Crystals, Chinese medicine and my relationship with woo woo and science
I woke up today and rolled out of bed and the first Hive post I saw was @hiddenblade's I bought some pretty crystals as a gift for myself :3.
It brought me back to about 7 years ago when I was exploring consciousness full time (high as fuck, if you will) and much more sensitive to the subtle things in life. I felt that there was a whole world beyond our senses, in the space in front of us and could even slip into it for a few moments. At the same time, I know a lot of people who claimed to understand it, to be able to communicate with it...and to be entirely honest, most of the sounded full of crap. Not all of it, but most of it.
As with most cultures, I find myself on the outskirts of "New Age" or "Spiritual" culture. I love the idea of mixing different aspects of different religions and faiths, but if we all conform to the same combination, that just becomes a new religion. I suppose there is nothing wrong with that, but I want to base my faith off experience.
I'm not someone who needs a scientific explanation for everything because my intuition tells me that matter arises from consciousness and not the other way around, but I have always abhorred the idea of escapism and there are so many things to escape into when you start playing mix-and-match with spiritual traditions.
I do not believe in science dogmatically, but I like to take a scientific approach, albeit one that the science community would laugh at because my own experience is the basis of most of my experiments. I rely on intuition, only after doing multiple experiments and analyzing the results, all very instinctively, without reports or process. Yeah, I know, it's not science-science. But it's been a very reliable process for me.
I observe patterns and I believe in things that fit these patterns, and once enough evidence shows up in my life, I build faith off that. I DO NOT put faith in things that people tell me just because they sound nice, and I will try to explore everything myself before adopting it. I try to keep an agnostic attitude, where I always admit the possibility that I'm wrong, and at the same time, enough experience leads to pretty strong conviction.
That's why I speak with a lot of conviction when I say that all is love, that duality is a game we play, that attachment to desires causes suffering (not the desires themselves), that we create our own reality.
I am very confident in the effectiveness of Chinese medicine, NOT because it sounds nice and NOT because it worked on me once or twice. I have experimented extensively with it and found it to be EXTREMELY effective, and not in a mysterious "energy-healing" way (not discounting energy healing, but it's not something I have the same level of confidence in). I can literally feel the blood flowing from one part of my body to another in exactly the way described when pushing on many pressure points and following meridians. This is not my imagination any more than feeling my fingers on the keys of my computer is an illusion. It has the same level of reality to it, and let me just say right here that I've never seen ghosts or visions or anything that could be described as hallucinations by skeptics (also not saying I discount those who have, I'm also interested in these topics, but far more skeptical because I have very little personal experience).
I base my faith in Chinese medicine almost entirely off clear physical sensation, and supplement it with observations about how certain foods that are said to belong to a certain element "earth, metal, wind, water, fire" and how certain meridians correspond to certain emotions, seasons, tastes, etc. I am still in the early experimentation phase of understanding these aspects beyond massage. None of it is something that someone convinced me of, it's all experienced first hand.
There are other things which fascinate me and which I explore without letting myself get carried away... there is always that childlike desire for everything to be magical even when it's not. Life is somehow magical though, and I find myself digging pretty deep into things that sure do make me look like a "New Ager". You could probably call me that if you really wanted...I never would, but whatever.
The idea of everything being vibration is incredibly consistent with so many aspects of life and works so well to describe so many things. Whether its just metaphorical or not is not really relevant to me. The idea of something "resonating" with you is one example...but my inner punk sees people overusing that word because it's cool, and avoids using it too much. I would like to encourage others to build their spirituality from their own experiences as well, not just adopt mine because I speak with conviction. I do think that once they take into account that micro traumas and subconscious have just as much influence as our thoughts and focus, they'll find the law of attraction to be very consistent.
There are other things I am not entirely sure of because they would require certain paranormal experiences or sensitivity to subtle energies, neither of which I have much of unless you give me some brownies and let me take a vacation in the ether.
