I'm reading P.M.H. Atwater's book, The Idiot's Guide to Near-Death Experiences. Atwater, one of the original near-death researchers, was discussing some of the characteristics of those who have had near-death-experiences, or NDE's.
Interestingly, besides the psychological and emotional changes one might expect, there are physical changes as well. Atwater describes the NDE as "one of nature's most accelerated growth events, a powerful and complex dynamic that can not only foster psychological changes, but cause physiological mutations the equal of species evolution." (italics mine - SpiritPainter)
That last phrase almost jolted me out of my chair.
Let me quote Atwater's lists of the major psychological and physiological changes that the majority, though not all, NDE experiencers tend to display:
Psychological:
"Loss of the fear of death, more spiritual, less religious, abstract easily, philosophical, can go through bouts of depression, disregard for time, more generous and charitable, form expansive concepts of love while at the same time challenged to initiate and maintain satisfying relationships, 'inner child' issues exaggerated, less competitive, convinced of a life purpose, rejection of previous limitations and norms, heightened sensations of taste-touch-texture-smell, increased psychic ability and future memory episodes, charismatic, childlike sense of wonder and joy, less stressed, more detached and objective (dissociation), 'merge' easily (absorption), hunger for knowledge and learning."
Physiological:
"Changes in thought-processing (switch from sequential/selective thinking to clustered thinking and an acceptance of ambiguity), insatiable curiosity, heightened intelligence, more creative and inventive, unusual sensitivity to light and sound, substantially more or less energy (even energy surges, often more sexual), reversal of body clock, lower blood pressure, accelerated metabolic and substance absorption rates (decreased tolerance of pharmaceuticals and chemically treated products), electrical sensitivity, synesthesia (multiple sensing), increased allergies or sensitivities, a preference for less meat and more vegetables and grains, physically younger looking (before and after photos can differ)."
And here are a few especially interesting items:
Interference with electric and electronic equipment leading to malfunctions, breakage, and other unusual reactions. People report "microphones that 'fought' them, recorders that began to 'smoke,' computers that 'crashed,' television channels that 'flipped,' electronic memory systems that 'wiped out,' or street lights that 'popped' as they walked by." Often they "could not wear watches anymore without constantly replacing them."
A high incidence of psychic phenomona, including healing gifts.
An increased sensitivity to meteorological changes and phenomena.
Changing from an angry, uptight person, to someone who loves people utterly without judgment.
Now let's start with this assumtion: suppose most of these changes are actually, in fact, the beginnings of species evolution. And suppose that evolution may not always occur in response to changes in the environment, but may in fact begin in preparation for changes in the environment?
In other words, prevolution.
With that in mind, look over that list again. How many of the changes on that list are absolutely, totally, absurdly, incompatible with a high-tech electronic society? How many of those changes look like they're tailor-made for a low-tech (read: aboriginal) society? How many of those traits would be valuable in the event of a vastly reduced population, surviving with no - zero - technology as we have become accustomed to it, in a fouled environment?
And keeping in mind that these might be prevolutionary changes, look at that list harder, and think. What circumstances would make each trait valuable? What would have to happen between now and whatever then we might be looking forward to, in the environment, in civilization and in society, in order for each of those traits to become valuable? How might we have gotten from here to there, and how would having this trait not only help in survival, but also help prevent that occurrence from happening again? Don't be too quick to dismiss anything.
Think.
Think hard.
We're on the threshold.
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