#naturally it only occurs in western communities (I am in a country where people are still revoltingly concervative and behind the progress)

[shamsaddinmegalommatis]

The Collective West, its Mysteries, Illusions and Threats against the Mankind

Contents

Introduction

I. Colonization: worldwide imposition of the inhuman Western European 'civilizational' model

II. The Western world: an abnormal self-denial and a terrorist rebuff of the History of mankind

III. The interminable internecine wars of the West, its composite nature, and the ensuing concerns for the rest of the world

IV. Westernization is not 'à la carte'

V. Westernization is part of eschatological agendas

De-Westernization for Russia, Africa, the Muslim world, India, China and Latin America means a) replacement of the fallacious 'Greco-Roman' and 'Judeo-Christian' material from academic curricula and educational manuals and b) substitution of the past documentation with major specimens of Asiatic and African Art, which bear witness to the historical interaction of the world's major civilizations. Example: back panels from the couch found in the tomb of the Sogdian merchant and nobleman An Jia (安伽), who was buried in Chang'an (長安), today's Xi'an (西安市), great Chinese capital, in 579 CE, founding year of the Daxiang (大象) era, during the reign of Emperor Jing; currently in the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology; the representations of few significant moments of the deceased nobleman's life involve scenes of cult, meetings with nomad leaders, and conclusion of agreements.

In a previous article published few days ago under the title "World Politics as Black & White: Iran and Israel or how people fall victims of delusions intentionally projected on them", I made it clear that every sectarian thought does not only constitute a sin, but it also leads to misunderstanding, ultimately plunging the foolish guy, who thinks in this manner, into a delusion. From such traps there is usually no comeback.

Simple people and world-known statesmen are equally concerned in this regard, but the latter may destroy their respective countries in the process. You can read the article here: https://megalommatiscomments.wordpress.com/2024/05/16/world-politics-as-black-white-iran-and-israel-or-how-people-fall-victims-of-delusions-intentionally-projected-on-them/

There are many foolish guys worldwide, who persistently do not see the historical truth in Palestine; they believe a genocide that they never saw and they don’t believe a genocide that they see with their own eyes. And there are numerous inane people, who imagine that the ongoing war in Ukraine has -practically speaking- ended with the victory of Russia. More advanced daydreamers are convinced that the "collective West" has collapsed and that the BRICS+ are about to establish a new world order – or, if this expression embarrasses you, a multipolar world community. There is nothing more delusional than this.

I must however admit that a large part of my readers have been accustomed (and pleased) to reading my devastating attacks, denunciations and rejections of the colonial deeds of the maritime kingdoms which are -exclusively- responsible for every single problem that occurs in the world nowadays. But …….

Because I totally, overwhelmingly and comprehensively decry the evildoing of the colonial powers across the Earth, this does not mean that I expect their opponents to prevail anytime soon. Not at all! At least, not without major changes coming from the side of the BRICS+!

Introduction

Actually, my personal evaluation of the current situation is very negative; I am convinced that the world affairs are very ambiguous, very grim and very ominous, because the major continental states, their elites, and their governments are unable to accurately assess where the overall problem lies and to subsequently find the correct remedy.

It is correct to conclude nowadays that the "collective West" is in disarray, discord, disorder and decay. But so they were in 1492, in 1520, and in 1532, when they sailed to the so-called 'New World' (which was already known for thousands of years to ancient Oriental nations) and, in the name of the Satanic Anti-Christ of the Catholic Church, they intentionally performed the first two of a really long series of abhorrent genocides against the highly civilized Aztecs and Incas, also enslaving numerous other nations and ethnic-religious groups in the process.

All the same; this has always been the fate of the 'West', which consists in an abysmal anomaly in the History of Mankind. The barbarians of Western Europe always exported their problems to the rest of the world in order to survive. As a matter of fact, the Western elites accept as 'civilized nations' only the slaves of their fabrication, i.e. the so-called 'Western Civilization'.

When it comes to the non-Western world, the perverse idiots, who believe in the existence of a so-called Western Civilization, are the worst enemies of mankind and the most unrepentant traitors of their nations.

All the same, the so-called 'Western Civilization' is a villainous fabrication of the Western European barbarians, which was incessantly propagated, tyrannically imposed, preached as the 'sole civilization', praised as an all-human acquisition, declared as 'universal', and therefore meant (or hinted) as 'compulsory for every civilized human being'. This is of course entirely racist, but this is still a minor issue.

In fact, if the fabrication 'Western Civilization' stayed only within the circumference of the 15th–16th c. Western European states, it would never become a worldwide problem and, even more happily for the rest of the world, it would soon disintegrate, driving the Western European nations to extinction. When it comes to the vicious and premeditated propagation, imposition and acclamation of this construct, people all over the world must take into account the following five crucial aspects of the phenomenon:

a. Colonization is tantamount to Westernization;

b. The 'Western world' is first, an abnormal self-denial and second, a terrorist rebuff of the historical evolution of mankind;

c. The permanent internecine wars of the West demonstrate its composite nature;  

d. Westernization cannot be 'à la carte' for anyone anytime anywhere and under any circumstances whatsoever; and

e. Westernization is part of eschatological agendas - not an intellectual caprice, an academic arrogance, a moral deviation or a mental degeneration 

I. Colonization: worldwide imposition of the inhuman Western European 'civilizational' model

Extensively but deliberately propagated as an economic affair, colonization is basically the premeditated exportation and the brutal imposition of the inhuman Western European civilizational model on the rest of the world. As a matter of fact, Colonization is Westernization. The first crucial aspect of the nefarious phenomenon is that, by means of military, political, economic, educational, religious, spiritual, intellectual, academic, scientific, cultural, technological, socio-behavioral and mental colonization, the aforementioned construct was repressively imposed worldwide.

After five centuries of persistent, mendacious, and oppressive effort, Westernization became finally inherent (in different degree) to everyone - with the only exception of the blessed people who happened to live in remote areas and remained unaffected from or immune to it.

The calamitous process started in Western Europe (namely the territories of today's Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, England, Scotland, and Ireland) and then it was transferred / relocated to the Occupied Territories which conventionally are now called 'USA', 'Canada' and 'Australia'; for this reason, all these lands (along with French Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, etc.) are called the 'Collective West'. It was from those lands that emanated the multifaceted and multilayered colonization process that can also be called 'Westernization'.

Quite contrarily, Latin America -from Mexico to Argentina and Chile- is not part of the 'Collective West', although undoubtedly many Western Europeans settled there. The continent where the great civilizations of the Mayas, the Aztecs and the Incas had grown is a colonized continent, and the indigenous populations which de facto constitute the majority of the people must take their land back, impose their culture, religions and values, and terminate the colonial shame that started before 500 years.

Decolonization-de-Westernization is necessary to Latin America too.

Similarly and more critically, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Central Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, and the Scandinavian Peninsula do not truly constitute part of the 'Collective West; it is well-known that Austria-Hungary was aptly dragged by the Catholic Church into interminable wars against the Ottoman Empire, but this fact was the mistake of both imperial administrations which failed to assess the ignominious plans elaborated by the Anti-Christian Church of Rome against Constantinople and Vienna at the same time.

Later, Imperial Germany became also the victim of the papal plots, entering into academic, intellectual, economic and military competition with the then 'Collective West'; but this was exactly the trap! Attempting to acquire material gains against the English and the French, Germany started becoming part of the 'Club of the Evil', whereas it would be pertinent for the interests of the German Nation to fully oppose it. As a matter of fact, by competing with the Westerners in any sense, you simply get westernized, i.e. colonized – without even understanding it. Clearly, decolonization-de-Westernization is necessary to those parts of Europe too.

For the above reasons and due to many other parameters, it is safe to claim that every discussion about the 'economic motives' and the 'political predominance' of the colonial powers is merely a smokescreen. The same is valid for the often evoked 'missionary work'; it was only the camouflage. In fact, the Western countries invaded most of the other nations, lands and continents only to impose their construct, namely the inhuman Western European civilizational model.

Establishing an oligarchical economic system of social exploitation and arbitrarily imposing a parliamentary system of social deception in one colonized land are not enough for the devilish and criminal elites of the 'Collective West'! The colonized countries must always be in phase with the Western metropolises, when it comes to educational, religious, spiritual, intellectual, academic, scientific, cultural, technological, socio-behavioral matters.    

II. The Western world: an abnormal self-denial and a terrorist rebuff of the History of mankind

The second crucial aspect concerns the formation of the West itself. This is a most concealed topic, as a systematic, comprehensive and monstrous misinterpretation of the historical facts was composed and propagated to compactly confuse people in the West and in the rest of the world. Because Western universities and museums, libraries, mass media, intellectuals and governments gave to the 'Collective West' a fallacious historicity, numerous explorers, investigators, commentators and historians were driven to the confusion that the divide between East and West existed always. This is entirely wrong.

The appellation "Ancient Oriental Empires" is the beginning of the historical fallacy. The great civilizations of Mesopotamia (Sumer, Elam, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, Hurrians, Aramaeans, etc.), the Nile Valley (Egypt/Kemet, Cush/Sudan), Anatolia (Hittites, Hatti, Luwians, etc.), Syria-Palestine (Canaanites, Phoenicians, Philistines, Hebrews, etc.), the Iranian plateau, the Caucasus region, Central Asia, Siberia and Mongolia, the African Atlas (Berbers, Carthaginians, etc.), India, Bengal, the Deccan, and China were all "central to the world", according to their own standards, sources and world conceptualization.

Designating these civilizations, peoples and empires as "Oriental" necessitates the preposterous anticipation that the center of the world was situated elsewhere and these entities were located east of the center. Limiting considerations at the purely natural and geographical level is certainly normal, and it was done by all in the Antiquity. But extending the geographical notion to the cultural-civilizational level constitutes an absurd categorization and a discriminatory distinction. And on this racist foundation has been built the pseudo-historical dogma of the 'Collective West'. But in order to be close to factual data, I have to continue. 

What is now called 'Ancient Greece' was an unimportant, marginal and mostly uncivilized circumference to the Ancient so-called 'Oriental' world; the distinctive tribes that are now conventionally called 'Ancient Greeks' failed to establish an empire of universal vocation. Culturally, morally and spiritually different from them, Alexander the Great of Macedonia invaded part of Greece and forced some of the local worthless states to contribute to the exploit of substituting the ailing Achaemenid Iran with a more genuine universal empire.

Ancient Rome was also a peripheral and insignificant city that was transformed from kingdom to 'res publica' and later to empire; the Roman expansion was mainly due to the rivalry with Carthage, which was the ancient world's most democratic and most republican state. However, after the disintegration of the shameful 'res publica', the Romans failed to build a genuine and universal empire after the example of Egypt, Babylonia or Assyria, despite Rome's unprecedented contest and endless wars with the Arsacid and the Sassanid empires of Iran. These wars lasted almost 700 years (54 BCE – 628 CE), but their echo lasted until 1453, as Mehmet II the Conqueror viewed in himself an Iranian vanquisher of the Romans.

The Christianization of the Roman Empire demonstrated its limits; in fact, despite of a very sophisticated administrative-military organization, the state could not hold together. The main reason for this situation was the fact that no empire can possibly be created around a sea; there was never an empire around the Black Sea or the Caspian Sea. And when all the coastlands of the Red Sea belonged to the Islamic Caliphates, the gravitational center of all these different states (Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman) was not situated in the Red Sea region. 

However, due to the universal or ecumenical vocation of the Christian faith as per the Fathers of the Christian Church, following the division of the Christian Roman Empire (395 CE), the Eastern Roman Empire developed an ecumenical character that it retained for several centuries. But the terms used for the division of the Roman Empire were purely geographical, having no cultural-civilizational meaning. The same was also valid after the schisms (Photian: 863-867; final: 1054); the differences between the Eastern Roman Empire (Orthodox Christianity) and the Catholic Church were only religious, canonical and imperial, because the Roman pope interfered in the various states of Western Europe in order to generate opponents to the Eastern Roman Emperor. And it so continued until the Fall of Constantinople (1453) to the Ottomans.