I am still experimenting with ideas like past lives, the nature of time (Oh do I have some fun things I'm working on with this), astrology, crystals, chakras etc. etc. etc.
I do see many of these things consistent with patterns that I've found. The chakras work very very well for me as a metaphor (similar to Maslow's hierarchy of needs almost), though I won't speak with confidence about them until I can say with conviction that I feel them the same way I feel blood flowing down meridians.
I did do some experiments with crystals. They were interesting and I felt like maybe there was something there but I never went deep into it. Mostly because I forgot my crystals in a friends house before I moved to another city, and then he moved back to South Africa.
But today seeing @hiddenblade's crystals got me a little excited to go out and buy some crystals because I remember how special they felt, even if I wasn't sure what was a real sensation and what was just my wishful thinking. I'm looking forward to seeing their effects and if anyone is interested, I will share my vague experiences with the crystals the first time around and which ones I bought this time.
Let me know if you want a part 2.
And let me know; What kind of experiments have you done?
P.S. Naturalmedicine.io , one of my favorite Hive communities and front ends, and their token LOTUS are starting some real PR. Please check out @riverflows post Working on Our Marketing of HIVE/Natural Medicine - Plus, We're Now On Instagram and share the image ads on facebook, instagram and twitter. :-D
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I studied Thelema for several years. The practice also has an almost scientific quality of documenting results of your workings and keeping journals. I have the same attitude towards the "New Ager" label, some people would probably lump me into that group, but I really wouldn't though I do use the label at times for convenience.
Great post, I haven't really studied much Chinese Medicine outside of Feng Shui.
Ah Tarot is another one! What really got me curious is all the layers of symbolism and correspondence with other kinds of mysticism! I will try to learn more through you 😃
Never heard of Thelema, will check it out !
Feng Shui is also based on wuxing (five elements) I think so it's connected
There is definitely a lot of that in tarot!
Definitely! We are the same in some ways. I was a skeptic as well, even started to think that everything that happens is just a coincidence and there's no "other world" etc etc.. Then I started having dreams that are too weird, like seeing a place I've never seen before (not even on the internet) then randomly seeing the place in the real world, exactly as how I've seen it in my dreams. Then noticed my intuitions were always right. I also met someone who was able to tell me exactly what was on my mind and the dots were connected and that is how I started being interested in crystals and spirituality and stuff like that.
You can also say it's my coping mechanism for my nightmares, as I desperately wanted to make them disappear or at least lessen my fear, and it works so much for me.
I'm glad you've figured out what works out for you as well. I'm also happy I inspired you to buy them :D
I'd love to hear about your experiences. If you write about them let me know. Hope the nightmares have gone away though.
There are few people in this world who would not believe in otherworldly explanations after experiencing the amount of so-called coincidences I've experienced. Some are just too ridiculous, like if you calculated the probability, it just be so astronomically unlikely, and those kind of things will happen in waves, 3 in a week sometimes. I should write about them sometime. Besides that I've left "here" once and it was just so vivid and amazing, and I think that's why I can't discount anything.
I'm also ok not knowing too which i think is important...everyone wants to know everything and so they build up fantasies to explain things...sometimes the fantasies are self fulfilling, and sometimes they are just an escape. All my fantasies produce results at least, if they didn’t, I’d abandon them.
I’m gonna share some coincidences today or later this week!
This is a pretty old gemstones collection I found :D that post kind of remind me of this too.
Thanos!!!!
I agree with you that one must know for himself the functioning of this universe, and not take the premises of religions for granted. For my part, I was raised as an atheist, with a total denial towards God and towards spiritual forces; However, having sensitivity to perceive other planes, in addition to experiencing events for which I could not find a logical explanation, later led me to approach different religions, since it required being able to find those explanations of what I saw, felt and experienced. Now, that allowed me a broader view of beliefs and the world in general, since I understood that each human group created its own belief system, which is why, although I am baptized in the Catholic Church, I have my objections and observations . Regarding crystals, from a very very young age (5 or 6 years old) I felt an incredible fascination for stones in general, not only crystals (since I did not have access to them), it led me as a teenager to investigate and investigate more. The strength of a crystal is something unique. Crystal quartz are wonderful antennas to see other worlds, other spaces, other times. The stone known as the golden shower has a vibration, a special force to stimulate the economic aspect. They all have their particularity. Yes, I would like to read the second part of your experience. I have not had much contact with Chinese Medicine. I really liked this post, very much. Greetings and blessings.
