spiritual experiences. Recalling Edgar Cayce’s assertion that
any type of spiritual experience you could imagine could be experienced in a
dream, Kaplan outlines the variety of ways a dreamer can be awakened to
spirituality through a dream.
She
offers four stages of dreaming, each with its benefits and pitfalls. The first
stage is personal dreaming, providing insights about oneself. The pitfall is to
get stuck focusing on yourself. The second stage is what she calls “collective
dreaming,” which involves telepathic, clairvoyant and prophetic dreaming. The
benefit is an enlargement of experience and transcending the boundaries of the
ego. The pitfall is a fascination with psychic powers. The third stage is
transformative dreaming, which include healing, teaching and oracular dreams.
The pitfall of this stage is to become overwhelmed. Spiritual practices are
needed to maintain balance. The fourth stage she calls “philanthropic
dreaming,” when a dream may be more than a dream. The pitfall here is that of
the mystic who wishes to retreat from the world.
A
consistent theme in this book is that in order to dream well, one must live
well, too, as spirituality brings together heaven and earth.
Profit
from Your Mistakes
Sometimes
when we make a mistake, it may be that a creative part of ourselves has snuck
out. More than simply a “Freudian slip,” mistakes can be a way our soul can
express itself free of the constraints of our conscious intentions. Try
accepting a mistake, whether on the job, while cooking, writing a letter, as a
clue to a more creative, soulful approach to the situation.
That’s
the advice of Lane Arye, a voice instructor, in his book, Unintentional Music
(Hampton Roads). He argues that if we pay attention to what is trying to happen
rather than what we think should happen, we can open the door to self-discovery.
Try
looking at your next mistake with curiosity and love and see what happens.