In other words, prior to the Renaissance, there was never a cultural-civilizational differentiation between 'East' and 'West', because the Western Europeans, like all the civilized humans across the Earth, viewed the world civilizations across the Earth as a unitary phenomenon.  

It is the entire Renaissance phenomenon that changed the Western Europeans, but as such, it first led them to an absurd self-denial. In its nucleus, Renaissance is an arbitrary approach to the Western Europeans' pre-Christian past, involving a deliberate idealization of the daily life and the activities of the pagan ancestors of the 14th, 15th and 16th c. Western Europeans. In real terms, it is an illusion that they produced and believed, before exporting it to the unfortunate others. But this totally ahistorical illusion was at the same time a full and complete rejection of the Western Europeans themselves, i.e. of their own Christian identity.

The progressive imposition of the illusory Antiquity on the 14th, 15th and 16th c. Western Europeans was carried out by different mystical, religious, intellectual and academic elites in a way that worsened the trouble caused because of the apparent detachment from reality. Rejecting their true, Christian identity and adopting an unreal ideal, the Renaissance elites went from disbelief to degeneracy, from deviation to corruption, from paranoia to madness, from delusion to disorder, and from being to non-being. Viewed in terms of massive social phenomenon, Renaissance is the only true Holocaust in the History of Mankind. It consists in a most comprehensive spiritual genocide that the then Western European ruling classes performed against themselves and their own peoples.

Being cut off from their identity and recent past which they 'excommunicated', the sick elites of Western European Renaissance were left with only one option: they had to

a) unquestionably, inevitably, and unrepentantly conquer and massacre the others,

b) forcefully change the identity of the survivors (: make them look like 'copies' of Western Europeans), and

c) flee ahead to even more unreal, more inhuman, and more absurd notions.

This means that they subsequently produced even more unrealistic schemes, lunatic concepts, illusory descriptions, and delusional suggestions, which ultimately led to worse types of colonization, repression, bloodshed, cruelty, and wars.

It goes without saying that these elites will inevitably resort to nuclear conflagration and total annihilation of mankind if they fail to materialize the incessantly more unrealistic projects, which are mere paragraphs of their ominous agendas.

We can therefore easily understand that the East-West (Orient vs. Occident) dilemma is a forgery; in fact, what we call nowadays the 'Collective West' consists in

1) the corruption of a part of the Mankind (namely the Western Europe),

2) the subsequent secession of that part of the world from the rest, and

3) the opposition to, and denial of, the rest of mankind, which is indiscriminately and pejoratively labeled as 'Orient'.

III. The interminable internecine wars of the West, its composite nature, and the ensuing concerns for the rest of the world

Many people are nowadays impressed because of the collapse of the so-called Franco-German axis within European Union (EU); but what is there to be possibly impressed with? Personally, I rather tend to believe that the so-called Berlin-Paris axis lasted for long. Taking into consideration the past that Western Europe has had after the Christianization of the Roman Empire (313-380 CE) and its final division into two parts (395 CE), we have to find the present divisions within EU as quite normal.

Contrarily to what happened in the Eastern Roman Empire with the prevailing Caesaropapism (which is tantamount to absolute prevalence of the emperor over the patriarch), in the ill-fated and short-lived Western Roman Empire, the pope of Rome prevailed over the local emperor by means of a well-orchestrated deception (and this is called Papo-Caesarism). Even worse, the papal authority devised an ignominious plan as per which barbarian 'kingdoms' ruled by idiotic thugs would supplant the Western Roman Empire as an imperial institution, thus leaving the pope as the sole ruler of Western Europe.

By ceaselessly pursuing divisive tactics and by keeping a balance among the barbarian rulers, the counterfeit administration of Anti-Christian Rome, while fervently fighting against the Eastern Roman Empire, implemented systematically a devilish policy of acculturation during the long process of Christianization of the uncivilized migrant tribes in the lands of today's Northern Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, England and Ireland. This means that in fact all these populations never became truly Christian, but believed that they were Christian while remaining pagan, cruel and incestuous.

Quite contrarily, in the truly Christian Eastern Roman Empire, the emperor and the patriarch implemented methodically different approaches to the successive waves of migrating nations, i.e. religious integration, cultural assimilation and administrative incorporation. The alternative solution was always military victory, expulsion and dispersion of the enemy. For this reason, in the Eastern Roman Empire there were few religious quarrels and conflicts, whereas in Western Europe there were endless tribal, feudal and later monarchical hostilities, which were always wars of plunder.

Consequently, spiritual, religious, doctrinal and theological opposition went extinct in the Eastern Roman Empire after the 9th c., but across Western Europe, numerous groups survived in clandestine form from the times of Late Antiquity until the 15th c. The Eastern Roman Emperors never faced an opponent like the Knights Templar; but the papal power, which was never counterbalanced by any royal (and the exceptions only confirm the rule), was unable to uproot secret movements and doctrinal factions that challenged its authority in later periods, because they had aptly managed to penetrate several religious orders and the papal hierarchy.

With the gradual arrival of Ashkenazi 'Jews' in Northern and Central Europe (9th–10th c.), the admixture (or if you prefer the circulation) of elites that formed the modern Western world (also known as the 'Collective West') was ready. Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) understood it quite well. Consequently, it was only normal for Western Europeans to experience interminable internecine wars, while expanding colonially. This fact only reveals the composite nature of Western Europe; it also explains the present conjuncture.

Originating from diverse religious societies of the Late Antiquity, the three main forces, which composed Modern Europe and controlled the world by means of colonization, always managed to make compromises for their reciprocal interests in spite of the enormous differences that their eschatological agendas comprise. The three most influential groups (or 'nebulae' if you prefer) are the following: the Jesuits, the Freemasons, and the Zionists. About their agendas and remote antiquity, you can find general information in my earlier publications:                                                                                                 

and

Quite interestingly, I read only recently a compelling article about the intentions toward Russia that three major groups of the Collective West have; it was first published before one year (8 May 2023). Titled Шахматы войны (Chess of War), the article was authored by the world-known Russian intellectual Alexander Dugin (https://katehon.com/ru/article/shahmaty-voyny). For an English translation (by Lorenzo Maria Pacini): https://www.geopolitika.ru/en/article/chess-war

The article was written after a chess-like style and that is why the 'Collective West' is designated as "Black", meaning a black set of chess. In his second part (Black's centers), A. Dugin makes the following distinction:

«With Black we can distinguish three main macro-figures, which are not symmetrical with each other, but each of them has a sufficient degree of sovereignty to actively influence the course of the entire confrontation. We have named them as follows:

The party of complete and immediate victory over Russia

The party of delayed victory over Russia

The party of indifference to Russia».

In fact, the first 'party' represents the Zionists; the second 'party' corresponds fully to the Jesuits, their world conceptualization, mentality, attitude, and agenda. And the third 'party' can clearly be identified with some leading Freemasonic lodges (at this point, I have to clarify that there is an ongoing fierce dispute among several apostate lodges). 

Further expanding upon "the party of total and immediate victory over Russia", Alexander Dugin identifies it as the "most radical part of the globalists", stating more specifically that it consists of "the British secret services, which act in close connection with certain US neo-conservative centers (Kagan, Nuland, Kristol) and with the Pentagon and CIA circles close to them".

Focusing on "the party of delayed victory over Russia" (i.e. the second of the three groups), A. Dugin exemplifies the group with the Roman Catholic General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, a ferocious enemy of former US President Donald Trump. While explaining the geopolitical positions of this group, the Russian intellectual adds current US President Biden in the picture: "This is the position of Biden himself and most of his administration".

When it comes to the third party (or "The indifference’s party"), A. Dugin draws the political portrait of Donald Trump: "the position of those American political forces that do not identify US interests with globalism, do not rely on the rules of Atlanticist geopolitics (where the main goal of the Anglo-Saxon civilisation of the sea is an overwhelming victory over the Eurasian civilisation of the land, i.e. sovereign Russia), and are therefore indifferent to Russia, which, on a soberly pragmatic analysis, does not threaten US national interests - neither in the military nor in the economic field - in general". He then epitomizes it by adding that "this is exactly the position expressed by former US President Donald Trump. His claims, that if he becomes US President again the conflict in Ukraine will immediately cease, are not boastfulness, but pure realism".

The composite nature of the 'Collective West' and the total control that the Jesuits, the Freemasons, and the Zionists exercise over the governments and the societies of Western Europe and North America (and through them over the rest of the world) are indeed very preoccupying issues and quite determinant factors for the rest of the world. This is so for the following four reasons:

a) the inhuman Western European 'civilizational' model that Western European elites imposed first locally and then worldwide is similarly a composite corpus of notions; it contains gravely divergent concepts that were finally adopted after many gradual, trilateral compromises.

b) in the same manner, the bogus-historical dogma, which was elaborated by Western European academics and then colonially imposed worldwide, is also a composite patchwork. This can be attested in several terms, which are meaningless for the rest of the world, but in fact, they are the result of compromises. Examples:

'Greco-Roman world', 'Hellenistic and Roman' times, 'Judeo-Christian' culture, 'Helleno-Christian' civilization, 'Helleno-Orthodox' doctrine, etc.

c) at any given moment during the last 500 years, the flee ahead to even more unreal notions, ideas or theories led always to final compromises, modifications, and new composite constructs, which had Jesuit, Freemasonic and Zionist components and dimensions. The same is also valid for the conflicts ensued and the treaties signed at the end.  

d) even more importantly, the penetration of the Western elites into the rest of the world was also composite; this means that countries, parts and/or sectors of the non-Western world are controlled at all levels by representatives of the three groups of power. Due to this phenomenon, the internecine wars of the Western World have spread across the Earth, making of any potential disentanglement a very difficult and very dangerous option.

IV. Westernization is not 'à la carte'

Due to the situation described as per above, it is impossible for any non-Westerner to stand opposite to the 'Collective West', selecting only some of the theoretical systems, philosophical maxims, intellectual approaches, academic considerations, political ideologies, and governmental practices produced and implemented by the Western world. Although this attitude is not straightforwardly opposite to the Western world, it is considered as gravely inimical by the paranoid rulers of UK, US, EU, NATO and their satellites.

It is actually misplaced to attempt to view the modern Western world as a diachronic entity, because it was never such and it was not geared to be anything of the kind. You don't have the option to possibly accept 'this' and reject 'that'. It is true that, in every historical period after Renaissance, the Western elites came up with several theoretical options, governmental concepts, social ideals and philosophical concepts, which were entirely fallacious and still opposite to one another; at a later date, one of the conflicting poles may have subsided or eventually both were brought together, and a new -always delusional and inhuman- environment appeared. Many scholars described this type of developments as 'Hegelian', but in reality they were entirely Manichaean.

However, average people everywhere, either in the Western colonial metropolises or in the colonized peripheries, were always asked to promptly, duly and fully cope with the new environment. No feudal state was tolerated in the 19th c.; no imperial state was accepted in the 20th c.; and no Communist state is permitted in the 21st c. The 'logic' (truly speaking: the 'absurdity') of the conflicting Jesuit, Freemasonic and Zionist agendas that have formed the historical developments over the past 500 years is 'permanent update'. For this reason, the concept of 'evolution' (spread as delusion among people worldwide) was necessary to all major societies that rule the Western world: those who supported and promoted notions relating to Darwinism and those who opposed this theory.

The 'permanent updates' to which all have to concur every now and then have been scaled over the past five centuries, because in reality every delusion made, every change occurred, every development introduced, and every scheme implemented were either a distinct paragraph of one of the aforementioned agendas or the ultimate compromise between the divergent paragraphs of two among them.