Coincido contigo en que uno debe conocer por sí mismo el funcionamiento de este universo, y no dar por ciertas las premisas de las religiones. Por mi parte, me crié como atea, con una negación total hacia Dios y hacia las fuerzas espirituales; no obstante, teniendo sensibilidad para percibir otros planos, además de experimentar eventos a los que no le encontraba explicación lógica, me llevó posteriormente a acercarme a distintas religiones, pues requería poder encontrar esas explicaciones a lo que veía, sentía y experimentaba. Ahora bien, eso me permitió una visión más amplia de las creencias y del mundo en general, pues entendí que cada grupo humano creaba su propio sistema de creencias, razón por la cual, aunque estoy bautizada en la Iglesia Católica, tengo mis objeciones y observaciones. Respecto a los cristales, desde muy muy pequeña, (5 ó 6 años) sentía una fascinación increíble por las piedras en general, no solo los cristales (pues no tenía acceso a ellos), lo me llevó de adolescente a indagar e investigar más. La fuerza de un cristal es algo único. Los cuarzo cristal son antenas maravillosas para ver otros mundos, otros espacios, otros tiempos. La piedra conocida como lluvia de oro tiene una vibración, una fuerza especial para estimular el aspecto económico. Todas tienen su particularidad. Sí quisiera leer la segunda parte de tu experiencia. No he tenido mucho contacto con la Medicina China. Me gustó mucho este post, mucho mucho. Saludos y bendiciones.
I hope I can learn that kind of sensitivity to feel something less vague from crystals. It is pretty amazing how almost everyone is somehow attracted to them, no matter how far they are from believing in such things...
Thanks for stopping by!
Everything resides in letting the crystal speak to you, it is a mutual connection. There are some crystals that speak, but others do not, so it is a matter of you looking and trying to connect. If you are going to use a crystal quartz, look for one that is clean, without clouds or fractures, the cleaner the better.
I looked for some quartz after you told me but the ones without clouds or cracks were really expensive.
Are they the ones that talk the most?
Clouds and fractures can distort images, so it is recommended that they be clean; however, years ago I had a very small quartz, perhaps 1.5 cm long. It was almost ovoid, it was not columned, and I suppose it would be a low quality quartz for the merchant. The truth is, that quartz is one of the ones that has spoken to me the most in my life. It looked like a mini-TV, so to speak. Unfortunately it got lost in certain circumstances. Now, the important thing is that you feel affinity with quartz, take it with your hands, and try to see something specific inside it. If you get a glimpse of something, that quartz will speak to you, no matter if it is large or small, if it is free of clouds or fractures or not. The important thing is that you connect with him, you have to resonate with him. Any other questions write to me.
This reminds me of something I watched last night about contact of the 5th kind. Are you familiar with this?
Ive heard of things like this, not sure what to think. It could be something or it could be nothing or it could be an attempt at forming a new kind of religion or conspiracy theory. Fun to hear about though!
This post really resonates with me! :P
I used to really scoff at chakras, but I'm busy looking for a definitive book on them (wondring if @nainaztengra knows?) as modern interpretations really make sense to me.
One of my favourite books ever is the Subtle Body by Tias Little... I think this post I wrote might explain a little of where I come from
https://peakd.com/naturalmedicine/@riverflows/rivers-blossoms-and-roots-tias-little-s-yoga-of-the-subtle-body
I love it when the science backs up the supposed woo woo. I love functional anatomy interwined with how my body's intuition feels, how psychology and neuroscience explains the issues in the tissues, the link between fascia and meridians, the mythology of India as metaphoric explorations of the reality of time, space, divinity, truth, consciousness, humanity... ahhhhhhh gosh - can of worms.