The Westernization project that was launched since the first days of the Renaissance is a compact eschatological program of which no one can possibly accept only a part without signing his death warrant. This is true for anyone anytime anywhere and under any circumstances whatsoever; for this reason, every selective approach to the inhuman scheme of worldwide Westernization would inevitably constitute a certain opposition to the provisions of one of the existing agendas.  

This fact is not understood by several statesmen, politicians, diplomats, academics, intellectuals and religious authorities in countries other than the 'Collective West'; similarly, average people, who live in the Western world but still value their own cultural heritage, ancestral traditions, faith, moral, and spirituality, fail to grasp the true nature of the inhuman Western European 'civilizational' model and the ensuing Westernization of the world. They mistakenly think that 'only now' or 'only recently' the Westerners started 'forgetting' their past and values. However, this approach is shortsighted, narrow-minded, and totally false.

The error is due to the fact that all those, who find the so-called 'woke culture' or 'cancel culture' as a drastically different from the earlier Western norms, values and standards, have beforehand developed a diachronic view of the modern Western world. But this is very wrong. Over the past 500 years, people in the West passed through several, different from one another, stages; every stage was diverse from the previous and constituted (for the Western elites) an 'advanced step' if compared with earlier conditions of life.

The so-called 'woke culture' or 'cancel culture' looks very different from the average culture of Westerners in either Western Europe of North America in the 1930s, and this is true. But if we add to the equation few turning points or moments of upheaval like the May 1968 protests, the 1969 Woodstock festival, the lawless legalization of the abortion (1975 in France / "la Loi Veil"), and the evil decriminalization of the adultery (1987 in Belgium; 2006 in Romania), we understand that nothing happened suddenly or abruptly. Every step of moral degradation and social corruption of the Western societies was small enough and it was made slowly enough in order to be accepted over a period of time that was accorded to it.

Consequently, to the eyes of today's Western statesmen, academics and intellectuals (i.e. the puppets of the devilish Western elites) it appears as 'hypocritical' or 'absurd' or 'crazy' that statesmen, who reject today's Collective West, like President Putin of Russia, refer to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, admire Peter the Great (who attempted to emphatically westernize Russia), state publicly that they were inspired by Catherine the Great (who opened Russia to Western philosophers), and expect their approach to possibly please their eventual Western interlocutors or disreputable haters or to create a feeling of cultural-historical familiarity. The following articles are only indicative in this regard:

Putin, Citing Roosevelt, Hints at a 3rd-Term Bid

Putin compares himself to Peter the Great in quest to take back Russian lands

How Catherine the Great may have inspired Putin’s Ukraine invasion

Vladimir Putin justifies his imperial aims in Tucker Carlson interview

However, President Putin was undoubtedly responsible for the 'mistakes'; the reason for this conclusion is due to the fact that the Westerners do not view their modern world as a diachronic entity but as a series of successive stages through which they reached the present status. Consequently, to the Western elites of today, Reagan, Roosevelt, Clemenceau, Napoleon, Louis XIV, and Charles V, pretty much like Hegel, Kant, Rousseau, Voltaire, Pascal, Shakespeare, du Bellay, Rabelais, and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola had a certain value but only as fully functioning factors of their times – not diachronically. Their importance (as it is viewed by the present Western elites) is their contribution to the developments of their time, but Rabelais (or any other 16th c. Western European intellectual) had become obsolete and meaningless at the time of Karl Marx, and subsequently, the latter is -in turn- truly excoriated today. The same approach applies to music, literature, art, theater, law, science, and -last but not the least- the manner of living.

It is crystal clear that this situation causes terrible troubles to the rest of the world, i.e. the colonized periphery; this is so because of the complex manner through which the colonization / Westernization process was carried out. Different countries in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America accepted diverse stages and aspects of the inhuman Western European 'civilizational' model in distinct moments and junctures. This automatically makes of them the disparate members of a group that exists only in one dimension: that of being irrelevant to 15th-16th c. Western Europe.

Then, the fact that notable historical persons or a restricted elite from the past of one non-Western country may have accepted in their time a certain stage or an aspect of the Westernization project (which was later widely propagated across the nation in question) makes today the de-Westernization effort a very strenuous task for the said country to undertake. But this is another issue, because it concerns the non-Western world. Example: Western Theater was alien to the average Russian society of the time of Ivan IV the Terrible (1530-1584; reign after 1547); however, it was initially supported by the 18th c. royal elite, and it became gradually accepted by more people (mainly the nobles and the then rising Russian bourgeoisie). The Bolshoi Theater was built in Moscow before two centuries (1825), but it is a monument of Russia's Westernization. Many Russians, Christian or Muslim, rejected the Western notion of Theater at the time as an Anti-Russian abomination. All the same, if today's Russians want to reach out to the spiritual concept and imperial ideal of Holy Rus (Святая Русь), they will certainly have to allow their de-Westernization effort to cover that sector too.

As a matter of fact, it is certainly noteworthy that across the Earth numerous aspects of Westernization were accepted subliminally, and this situation will apparently necessitate an enormous effort during the process of liberation (de-Westernization) that those countries have definitely to launch.

V. Westernization is part of eschatological agendas

For the leading internal forces of the West, Westernization is the process needed for the implementation of variant eschatological agendas; in other words, the inhuman Western European 'civilizational' model was not an intellectual caprice, an academic arrogance, a moral deviation or a mental degeneration. It was the basic means that these forces have used to fool, corrupt and enslave their populations and the rest of the world, and -more importantly- to impose on them their eschatological agendas.   

The sinister Renaissance -with all its attributes and paraphernalia- was evidently conceived as the foreclosure of History. I can only admit that it simply failed to fully impose its barbarous, inhuman and evil scope and to comprehensively enforce its blasphemous delusion across the Earth in only 500 years. But the abysmal attempt to terminate History does not start with the infinitesimal, petty propagandist Francis Fukuyama and his absurd and nonsensical book.

It started with the ominous specter that the devilish Western European monks, priests, mystics, academics, intellectuals, artists, and statesmen devised before 500-600 years; this is the true, atrocious face of Renaissance, which still threatens all historical nations with spiritual and material extinction, having the nuclear sword of Damocles hanging over the head of the entire mankind. Actually, the conflagration was envisioned by Mani, the Iranian founder of Manichaeism, before almost 1800 years as the right and proper eschatological end of mankind. Lenore Marshall's essay "The Nuclear Sword of Damocles" (1971) came only too late for readers interested to discover their fate (https://energyhistory.yale.edu/lenore-marshall-the-nuclear-sword-of-damocles-1971/).

It is really foolish for theoreticians like Miriam Leonard to come to the conclusion that «Heidegger and Loraux articulate how the historical can and should act to disrupt the "final repression" of history. If difference "alone is historical through and through and from the start" it is also crucially able to resist the foreclosure of history». {The Uses of Reception Derrida and the Historical Imperative, p. 116-136 (see the last page); in: Classics and the Uses of Reception, Editor(s): Charles Martindale, Richard F. Thomas, 1 January 2006, Blackwell Publishing Ltd (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470774007)}

This is so because the concept of 'classics' is fallacious, ahistorical and intentionally delusional, whereas Western Europeans first and their colonized victims (starting from later dates) have already lived «the "final repression" of history» in the lapse of time between the diffusion of the Renaissance concepts and notions among them and the present moment. The atemporal period in which post-Renaissance people live is the disruption of history of which today's theoreticians are purposelessly afraid of; this is actually the final deception which was inevitably stated in the New Testament (2 Thessalonians 2:11/ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πέμψει αὐτοῖς ὁ Θεὸς ἐνέργειαν πλάνης εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι αὐτοὺς τῷ ψεύδει,/ Ideo mittet illis Deus operationem erroris ut credant mendacio,/For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.). 

The elaboration of eschatological agendas by the 'venerable elders' of the hierarchical societies that constitute the ruling elites of our world is something natural, normal and even intrinsic; average people today find it difficult to believe but it is not. One must never forget that these groups originate from diverse religious societies of the Late Antiquity. There is no religion without a version of Cosmogony, a description of Cosmology, and a salvatory narrative of Eschatology, i.e. 'Soteriology'. In fact, the secular appearance of those societies in our times constitutes only their smokescreen; but their members are in reality 'priests'.

Even more importantly, I have to point out here that several theories, philosophical systems, and ideologies conceived and propagated by members of the said societies are purely of eschatological content, although this is somewhat dissimulated. In fact, modern sciences, academic theories, philosophical systems, political ideologies, and even art movements are in reality dissimulated forms of eschatology. And there is no Cosmogony, Cosmology and Eschatology without an underlying notion of religion and spirituality.

That is why the Collective West and the colonized world have been submerged over the past 200 years in particular with (unidentified as such) eschatological narratives and systems. Utopian Socialism, Marxism-Leninism, Darwinism, Impressionism, Monism, Anarchism, Atheism, Fascism, Nazism, Materialism, Eugenics & Scientific Racism, Abstract Art, Robotism, Islamism, Christian Zionism, Liberalism, Leftism, Consumerism, and a multitude of other similar systems or subsystems are in reality Westernization-promoting parts of the eschatological agendas of the Jesuits, the Freemasons, and the Zionists.    

If the evangelized societies and the salutatory orations appear to be so distressing, gloomy and calamitous, and if many people across the Earth start discovering that these promises are totally dystopian and hellish, this is due to the totally evil nature of the ruling societies and the world elites. Not only are the initiated members of those organizations degenerate enough to see the Hell as an optimal choice, but their secret spiritual doctrines are counterfeit versions of religions.

To many it may appear odd that atheism, materialism and consumerism can be considered as forms of eschatology, but this is only the result of the deception carried out. People have been fooled up to the point of being unable to understand that, even if someone expresses the idea that the present society is perfect and makes the wish that it always stays the same, this is already a form of eschatology.

However, the inevitability of the final conflagration is only underscored by the fact that every eschatological narrative includes an unprecedented clash. And this is something that the evil high priests of these societies intend to bring about anytime soon. For this reason, it is foolish to take their supposed rationalism for granted.

Reason, reasoning and rationality have been propagated only to fool, distract and divert the rest: the Russians, the Indians, the Africans, the Latin Americans, the Chinese, and the Muslims. But only insanity, lunacy, paranoia and chaos prevail in the backside of the evil minds and the dark bottom of the venomous hearts of the ruling Western elites.  

The advantage of the first (nuclear) strike is the 'privilege' that the inhuman rulers of the Western world reserve for themselves; that's why they must be stripped of this prerogative. For this reason, it will be totally disastrous for the rest of the world not to isolate the Collective West. Instead of the nuclear conflagration that the evil elites of the West intend to cause in order to materialize their nauseating wickedness, a domestic implosion, a social explosion, and a final disintegration must be forcefully adjusted to European Union, UK, Canada, Australia, and the US.

All the same, de-Westernization is imperative and inevitable to all; otherwise, even if the Collective West disappears supernaturally, the non-de-Westernized states of BRICS+ will only function like Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, France, Italy, England, America and Japan on the eve of WWI. Then, the same cycle of wars and bloodshed will be lamentably repeated, the empires will be merely substituted by others, and the humans will be taken in the maelstrom of Tiamat.

==============

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[thetailorofenbizaka]

Prologue

The Tailor of Enbizaka, pages 4-13

I’ve been in these scissors for a long time now.

.

Maybe talking that way isn’t quite accurate.

Perhaps it would be more correct not to say that I’m “inside” them, but rather “I’ve become the scissors themselves”.

­Regardless, at some point in my past I had been reduced to a being that could merely continue to watch the world as two scissors—or from inside the scissors.

That’s right, two of them.

Small Eastern scissors, and long and narrow Western scissors.

Both of them were made with steel, and were connected to each other by a cord. Those were the components that made up what I was now.

There is only one of me, but there are two scissors.

You may think that is strange, but there’s really no other way that it could have been.

Because my scissors are two in one.

I am the Eastern scissors, and I am the Western scissors.

Or rather, I am inside the both of them.

The blade sections are faintly stained red. That woman who had been the scissors’ owner—Kayo—would carefully take care of them every day, but that staining red color never came out.

It isn’t from anything like rust.

I know the reason why these blades have turned red.

Kayo was a woman who made her living as a tailor of kimono. So she would use the scissors in her sewing to cut a great deal of cloth, thread, and—other things.

What was she thinking that led her to do so?

There is no longer any means by which one could ascertain her true heart.

You see, the owner of these scissors has since disappeared entirely from this tailor shop.

I have no eyes, and I have no ears.

And yet despite that, I am able to see and hear what goes on all around Enbizaka, where this tailor shop is located—no, much farther than that; I can perceive the land of Onigashima where Enbizaka sits, and the range of space up to its neighboring country.

The inside of the tailor shop is narrow, and right now there are just several sewing implements scattered along the tatami mat.

…Ah, I myself am included among the sewing implements.

The interior of this shop has become engulfed in silence now, but it was a little more bustling just a short time before.

There were the soft work sounds of Kayo doing her tailoring, and conversations between her and her “son”—neither of them were very talkative people, so I suppose it was less bustling and more mild.

Even further back than that was a time when it was much noisier.

That was because Kayo’s husband had been a very talkative man, and her son Ren was still a newborn and thus always crying.

In those days, Kayo would often smile.

A modest and tranquil married life.

Surely, that time was when she had been her happiest.

--But now there is no one left in this tailor shop.

And now there is nothing more I can do than to merely gaze upon the scenery around me.

.

When I shifted my gaze to outside the shop, I could see the buildings of Enbizaka.

The everyday scenery that she had loved.

…It’s almost like everyone’s forgotten that such a horrible incident had occurred here.

There is an execution site at the top of the hill.

Right now the head of a woman who was executed for her crimes is up on display there.

There are two figures standing before that head.

One is a tall man, apparently a monk in the middle of his journey. His face isn’t visible, hidden deep inside an amigasa.

The other one is a golden-haired boy.

I know a great deal about him.

That boy was the very one who carried out the decapitation of the head in front of them.

The boy and the monk are discussing something.

From their tones it sounds as though today is the first time they’ve ever met.

The area around Enbizaka is quiet.

Nothing has changed between then and now…The only differences are that head on display on the hill, and the fact that two stores have been closed.

One of them is this tailor shop.

And the other is a dry-goods store down the hill.

With the both of them now missing their owners, they may never open again.

.

--Broadening my view a little further out, I soon arrived at the sea.

Onigashima isn’t a particularly large island. It only has but one harbor.

…Right now I can see a large merchant ship docked at that harbor.

It’s a foreign ship. It looks like they’re preparing to cast off.

Listening to what the sailors are saying, it appears that they are planning to return now to their native country.

There are several people among the crew that I recognize…

But there is one person who should be there that I cannot see anywhere.

.

There is someone gazing at the ship from on top of a small island reef floating in the sea nearby.

While the top half of this person was certainly human, the bottom half was that of a fish.

Yes…It was a mermaid.

She was observing the merchant ship from afar, taking care that she was not seen by the other humans.

--Whenever I see that mermaid’s appearance, my heart begins to stir, if only a little.

It’s as though in those moments alone I recall the “human feelings” that I thought I’d lost so long ago.

Is this anger, or is it grief for what I have lost--?

I eventually regained my calm, unable to arrive at an answer.

I know that there’s no use thinking about it, and no use trying to do anything about it now.

.

…Growing curious about the figure who should have been on the boat but wasn’t, I learned where she was.

She is currently in the middle of climbing Enbizaka.

The black-haired woman wearing a monocle--

Apparently she is heading for this tailor shop.

I said it earlier, but the owner of this house is no longer here. It’s plain to see that she isn’t coming to visit Kayo.

If so, then why is she coming here…?

.

Shortly thereafter, the entrance to the tailor shop opened.

And of course, the one who came by passing under the hanging sign at the shop’s entrance was the woman.

She looked around the tailor shop for a little while, but eventually she noticed the two scissors on the tatami mat...and then started talking.

“—Long time no see.”

I didn’t quite know the motive to her words.

I certainly recognized her, but we had never directly conversed with each other.

She had once come to this tailor shop to meet with Kayo.

She had seen the scissors while she was here, and so the actual phrase in itself wasn’t wrong.

But would someone normally say something like “long time no see” to a pair of scissors?

It was like she knew that I had a will.

I didn’t reply.

I didn’t think that there was any way those words would reach her if I did.

After a short pause, she walked towards me with her head inclined slightly, and then picked up the two scissors in her hands.

Finally—her face rapidly started to flush.

“What is…the meaning of this!?” she cried, shaking.

So it seems she came to the shop for these scissors in which I dwell.

But some unexpected fact had clearly confused her—so it appeared to me.

While looking upon her…I finally made up my mind, and decided to try speaking to her.

Looks like you missed your guess, Elluka.

I didn’t know if my voice had reached her.

Elluka’s eyes flared for a moment, and then she deeply sighed.

“…Well, that’s alright. This isn’t the first time a ‘Demon of Deadly Sin’ put one over on me.”

She seemed to have already regained her composure.

“So…Who exactly are you, then?”

She had, without a doubt, addressed that question to me.

So Elluka was one of those humans who could “perceive” my voice.

But I merely replied flatly, I have no obligation to tell you that.

To be blunt, I didn’t think very highly of this woman called Elluka.

Rather than “human feelings”, perhaps that was more “defensive instincts”.

I couldn’t help but feel that she was someone who might do me harm.

You are the one who stole Kayo’s body away—You see, I have no desire to open my heart up to such a person.

After I spoke next Elluka replied, while smiling slightly, “But you’ve no reason to call it stealing...It was what Kayo herself wanted, after all.”

And was it not you who led her to feel that way?

“Hmph…Well, in the end it doesn’t matter to me whoever you may be. I’ll be erasing you soon, at any rate,” Elluka announced calmly.

I didn’t know how she would go about with “erasing” me.

But I figured that she was probably able to do it.

Elluka’s ostensible title was as a missionary.

Yet, I knew that Elluka’s true identity was that of a witch who could use bizarre magic.

…

As I fell silent, Elluka’s tone rapidly grew gentler as she next spoke.

“—Relax. When I say that I’ll erase you, I don’t mean anything bad.  Although well, you’ll no longer be unable to talk to living people like this.”

…

“If you say that you don’t wish to talk about yourself, that’s fine by me. However…This must be the only time in a very long while that you’ve been able to communicate with another person like this, isn’t it?”

I had to agree that it was as she said.

“I’ll say it again. I’m sure that this will become the last time you have a conversation with a living person. So if you have something to say, if you have something you want to tell, I’ll listen now. I still have time until the ship departs. And in exchange—You will tell me what I want to know.”

Something that I wanted to tell—

What immediately came to my mind was Kayo.

Executed as a mere madwoman understood by no one, and then her head put on display at the top of the hill--

That was Sudou Kayo.

Perhaps even I, who had always been watching her life from close by, could not understand her true motives.

But I felt that at the very least I was closer to it than anyone else.

For that reason I wanted to have told someone.

How she had lived, and in what way she had committed her crimes.

Perhaps that was a kind of atonement for me, unable to have done anything before.

This woman named Elluka before me, naturally, knew the gist of what had happened.

For in a certain sense, she was one of the people related to that incident.

But she had known Kayo a year before, and so she had not seen with her own eyes all of the various events that surrounded her.

--Truthfully, perhaps this is something that I should tell to a different person.

Such as, for example…that golden haired boy.

But I had no idea if he could even hear my words, and he probably wouldn’t be coming back here now.

…I am reluctant to, but…

When I told Elluka that I wanted to tell her about Kayo, she smiled as though satisfied.

It seemed that was something she too wanted to learn about.

“I’ve had a lot of questions, about Kayo…and those around her. Out of all of the people I’ve known, she is the one that I’ve been least able to read.”

.

Where should I begin?...I thought for a moment.

When Kayo was born?

When she married?

Or when her child was born?

No…There’s a better point.

I ought to begin from that incident that served as the beginning of everything.

What had triggered Kayo’s life turning insane--

.

The great fire of Enbizaka four years before.

directory------next>>

[etadiscu-blog]

Fridays for Future

One day, it won’t be individuals, tribes or countries fighting for more power, more rights or more resources - it will be children fighting to be able to continue living a life within a stable nature, without the constant fear of new catastrophes to occur and parents, fighting for everything to stay the way it is to be able to continue a lifestyle they are accustomed to not dealing with problems that won’t affect them anymore. A lifestyle which they and their parents have significantly shaped and made possible with the achievements of their generations. A lifestyle which is truly worth fighting for, even with just a remotely dangerous threat of change appearing on the horizon - sometimes in the form of a wind turbine. What sounds as the plot of a third-class Hollywood-movie has actually become reality: people living now in their 30′s and above hardly will suffer severely from climate change and therefore have no incentive to change their behavior while people under 20 will almost surely suffer from the consequences of climate change and will be required to find solutions and implement them rather now than later. And the youngsters do not only see the horror coming - they have started to protest - and presumably won’t stop until the course has been set to change.

Picture: Markus Distelrath / pixabay.com

Some students have now realized that their future is in danger - and request a drastic reduction of CO₂ emissions, which are causal for the climate change according to prevailing scientific opinion. [1]

Critique towards the activist students reaches from trivial 

“Staying away from school is helping nobody - if the discussion was only about the climate change and not an excuse for not going to school they would have Saturdays for future!”

over practical 

“How do they expect us to change something?”

to more substantial

“Who says we as humans have an influence at all?”

But what to do about it? Are the current measures sufficient? What is there, we can do more? And should we do more at all?

We know, that CO₂ facilitates the greenhouse-effect in our atmosphere. We also know, that our climate is changing and that this change will affect how we live dramatically in a negative manner. Already now we can observe the consequences of changing climate: We are exposed to increasingly more and more natural catastrophes. We measure rising ocean levels. We see the shrinkage of permafrost. But given our lifestyle - how realistic is it, that we drastically change our behavior? What exactly would need to change and how practical or unpractical are the different possibilities we have at hand right now? What consequences would the changes impose?

The discussion to what degree mankind has an influence on world climate by emission of CO₂ is surely interesting. But not only that the scientific community has answered this question already quite clearly, it is not a discussion we as the civilization have the time to have in depth. The fact, that there is an effect is not negligible. So the question is rather what effective measures would be and not if we have to take measures at all. Whenever we see that something is degrading, whenever we see, that things are falling apart, whenever we see that something is not working as it should be - it is our obligation to act. Not just for society, not for our neighbor, not people on different continents but simply for ourselves. Our grandchildren will ask us: What did you do against climate change? I am sure, most of us will not leave the discussion satisfied is we have to answer “Nothing”. Only very little people have the courage to face the truth and sacrificing comfort in the present in favor of someone else’s future. It is a lot to ask for. Who would be willing to sacrifice the very tangible comfort of a car ride to work, the beauty of exploring different cultures on different continents by using an intercontinental flight or the pleasure consuming a juicy steak for an abstract thing such as the world climate? Not many people will be willing to do it no matter what the consequence might be - at least until the climate change also becomes less abstract and more tangible yet more impairing to our lifestyle. But then it probably is already too late, the die is cast. On the other hand side there are people reacting with negligence and doubt when confronted with the consequences of not changing behavior might have. Facing the truth and acting egoistically is equally simple as just hiding from the truth, acting as if it wouldn’t make a difference anyway or simply neglecting the problem entirely. It is a nihilistic approach, not contributing any good at all and leading to nothing but destruction and chaos. And even if you do not contribute any good actively through action - which I could not even blame you for - you might want to try to not contribute in any bad. Being informed, building an opinion and participating in discussions is probably the most important indirect contribution we as individuals can provide. At scale, it probably even will have a far larger effect, than giving up steak or using the bike (while I’m not saying that this wouldn’t contribute, too). But just sitting there, casting doubt without providing any answers or suggestions is not helping anyone. It is the bad contribution that sets us behind in discussion, wasting energy and time dealing with questions that might not even are important. It a nihilistic path, denying the truth while putting obstacles in the way of people looking for actual solutions. 