Right? I've met countless doctors who will never discount Chinese medicine because they find it effective, and I'm like "just wait til you experience the real deal and learn how to be sensitive to your bodies sensations and find someone who asks the right questions when they give you a massage". They have to add "but you know, the science isn't there" and I can't help but feel it has to do with funding and biases and the overemphasis of Qi which you can also take as a a metaphor for the momentum of blood flow.
Ah!
I'll have to check out that book. I love the chakras as a concept just because it seems to account for everything, all issues can fit into one or more chakras as well as all emotions and other things as well
https://twitter.com/Lotus_Medicine/status/1350205550743568386
I've decided that the stuff I do is just electrokinesis and eldest has been trying to figure out a way to measure the "resonance" (as I keep calling it) that we can hear in certain places (because he figures that if we can hear it then it should be measurable) XD
Crystals are generally nice buzzy and pretty to look at if nothing else. Have fun with them :D
Buzzy? You are one of the gifted people who just understand this stuff without having to "believe" it. I am sometimes very envious though I know how you'll reply to that! 😛
I don't know what electrokinesis is....goooooggggglllle!
Electrokinesis is just moving electricity around XD Not quite as dramatically as in Last Airbender though XP
I suppose it's possible but I'm too scared to try it in case I break something
break.....everything!
NO I would feel terrible XD
Your Crystals are so cute, and their energy looks very peaceful. I have some loads of experiences with Crystals and my house is full of them, all around they are there. It is just so wonderful to have them around. Sending you some Crystal Love
Lol those aren't mine! Mine aren't that nice!
Everything that the Earth has to give us is beautiful, wonderful and has its function. I know that crystals are powerful tools, that they can be very useful for many things. I don't know the basics of Chinese Medicine well, but I have heard of people who apply acupuncture and moxibustion and have obtained remarkable improvements to their health, so it is obviously very effective. I like this type of publication, it is very rewarding to know first-hand people's life experiences. I hope you continue with similar posts. A big hug.
I have some very strong opinions about TCM because it is always pitched as something mystical and actually most practitioners have focused too much on marketing and building their patients trust through routine instead of asking questions and teaching the patient to be aware of all sensations in their body which I believe is necessary for proper treatment. True healing also requires a patient to be ready and willing to heal on an emotional level too.
It's really not that mysterious once you get an awesome massage and really focus on every sensation. I think the average physical trainers or work out freak or yoga practitioner who has healthy breathing practices could probably start feeling the sensation with just one or two visits to the right therapist...but I've been to over 100 therapists and have only met 3 who really know what they are doing.
It’s not that it’s difficult, it’s that it should be collaborative and it’s usually not taught that way or practices that way
I think that was one of the strengths that Venezuelan doctors had long ago. They always spoke to you, touched you, cared about you, your well-being, your family, they made you feel important, they heard you, they not only limited themselves to diagnosing you as if you were a "something" but a PERSON, and this is precisely a fundamental component for healing, because it gives you the confidence and the necessary bond to initiate the healing.
ahhh you guys will make me fall in love with Venezuela
+100500 for this post<3
it's just to what I've come recently. Chinese do know something;) and even more than something;) every culture has its benefits but Chinese medicine is really worth of attention.
qigong is my topic of studying and practicing now....and I was surprised that I didn't need to wait for results, I just started to feel the effect from the very first exercises! I didn't expecty it works so fast! I really FEEL all my bosy, its energy inside and its power.
It's a great science for sure!
Well they certainly KNEW something and it lingers here and there in the language and in some small circles. I’m lucky enough to know a few of them. That’s what happens when you float around and following your intuition for a few years. You stumble upon secrets 😃 I haven’t had the same results with qigong yet but it’s all built on the same principles and connected. I need to try more