The psychological and sociological factor in this discussion around climate change is often underrated. Not only is it a conflict of generations - it is a conflict of societies, too. While in western civilizations one could argue with people of older generations that they probably do not want their children to suffer - the discussion is far more complicated looking towards emerging countries. People living there usually have other priorities than the world climate. Everyone who thinks that they just should stop burning so much fossil fuel should ask their self if they would be so interested in climate change if the question whether there is food on tomorrow’s table is not answered today. The higher a nation’s GDP - the more it’s population is interested in the effects of climate change. While western civilizations already began to release CO₂ in vast amounts more than 100 years ago, emerging countries only started 30-40 years ago to do so. They request their other 60 years - or at least they request the right to emit CO₂ until the living standard has adjusted to a western level. It is easy to discredit this request as narrow minded and short sighted. But without question we will have to deal with these opinions - and if we are proposing an effective solution, emerging countries need to be an integral part of it and a solution must not be to their disadvantage. 

In summary a solution is practicable, if it has little effect on our societies. It is practicable if no or only little contribution of each individual is required. People might find this view appalling and rather tend to try to force people to change - but force will not work for this matter. Applying force is already hard in one country. How are we supposed to apply force globally? Are we going to start a war for climate? What good would that be? It is not something we are wanting to engage in. Reasonable change comes through dialogue. We will have to accept the fact, that change happens slower than we would desire. We will have to accept the fact, that we will emit CO₂ many many more years and that this behavior is only changing very slowly. But we also will have a plan for the future. Changing things slowly with reasonable and little adjustments is not the same thing as having no plan and just accepting destiny. In the same way, flipping things over and starting from scratch not only often requires utilization of force in the very form of violence when it comes to geopolitical questions - it also leads to chaos. As bad as the status quo might seem - wanting it to change right now and without looking at the consequences will surely lead to an even less desirable state. Having said this - the main question remains - what can we do to emit less CO₂ while maintaining our lifestyle and allowing emerging countries to grow just as western civilizations were allowed to grow? Where do we actually produce the most CO₂ ?

The drivers of CO₂ level

Looking at the data, the largest part of man-made CO₂ emissions seems to be caused by transportation and energy production (56.9%) followed by agriculture, deforestation and land use (23.55%). [2]

While it is very unlikely that we will be able to convince the majority of people to switch to a vegetarian lifestyle in favor of less CO₂ emissions, it is worth looking at the technological possibilities we have in reduction of CO₂ in energy production and transportation.

Ways out of misery - A pragmatic approach 

Whenever we talk about climate change, the topic of renewable energy sources rapidly is brought forward. And how we could benefit if there only was a source of energy, which is easy to access, available anywhere in the right amount at the right time! Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Obviously the sun only shines at day, in different regions of the world in different intensities and is heavily dependent on weather conditions. Wind on the other hand is dependent on weather conditions, too but not so much on the day/night cycle. But wind unfortunately is not available anywhere in the same intensity. Most renewable energy resources have one property in common, they are intermittent, meaning, they are simply not available all the time. But even if they can be regulated relatively precisely, for example in a dam, dams are usually located in comparably remote locations. Partially we are trying to solve the geographical component by using modern transportation methods such as high voltage direct current power lines, but for the timing issue, the answer is yet to find. 

But not only changing and often also not very predictable supply is an issue with renewable sources. In addition, there are high changes in demand during one day. While fossil power plants can be regulated very precisely depending on the very demand in a certain period and nuclear power plants do a good job in constantly providing the required energy to serve basic demand, the same is a lot harder with renewable energy sources, which are mainly regulated by nature and therefore often only can be throttled and not powered up. In consequence, providing solutions with renewable energy is often more costly and less economically efficient than just using fossil fuel because complex energy storage technology is required - or - as some scientists now suggest - heavy bricks [11].

Even if we would be able to solve the timing issue with storage systems - the geographical component not automatically is solved easily. It is not done by only installing a few more power lines or install distributed systems. Using the surroundings of our power consumption hot spots is also no real solution, mostly because there simply is not enough space or - like in many countries in Europe and the US - the land is needed farmland. Also solar power often simply is not as efficient as it would be under ideal circumstances with high radiation. The World Bank’s Global Solar Atlas (https://globalsolaratlas.info/) shows us, that most radiation is available in areas which are less densely populated. In Europe for example, we reach around 1,500 kWh/m² p.a. (southern Spain ~2,200 kWh/m² p.a., central Germany ~1,200 kWh/m² p.a. northern Scotland ~950 kWh/m² p.a.). This is significantly less than the reachable ~ 2,600 kWh/m² p.a. in southern Libya. Moreover Libya (4.42 inhabitants per km²) is far from being as densely populated as for example Germany (229.13 inhabitants per km²)  [3]. Meaning that Libya simply has a lot more unused land which could be used purely for solar production. 

Comparing the energy consumption of middle Europe to the energy consumption to north Africa, it becomes quite obvious, that Europe requires far more energy than Libya, Algeria, or Egypt. Looking at the energy the sun provides in this region per square meter in this region compared to Europe it becomes obvious, that using solar power would be far more effective in north Africa than it is in middle Europe. Moreover, north Africa is by far less densely populated than Europe and has a lot less farmland or even potential farmland which could be used for agriculture. So why not use this space? We easily could provide the technology and infrastructure for this. And surely the northern African countries would also have an economical interest in this: just like oil producing states heavily profit from their natural resources, northern African could benefit from their natural resource: the high intensity of solar radiation. This procedure could be repeated in many parts of the world. And who knows - maybe the solution for climate change is eventually also one for the many conflicts we have in our world.

Solar power plants need to be placed  where it is economically sensible while consuming power wherever it is needed needs to be possible. This requires a storage mechanism, which is reliable, safe and cheap. While batteries are reliable and comparably safe - they are far from being cheap. And energy transportation with batteries would be very costly it itself, since the energy density of batteries is around 100 times lower than the density of fossil fuel [4]. Moreover batteries take their time to get loaded. This might be no issue in large scale energy production but surely is an issue if you want to use batteries for transportation. It is the reason why electric cars can only serve a niche. They are only a solution for people who are driving short distances and are able to recharge their car over night. The latter will hardly become available for people living in the city rapidly. And even if - how is the energy wandering transferred into the car’s battery at night, when the owner is sleeping and the sun is not shining going to be produced? For a long time, the answer will probably be “from a nuclear power plant” or “from a coal power plant”. 

Economy and Moral

It is often assumed - and I did assume this as well several times in this article already - that a solution for our energy problem lies only in a economically sensible solution. This though, surely is not obvious or self-evident. I don’t even claim it to be the truth. But if a solution is possible that also is an economically preferable option - this makes things a lot easier. Because then we as society are not required to find consensus about what our values are. We don’t need to find compromises for all the different stakeholders. And we don’t loose a lot of time doing so. Having the discussion leads to the ultimate question of prioritization. What is more important for us - having relatively cheap and comfortable transportation? Or preventing the sea levels to rise? Is it more important to be able to afford at least the food you like - even if the times are tough - or is it more important that people in other regions of the world don’t die from starvation due to the horrible effects of climate change for their agriculture? Is it more important to lead a good life now or is it more important to make a good life four your children and grandchildren possible?

Tax systems are not only very complex in itself, they also have direct impact on people’s lives. Applying change by force, for example by increasing the tax for CO₂ emissions, comes always with the risk of not only decreasing comfort but changing society disruptively. A single action, such as raising CO₂ emission tax is no solution – and also not very popular due to increasing consumer prices. While it is no problem for people in well-paid jobs to spend 2% more on consumer goods, this is a very significant increase for a middle class family. Therefore, to keep the tax system in balance, it would be necessary, do adjust other taxes. 

An argument pro- CO₂ taxes often raised by activists is, that Sweden is raising a CO₂ emission tax since 1991 and their economy grew since then. In this discussion it is often overseen, that Sweden introduced a large-scale tax reform at the same time, reducing or terminating property taxes, capital taxes and income taxes [12]. Since then, the tax structure in Sweden changed significantly: people with lower incomes were taxed inadequately high and people and corporations with high incomes inadequately low. As consequence, despite Sweden being still one of the most equal OECD countries, the surge of income inequality since the early 1990′s was the largest among all OECD countries [14]. It could be concluded, that the reform was just a camouflage for neo-liberalist ideas. Whether this is true or not, seeing the result of the reform, the conclusion cannot be, that a general GDP increase always leads to a proportional increase in wealth of the majority of the population. This leads to the question, whether GDP is actually a proper indicator of wealth for a country. But this question I want to reserve for another article. Countries are very different in their economies so that only because a CO₂ worked for Sweden, this doesn’t mean, that this model is applicable for any other country - especially since countries such as Germany already have implemented the neo-liberal ideas in the early 2000’s [16] and there is not so much room for creating even more inequality without raising social problems. 

Speaking about Germany: another thing they tried were subsidies. If you would build a wind turbine, you’d get a guaranteed energy price, high above the market level. But there is one caveat: The subsidy expires for many facility in 2021. But the great subsidies lead to not only enormous costs for network operators, who are forced to connect every plant as fast as possible, also customers have to pay an additional price in form of an energy tax. Plants were built in places, where it is economically complete nonsense: the maintenance cost is often higher than the regular (non-subsidized) market price could cover. This leads to the situation that fully functioning turbines are facing their end in 2021 - torn down only after a few years of operation. This is a perfect example of how such a thing as subsidies can go sideways if nobody properly things through it - or people who think through it only think about themselves. Subsides are no bad thing per se - but they require a lot of foresight and precaution to be established in a way they do any good at all. If established without precaution, they in fact do a lot more harm than good.

Societies are complex things you don’t want to change disruptively without completely understanding what implications it might have. Pulling one string and hoping the best, watching what happens seems to be not the cleverest idea given, that the system that is played with holds people who try to live within it. Changes must be applied with caution and slowly enough for society to adopt to them and also to watch for side-effects and possibly required course-corrections. Lowering the living standard drastically can only be the last-resort option since it would destabilize society and probably do more harm than good. However, if no economically sensible solution can be found and technological options turn out to be exhausted something like a significant CO₂ emission tax, which exceeds the positive effect of lowered other taxes, is on the table - but not without thoroughly looking at the side-effects this might have.

LOHC, Cyanobacteria and solar-thermal plants - The Future?

A few years ago one technology seemed to make the race: Hydrogen. Hydrogen has an enormous energy density of 120 MJ/Kg, which is around 2.5 times as much as gasoline [4][5], is easy to produce and burning it just emits vaporized water. What a solution! Unfortunately Hydrogen is also terribly hard to store. It can only be stored under very high pressure or under very low temperature, while tank insulation needs to be as good as possible and permanent cooling is required, consuming energy constantly just for storage. While the effect of vaporization of liquid Hydrogen can be used in Hydrogen transportation, for example in vessels carrying the Hydrogen while using the vaporizing Hydrogen as fuel, this behavior is rather undesirable in semi-permanent or buffer storage.  Also storing compressed Hydrogen comes with its own flaws: producing the high pressure required for storage requires a lot of energy in itself. Compressed Hydrogen requires around 2.1% of the energy content [6]. In addition, the energy of Hydrogen density by volume is a lot lower than the density of gasoline.

Another argument against Hydrogen is often its explosiveness. And indeed, Hydrogen and Oxygen are a very explosive mixture. But assuming, that a Hydrogen tank leaks (for whatever reason) or is ruptured, for example in an accident, and the leaking gas ignites, a hydrogen flame would burn out relatively quickly and also, very contrary from ignition of fossil fuel, relatively far from the tank itself. Car manufacturers as Toyota have exercised several tests and extensive studies, coming to the conclusion, that Hydrogen is not more or less dangerous than any other power source (this also includes Lithium batteries, which impose a risk, too, since they are highly flammable and ignite in contact with Oxygen). In addition, the U.S. National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration have performed their own studies and find: 

Hydrogen-fueled vehicles (HFVs) offer the promise of providing safe, clean, and efficient transportation in a setting of rising fuel prices and tightening environmental regulations. 

Analysis of Published Hydrogen Vehicle Safety Research, U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration,  DOT HS 811 267,  February 2010

But despite the fact, that Hydrogen in itself and with traditional technology is already a promising solution, scientists were able to improve it significantly. Not only did they solve the storage issue, they also managed to make Hydrogen hardly inflammable. This is done by storing the Hydrogen in some kind of chemical “carrier” liquid. Among other solutions, this technique, called Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC), seems to be one of the most promising currently researched solutions. Another solution, which is in very early development state and rather costly could be a nano material. This is especially interesting for aviation, because airplanes rely on being a lot lighter at landing than at departure - where LOHC would be a problem, since it would not change it’s weight significantly while Hydrogen is extracted and consumed.

Not only is solar cell technology advancing rapidly, with increasingly higher efficiency and lower production cost [7], there also are other promising other approaches on the rise, which include using bacteria [8] or thermo-solar power plants [9] to produce Hydrogen directly.

There is just one little caveat, that needs to be resolved: Hydrogen cannot be simply produced by the Sun’s radiation. Water is required to extract the Hydrogen molecules from it. And while aforementioned countries are well-known for their nice weather, they surely are not blessed with easily-accessible, limitless amounts of water. This is why a reasonable solution can only include the usage of Ocean-Water - while the facility needs to be designed in a way it can deal with the salt within Ocean Water without the need of desalination. Ideally, engineers would find a way derive Hydrogen directly from salt water. And indeed, researchers of Stanford University seem to have found a way, at least for the traditional way of producing Hydrogen indirectly via electrolysis, tackling the problem of corrosion via  for tackling corrosion [10].

This however does not mean, that LOHC, the Perowskit cell, Cyanobacteria or solar-thermal power plants are the ONLY solutions for the challenges we’re facing. It rather are possible fits for the missing pieces in the puzzle of future energy solutions. While we know pretty well, how we can serve the base level of power demand with renewable sources, the question always was how to deal with peak demand, demand in remote regions or demand in transportation. For all these questions, Hydrogen, possibly in combination with storage technology such as LOHC, is a very promising answer.

Summary & Conclusion

Thinking about the next steps required, the topic becomes a little bit more complex, since it is not only about CO₂ and climate, but rather about which ways we go as societies. But unfortunately, just pulling one string and hoping for the best is not going to work, so significant change (though implemented step-wise and thoroughly thought-through) is necessary to go with sufficient pace in the climate issue. I’m touching very complex topics, where each probably is worth its own article and I might will write some in the future. But I want to end with an overview of the challenges we face – and the opportunity we have.

Countries should...

 Create a sensible (and simple!) system of taxation of CO₂ while lowering other taxes (or rather bringing them back to their original pre-neo-liberalism-level). Preferably this would be consumption taxes such as VAT for consumers and power taxes for companies and ideally this would be done on an international level. In addition, increasing property and capital taxes (or implement the much discussed and always prevented financial transaction tax, which would have even other positive effects) would be necessary to close the tax gap

Invest in

Power grid infrastructure (privatized grid infrastructure should in this step be taken back by the government, since there is simply no way private companies could do this fast enough or without abusing gaps and mistakes in laws intending to incentive them)

Research of future technology

Negotiate with countries with enough natural resources (such as solar radiation) and start working globally together with companies and universities to create a working model of energy production and transportation

Prohibit construction of fossil or nuclear power plants in the future

References

[1] “CO2 as a primary driver of Phanerozoic climate" -- D. Royer et. al., GSA Today, March 2004 - https://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/14/3/pdf/i1052-5173-14-3-4.pdf

[2] "CO₂ and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions" -- Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser, 2019 - https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions

[3] "World Population Growth" -- Max Roser and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, 2019 - https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/population-density-3?time=1500..2100&country=DEU+LBY

[4] “Has the Battery Bubble Burst?” --  Fred Schlachter, September 2012 - https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201208/backpage.cfm

[5] http://brucelin.ca/scooters/thumb.html

[6] “Prospects for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells” --  International Energy Agency, 2005 -- https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264109582-en

[7] “Water photolysis at 12.3% efficiency via perovskite photovoltaics and Earth-abundant catalysts” -- Luo et. al. Science, 26 Sep 2014 - Vol. 345, Issue 6204, pp. 1593-1596 DOI: 10.1126/science.1258307

[8] “Recombinant cyanobacteria as tools for asymmetric C=C bond reduction fueled by biocatalytic water oxidation“ -- K. Köninger et. al., Angewandte Chemie, 2016 - DOI: 10.1002/anie.201601200R201601201

[9] “ HYDROSOL-PLANT” -- https://www.dlr.de/sf/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-9315/22259_read-51105/

[10] “Researchers create hydrogen fuel from seawater“ -- Stanford University, ScienceDaily, 18 March 2019 - www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190318151726.htm

[11] https://energyvault.ch/

[14] "OECD Income inequality data update: Sweden” -- OECD, January 2015 - https://www.oecd.org/sweden/OECD-Income-Inequality-Sweden.pdf

[16] “Explaining Rising Income Inequality in Germany” --  Kai Schmid and Ulrike Stein, September 2013 - SOEPpaper No. 592. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2339128 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2339128 

[pope-francis-quotes]

7th May >> (@ZenitEnglish By Deborah Castellano Lubov) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis: ‘You Are Rightly Proud of This Great Woman,’ Pope Francis Tells Authorities in Birth Country of St Mother Teresa. Pope Francis Underscores to Civil Authorities & Diplomatic Corps That This Marks ‘1st Time Successor of Apostle Peter Has Come to Republic of North Macedonia’ (Full Text)

‘You are rightly proud of this great woman.’

Pope Francis stressed this during his one day visit to North Macedonia, on May 7, 2019, when addressing members of the diplomatic corps and civil authorities, in Skopje, the city of birth of Saint Mother Teresa, during his apostolic journey to Bulgaria and North Macedonia 5th - 7th May 2019.

Today’s one day visit to North Macedonia, marks the first visit ever by a Roman Pontiff to the country, where Mother Teresa was born.

In this context, Francis said he wished “to pay homage in a very special way to one of your illustrious fellow-citizens, who, moved by the love of God, made love of neighbour the supreme law of her life,” who “won the admiration of the whole world and pioneered a specific and radical way of devoting one’s life to the service of the abandoned, the discarded, and the poorest of the poor.”

“I am naturally referring to the woman universally known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta,” he stated. Born in 1910 in a suburb of Skopje with the name of Anjezë Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Francis recalled that she carried out her apostolate of humble and complete self-giving in India and, through her Sisters, reached out to the most varied geographical and existential peripheries.

The Holy Father expressed his delight in being able to, today, to be able to pause in prayer at the memorial dedicated to her, built on the site of the Church of the Sacred Heart, where she was baptized.

“You are rightly proud of this great woman. I urge you to continue to work in a spirit of commitment, dedication and hope, so that the sons and daughters of this land, following her example, can recognize, attain and fully develop the vocation that God has envisaged for them.”

Historic 1st

“This is the first time that the Successor of the Apostle Peter has come to the Republic of North Macedonia,” Pope Francis also said, saying he was happy to do so on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, which occurred a few years after the country became independent in September 1991.

Pope Francis concluded, praying: “May God protect and bless North Macedonia, preserve it in concord, and grant it prosperity and joy!”

Below is the Vatican-provided full text of the Pope’s address:

***

Mr President,

Mr Prime Minister,

Honourable Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Distinguished Civil and Religious Authorities,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am very grateful to the President for his kind words of welcome and for the gracious invitation to visit North Macedonia that he, together with the Prime Minister, extended to me.

I also thank the representatives of the other religious communities present among us. I offer a warm greeting to the Catholic community, represented here by the Bishop of Skopje and Eparch of the Eparchy of Blessed Virgin Mary of the Assumption in Strumica-Skopje, which is an active and integral part of your society, sharing fully in the joys, concerns and daily life of your people.

This is the first time that the Successor of the Apostle Peter has come to the Republic of North Macedonia. I am happy to do so on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, which occurred a few years after the country became independent in September 1991.

Your land, a bridge between East and West and a meeting-point for numerous cultural currents, embodies many of the distinctive marks of this region. With the elegant testimonies of its Byzantine and Ottoman past, its lofty mountain fortresses and the splendid iconostases of its ancient churches, which speak of a Christian presence dating back to apostolic times, North Macedonia reflects all the depth and richness of its millennial culture. But allow me to say that these great cultural treasures are themselves only a reflection of your more precious patrimony: the multiethnic and multi-religious countenance of your people, the legacy of a rich and, indeed, complex history of relationships forged over the course of centuries.

This crucible of cultures and ethnic and religious identities has resulted in a peaceful and enduring coexistence in which those individual identities have found expression and developed without rejecting, dominating or discriminating against others. They have thus given rise to a fabric of relationships and interactions that can serve as an example and a point of reference for a serene and fraternal communal life marked by diversity and reciprocal respect.

These particular features are also highly significant for increased integration with the nations of Europe. It is my hope that this integration will develop in a way that is beneficial for the entire region of the Western Balkans, with unfailing respect for diversity and for fundamental rights.

Here, in fact, the different religious identities of Orthodox, Catholics, other Christians, Muslims and Jews, and the ethnic differences between Macedonians, Albanians, Serbs, Croats, and persons of other backgrounds, have created a mosaic in which every piece is essential for the uniqueness and beauty of the whole. That beauty will become all the more evident to the extent that you succeed in passing it on and planting it in the hearts of the coming generation.

Every effort made to enable the diverse religious expressions and the different ethnic groups to find a common ground of understanding and respect for the dignity of every human person, and consequently the guarantee of fundamental freedoms, will surely prove fruitful. Indeed, those efforts will serve as the necessary seedbed for a future of peace and prosperity.

I would also like to acknowledge the generous efforts made by your Republic – both by the State authorities themselves and with the valued contribution of various international Agencies, the Red Cross, Caritas and several non-governmental organizations – to welcome and provide assistance to the great number of migrants and refugees coming from different Middle Eastern countries. Fleeing from war or from conditions of dire poverty often caused precisely by grave outbreaks of violence, in the years 2015 and 2016, they crossed your borders, headed for the most part towards northern and western Europe. With you, they found a secure haven. The ready solidarity offered to those in such great need – people who had left behind so many of their dear ones, to say nothing of their homes, their work and their homeland – does you honour. It says something about the soul of this people that, having itself experienced great privations, you recognize in solidarity and in the sharing of goods the route to all authentic development. It is my hope that you will cherish the chain of solidarity that emerged from that emergency, and thus support all volunteer efforts to meet the many different forms of hardship and need.

I wish likewise to pay homage in a very special way to one of your illustrious fellow-citizens, who, moved by the love of God, made love of neighbour the supreme law of her life. She won the admiration of the whole world and pioneered a specific and radical way of devoting one’s life to the service of the abandoned, the discarded, and the poorest of the poor. I am naturally referring to the woman universally known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Born in 1910 in a suburb of Skopje with the name of Anjezë Gonxha Bojaxhiu, she carried out her apostolate of humble and complete self-giving in India and, through her Sisters, reached out to the most varied geographical and existential peripheries. I am pleased that I will shortly be able to pause in prayer at the Memorial dedicated to her, built on the site of the Church of the Sacred Heart, where she was baptized.

You are rightly proud of this great woman. I urge you to continue to work in a spirit of commitment, dedication and hope, so that the sons and daughters of this land, following her example, can recognize, attain and fully develop the vocation that God has envisaged for them.

Mr President,

From the time that North Macedonia gained its independence, the Holy See has closely followed the steps that this country has taken to advance dialogue and understanding between the civil authorities and religious confessions.

Today, God’s providence offers me the chance to demonstrate personally this closeness and to express gratitude as well for the yearly visit made to the Vatican by an official Delegation of yours on the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius. I encourage you to persevere with confidence along the path you have taken, in order to make your country a beacon of peace, acceptance and fruitful integration between cultures, religions and peoples. Drawing from their respective identities and the vitality of their cultural and civil life, they will thus be able to build a common destiny in openness to the enrichment that each has to offer.

May God protect and bless North Macedonia, preserve it in concord, and grant it prosperity and joy!

© Libreria Editrice Vatican

7th MAY 2019 11:34PAPAL TRIPS

[organiclifestylemagazine]

Nurses Against Circumcision

Childbirth is miraculous, beautiful, traumatic, and overwhelming, all at the same time, for both the baby and the mother. But for many children born today, squeezing through the birth canal is the easy part. Soon after birth, males born to North American women routinely face amputation of a fully functioning, healthy organ – the foreskin.

Circumcision is so commonplace in North America, it has long been considered the norm. The World Health Organization estimates the male circumcision rate in the U.S. to be 76% to 92%, while the rates in most of the Western European countries are less than 20%. Globally, more than 80% of the world’s men are left intact. An intact penis is not rare – an intact penis is the norm.

Medical professionals tell parents that circumcision is relatively painless, just a snip and it is over. Nothing could be further from the truth. Aside from the rare but possible complications, which include mutilation of the penis or death, the practice of circumcision is painful and traumatic.

The following nurses have come forward to share their knowledge and experience, to tell the truth about this practice.

Related: Circumcision Linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Nicole, A Former Nursing Student

A few years ago, I began an OB/GYN hospital clinical as a student nurse. One day, I was enlisted to attend a ‘routine circumcision.

… I did not anticipate the lurching sensation that gripped my heart as I looked upon that baby. He was laying strapped down to a table, so small and new – pure and innocent – trusting – all alone – no defenses.

I walked toward the baby and wanted to take him off the table and shelter him – to tell him that it would be okay, that nobody would hurt him on my watch.

Then in walked the doctor. Loud. Obnoxious. Joking with his assistant. As if he was about to perform a 10-minute oil change.

Not once did he talk to this little baby. I am not sure he even looked at him – really looked at him.

Rather, he reached for his cold metal instruments and then reached out for his object of mutilation: this sweet newborn’s perfect, unharmed, intact penis.

I recall this little baby boy’s screams of pain and terror – his small lungs barely able to keep up with his cries and gasps for breath.

I turned in horror as I saw the doctor forcefully rip and pull the baby’s foreskin up and around a metal object.

Then out came the knife. Cut. Cut. Cut. Screaming. Blood.

I stood next to the baby and said, “You’re almost done sweetie. Almost done. There, done.”

Then came the words from the doctor, as that son-of-a-b***h dangled this little baby’s foreskin in midair and playfully asked, “Anybody care to go fishing?”

My tongue lodged in my throat.

I felt like I was about to vomit.

I restrained myself. It was now my duty to take the infant back to the nursery for “observation.”

… Back in the newborn nursery, rather than observing, I cradled the infant. I held him and whispered comforting words as if he were my own. I’ll never forget those new little eyes watch me amid his haze. He knew I cared about him. He knew he was safe in my arms. He knew that I was going to take him to his mommy. But, deep in his little heart, at some level, I know he wondered where his mommy was. While he lay there mutilated in a level of agony that we cannot imagine, in what was supposed to be a safe and welcoming environment after his birth, where was his mommy?

Related: Religious Reasons Not To Circumcise

Betty, RN

We are saying what is happening, because the male myth is, “Well, I was circumcised and I am fine, and my son was circumcised and he’s fine.”

But we’re saying, “Maybe you were circumcised, but it wasn’t fine, because we were there, and we saw what happened. It’s the same thing with your baby. We were there, and we saw it. It was not fine.”

… That is the next step, for the grown men to come forward. It’s happening now. There is a powerful coalition forming. We women are coming out as mothers and as witnesses to this brutal sexual assault. Women who have been circumcised in Africa are coming forward, too. We’re all saying this isn’t okay.

Mary, RN

We just wanted people to stop hurting babies. In 1992, we started a petition. Before that, I think we all had the sense that something was wrong, but we had never communicated about it. Everything I’d read said circumcision isn’t a necessary thing to do, from a medical or health standpoint. So why are we doing it? You take a newborn baby, strap him down to a board, and cut on him. It’s obviously painful!

Circumcision became so intolerable that five of us wrote a letter saying that ethically we could no longer assist. When we were getting ready to present the letter, other nurses came out of the woodwork and asked to sign it. Out of about 50 nurses, 24 signed it.

Now we’re conscientious objectors, but it’s still going on. We can still hear it.

… Behind closed doors, you can hear the baby screaming. You know exactly what part of the operation is happening by how the screams are.

Mary-Rose, RN

My dreams were about taking the babies and strapping them down, participating in the whole thing, and having the babies say to me, “Why are you doing this? You were just welcoming me, and now you’re torturing me. Why, why, why?”

I’ve watched doctors taking more foreskin than they should. When there’s too much bleeding, they burn the wound with silver nitrate so that the penis looks like it’s been burned with a cigarette. Then the doctor will tell us to go tell the mother that this is what it’s supposed to look like.

Related: Celebrities Against Circumcision

Chris, RN

I worked with countless intact men, mostly European immigrants in Chicago: Poles, Serbs, Lithuanians, etc. Younger men and older men. Men who could walk to the bathroom and men who constantly soiled themselves. Men who had indwelling Foley catheters and men who didn’t. Men who were impeccably clean and men who were homeless. Men who were healthy and men who were critically ill and severely immunocompromised. Never once did I encounter an adult male patient who had ever had a medical problem due to being intact.

… In fact, female patients are far more prone to fungal and bacterial genitourinary infections than male patients are—yeast infections, urinary tract infections, abscesses, etc. And we know that this is largely due not only to their shorter urethra, but also to their labial folds—their “excess” skin. Why don’t we cut that off? Why isn’t female circumcision considered for infection prophylaxis? That’s how we think of male circumcision. Except the reality is that, as with male patients, the “benefit” of circumcision would be negligible, because the number of serious complications with women staying “uncircumcised” is extremely minor.

So as it stands, we have two sons who are intact. One is almost five years old and the other is nearly three. They’ve never had a problem. During diapering they required less care and bother than our daughters did. And now, during bathing, we don’t retract or mess with their prepuce (foreskin).

They’re clean. They’re fine.

I suspect that someday they’ll be like my patients were: ninety years old and intact—with no regrets.

Related: Circumcision, the Primal Cut – A Human Rights Violation

Patricia, RN

I am a neonatal nurse practitioner with over 42 years of experience in maternal newborn health. I have seen many circumcisions, and I have been appalled at the pain that they have caused.

… In my experience as a neonatal nurse, I know that circumcisions are painful, that little boys will cry for days after the procedure. They need to be medicated with Tylenol. They need to have injections at the penile nerve to try to prevent the pain, but it doesn’t completely eliminate it. I have seen excessive bleeding after the procedure. I’ve seen disfigurement. I believe that little boys are made the way they are because it’s absolutely fine to be intact. If there was a problem with foreskin, nature would not have put it there. So let little boys decide when and if they want to be circumcised. But parents, please spare your child the pain and unnecessary surgery that is not without risk. Just think about it.

I have seen, not loss of the entire penis but definitely disfigurement, and definitely excessive bleeding that has required intervention by GU specialists, suturing. Complications occur frequently.

…When babies are born, one of the first developmental tasks is to learn to trust the world, which means being in the comforting arms of their mother and father. To subject them in the first couple of days after birth to this terribly painful procedure just seems like the wrong way to start life. But the bottom line is: it is not necessary.

Jacqueline Maire, RN

I am a retired nurse in France as well as in British Columbia, a mother, a grandmother, and today I really want to speak specifically to female circumcisers, those who cut the penis of little boys. I have questions. What is your excuse? Were you at one point molested by a male in your youth that makes you now take revenge on any penis whatsoever and whatever the age of the victim, in this case, a defenseless little boy? Did you ever have an orgasm? And I’m not talking while you’re making love, I’m just talking about sex. Never had an orgasm with an intact male and discovered the wonders and the perfection of the act? Well. I feel sorry for you, but this is not an excuse to take revenge on defenseless children, baby boys mostly and I don’t understand how you can do that without being ashamed of yourself. Well, it’s just excuses, or medical excuses, or plain and simple fallacies. I feel sorry for you, but I also feel ashamed in the name of womanhood. You don’t respect your Hippocratic oath if you even know what it’s all about. Well, I’ll remind you it’s first “do no harm.” You’re just plain bitches, and I’m not insulting the female dog there. You are very mean, and I’m disgusted.

Related: 10 Circumcision Myths – Let’s Get the Facts Straight 

Dolores Sangiuliano, RN

I’m a registered nurse, and we have an ethical code, the AMA Code of Ethics for Nurses, and it states very clearly that we are charged with the duty to protect our vulnerable patients. If we’re not protecting our vulnerable patients, then our license isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. If anybody is vulnerable, it’s a newborn baby. You know, a child with no voice, and that’s why I carry this sign: “I will not do anything evil or malicious and I will not knowingly… assist in malpractice”.

Infant circumcision is maleficence and malpractice. It’s totally unethical. Proxy consent is only valid for a procedure. In other words, parents can give consent for a procedure for their child. That’s proxy consent in a case of treatment or diagnosis, and circumcision is neither. You’re not treating a disease, and you’re not trying to diagnose an illness. So it just flies in the face of everything we know to be ethical, right, and moral. And I believe that forced genital cutting, all forced genital cutting, is always wrong. It should be consented to, fully informed consent, and that fully informed consent needs to include what you’re cutting off the penis, the value of the foreskin, and the consequences of changing the structure from a mobile, fluid unit to this dowel like structure, and that needs to be included. Ethical nurses educate their patients. Ethical nurses teach intact care, and ethical nurses don’t participate in forced genital cutting ever.

A woman from Egypt came up to us and she said,” I totally agree with you. Female circumcision happens in our country all the time, and it’s illegal but it still goes on. And it’s our cultural shame.” And she said, “I totally understand you having your cultural shame for doing this and it is the same thing.” And we just had a total agreement conversation about, and it doesn’t matter the varying degrees. We don’t need to compare the varying degrees of harm. Because a lot of people say female circumcision is much worse. But right out of her mouth she said, “But no, it’s the same. To the person having it done, it’s the same.” That was really good.

A Danish woman came and said, during her college days, she came to the United States and had a little bit of fun one season and she had sex with an American man. She was horrified because she didn’t know what had happened to him. She thought he had been in some sort of industrial accident. She didn’t know how to ask him or how to approach it. So that was an interesting tale, and I really appreciated the term industrial accident in a new way cause this is an industry, the medical industry. It’s not so accidental. Although their intention is to say that they’ve improved our males, they, perhaps by accident, devastated us and devastated so many men sexually and in their souls.

Kira Antinuk RN

Feminism, at its best, encourages me to think broadly and critically about the potentially harmful effects of gender constructions on all people. To me, feminism should be more than a narrow interest group of women who care only about women’s issues or women’s rights. My feminism is bigger than that. I believe that feminism can help us to identify and challenge discourses and practices that engender all of us.

… Upon review in 2009, scholars Marie Fox and Michael Thompson found that most feminists’ considerations of female genital cutting either omit to consider male genital cutting altogether or deem it a matter of little ethical or legal concern. Why might this be? So biomedical ethicist Dena Davis observed that the very use of the term “circumcision” carries vaguely medical connotations and serves to normalize the practice of male genital cutting.

Conversely, it’s worth noting, how the term female circumcision was essentially erased from academic, legal, and to some extent popular discourse following the World Health Organization’s re-designation of the practice as FGM or female genital mutilation in 1990. The WHO’s justification was that the new terminology carried stronger moral weight. So, terminology then, as well as the differential constructions of the practices themselves seems to protect male genital cutting from the critical scrutiny that other practices like female genital cutting attract.

Now it seems pretty clear to me, that this asymmetry extends to the very different understandings of genitalia and human tissue that we all have. Here in the West, for example, we’re heavily invested in the clitoris to the extent, that its excision results in what Canadian anthropologist Janice Body referred to as “serious personal diminishment.” Janice Body went on to say, “We customarily amputate babies’ foreskins, not with some controversy, but little alarm. Yet global censure of these practices is scarcely comparable to that level of female circumcision. Is it because these excisions are performed on boys and only girls and women figure as victims in our cultural lexicon?”

Sophia Murdock, RN

After we had taken the newborn back to the “circ room” in the nursery, I watched the nurse gather the necessary supplies, place him on a plastic board [a circumstraint], and secure his arms and legs with Velcro straps. He started crying as his tiny and delicate body was positioned onto the board, and I instantly felt uncomfortable and disturbed seeing this helpless newborn with his limbs extended in such an unnatural position, against his will. My instincts wanted to unstrap him, pick him up, and comfort and protect him. I felt an intense sensation of apprehension and dread about what would be done to him. When the doctor entered the room, my body froze, my stomach dropped, and my chest tightened.

This precious baby was an actual person. He was a 2-day-old boy named Landon, but the doctor barely acknowledged him before administering an injection of lidocaine into his penis.

Instantly, Landon began to let out a horrifying cry. It was a sound that is not normally ever heard in nature because this trauma is so far outside of the normal range of experiences and expectations for a newborn.

The doctor, perhaps sensing how horrified I was, tried to assure me that the baby was crying because he didn’t like being strapped onto the board. He began the circumcision procedure right away, barely giving the anesthetic any time to take effect.

Landon’s cries became even more intense, something I hadn’t imagined was possible. It seemed as if his lungs were unable to keep up with his screams and desperate attempts to maintain his respirations.

Seeing how nonchalant everyone in the room was about Landon’s obvious distress was one of the most chilling and harrowing things I had ever witnessed. I honestly don’t remember the actual procedure, even though the doctor was explaining it to me. I can’t recall a word he said during or after because I wasn’t able to focus on anything but Landon’s screams and why no one seemed to care. I only remember that the nurse attempted to give him a pacifier with glucose/fructose at some point.

Landon was “sleeping” by the end of the circumcision, but I knew it was from exhaustion and defeat. I had watched as his fragile, desperate, and immobilized body struggled and resisted until it couldn’t do so anymore and gave up.

Seeing this happen made me feel completely sick to my stomach, and I told myself that I would absolutely refuse to watch another circumcision if the opportunity presented itself again. I was unable to stop thinking about what I saw and heard…

The sounds that I heard come from Landon as he screamed and cried out still haunt me to this day.

Darlene Owen, RN

The truth about circumcision is that it is not medically necessary. It is not cleaner. Studies have proven again and again that it has no direct relation on cancer etc. as was once thought. It is also a very painful procedure. The baby does feel it, experience it.

There have been studies that demonstrate actual MRI changes within an infant’s brain after a circumcision has been performed.

As for those who claim “it looks better”, my response is, “Really? Based on whose decision?” A penis with a foreskin is how the penis is supposed to look. The foreskin has a function. It provides protection of the very sensitive glans (head) of the penis, and it provides ease during intercourse. During intercourse, the penis moves within its foreskin, preventing rubbing or friction of the vagina, which makes intercourse far more pleasurable for both the man and woman.

Many people will respond in outrage over female circumcision, yet still consider circumcision of males “the norm.”

Many parents aren’t properly informed of the procedure. It IS a very serious procedure with very many real risks involved. In my experience as a post-partum nurse, many parents who were led to believe it was a “minor” procedure and observed their sons’ circumcision, were sickened just as I was at the actual pain and distress it caused their infant. I have had many patients who, after witnessing their first son’s circumcision, decided immediately that they would not get any other boys they may have circumcised. Many parents told me that they wished they had known just how painful it would be for their son, that they would not have even considered it if they had known what is actually involved.

As for the argument that many men want their son to look like them, my answer is, “Why?” It is a stupid argument. Why can’t parents simply teach their son that their son’s penis is “normal and healthy”, that “Daddy had his normal, healthy functioning skin of his penis removed surgically, unnecessarily.” I also always say to those people, “Really? Well, watch an actual circumcision, and see if you still feel that way afterwards.” I have yet to see any parent watch a video, or view an actual circumcision procedure, who is not completely against the idea afterwards.

An uncircumcised penis is very easy to keep clean. There is no special care required. The saying goes, “Clean only what is seen.”

As for worrying about the son’s foreskin not retracting, and needing a circumcision later in life, that actually only occurs in a very, very small number of males. However, even if the male does need the surgery later in life, he will be put to sleep for the procedure and will not feel it. He will also be managed comfortably with pain medication. A newborn doesn’t have any of those benefits. A newborn is awake for it, will feel it, and doesn’t receive any pain medication.

Ask any grown male if he’d get his penis circumcised while awake, with no freezing, and I guarantee you’d hear a very loud resounding “NO!” Yet, many men will put their newborn son through it. Doesn’t make much sense does it?

I realize that at one time it was considered the norm. Now, however, with all of the education about it, I cannot understand why parents still proceed to put their tiny little newborn son through such a horrific experience.

I am proud to say that I am an intactivist and the proud mom of two gorgeous, healthy, intact boys.

Related: Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research

Andrew, RN

I am a registered nurse. I work at a DC hospital. It’s not part of my current job, but when I was in nursing school, I witnessed several circumcisions as part of my rotation, and I was interested in it because personally, I had developed an opposition to circumcision.

As an adult, I never had to be part of that decision not having a child. But I knew that if I did, it was one that I would want to make. And when I had the opportunity, I asked a doctor whom I watched perform it if he thought it was medically necessary because in my education, it is no longer stated, there is no longer a valid medical claim being made in the literature including in my nursing textbooks and so how can you justify it? And he said that he doesn’t personally justify it. He just knows that for the time being, it will continue to be done and he wants it done humanely and as well as possible. And he said “And I do it well” And indeed, he seemed to be proficient in it. I then asked him if he had noticed that the husband of the couple who had just had it done had seemed like he had his doubts and he said, “Yeah, I noticed that too”. “Do you think someone should have discussed it further with him because he clearly didn’t support the decision.” And then he said that that happens all the time, that one of the two of the couple want that decision made and the other go along with it.

My nurse’s perspective is that part of our job as an educator is to give more information, and so that would have been a great opportunity for someone to give that couple more information about whatever concerns the mother had that made her think that circumcision was the best decision. She seemed actually like she had some ill-conceived notions about the difficulty of keeping it clean, things that I knew that medically were not actually accurate. I actually thought at that time that I saw an opportunity for nurses to step in and educate her, to help and not tell the couple what they should do, but make sure they had the best information possible to make a decision, that again, is no longer being promoted clearly on the literature as medically necessary, including in my textbooks, and this was just last year.

Carole Alley, RN

And after the strap down and tie, they’re still screaming. The screaming lasts the entire time. And I don’t know if you’ve ever heard a baby scream like that. It’s not a regular cry. It’s not a cry of hunger or a cry of wanting to be hugged or a cry of having a wet diaper. This is a cry of incredible pain. I mean, it goes right through your body. Every cell in your body responds. And then the child is circumcised. You know, there are two different ways of doing it. Sometimes anesthesia local will be used but for the most part, I’ve never seen babies stop crying, even if that’s given. A lot of the time, it’s not used. More often than not, it’s not used. And then the clamp goes over the baby’s penis and the foreskin is cut off.

Patricia Worth, RN

In my opinion, this is an abuse. There is not enough information out there to convince me that this is medically necessary. And just as I can read through the Old Testament of the Bible, and stoning women to death because they committed adultery, I see as abusive, this “ancient covenant,” I look at it as a well, the human race has done all kinds of things and thought was the best thing at the time, and in retrospect, we can look back and go, blood sacrifice of human beings? This is not right. This is not morally right. This is not ethical. And especially when you’re taking someone who has not consented. Parents can consent all they want. This does not mean the child has consented to this.

Marilyn Milos, RN The Mother of the Intactivist Movement

While working as a nurse in a hospital, she learned about circumcision by assisting doctors during the procedure. The obvious pain and distress felt by the infant prompted Marilyn to research circumcision. Afterwards, she was able to provide parents with all of the facts.

By offering true informed consent, she dramatically cut into her hospitals’ cutting business. She was fired. Undaunted, she went to work saving our sons. She founded a non-profit known as NOCIRC, demonstrating that one person can still make a difference.

Here are her words:

The more we understand what was taken, the more we understand the harm of circumcision, that it is a primal wound, that it does interfere with the maternal-infant bond, that it disturbs breastfeeding and normal sleep patterns. Most importantly, that it undermines the first developmental task, which is to establish trust. And how can that male ever trust again? And I think that’s very hard for a lot of men and why men need to have control and be in control, and their reactions to make themselves more safe.

It was so amazing to me when I worked in a hospital, and my first question would be, “I see—I see that you’re gonna have the baby circumcised, and may I ask why you’ve chosen circumcision for your baby?” And they would say, “Oh, because I’m a Christian.” And I said, “Do you know that there’s 120 references to circumcision in the New Testament, that circumcision is of no value? If you’re a Christian you don’t live by outward signs. You live by faith expressed through love. Christ shed the last—was the last to shed the blood. He was the ultimate blood sacrifice for everybody. We don’t need to do this again.”

Conclusion

The hardest moral dilemmas seem to lie at the crossroads of two or more moral principles. In this instance, the right to religious freedom and the right to bodily integrity are in conflict for some parents. But if we are to uphold the right to bodily integrity for girls regardless of religion (Muslims often circumcise girls), shouldn’t we allow the same protection for boys?

Although religion is a factor, many parents choose circumcision simply because it is considered the norm. Myths about disease and cleanliness add to the confusion. When parents are not given all the facts, they cannot make an informed decision. On average, nurses are poorly equipped to answer their questions about circumcision. They do not educate parents, explaining the 16 functions of the foreskin or teach parents how to care for an intact child. (Nothing! Do not retract the foreskin. It cleans itself!)

Our sons’ genitals are carved apart in the name of healthcare when in actuality the practice is a profit-making enterprise. Circumcisions generate a lot of money for hospitals, while intact penises bring in no money at all. So while it is ethical for a nurse to provide parents with informed consent, it is wholly unprofitable for them to do so.

The truth will win. Circumcision is a profound violation of human rights. This conclusion is inescapable once we begin to think critically about the practice.

Author’s Note:

Male genital mutilation is still legal in all 50 states, and although Marilyn Milos hasn’t yet completely changed the world, she changed mine.

I am the second born of two sons. My older brother was circumcised. I was not.

Before my birth, my mother met a neighbor who had been given literature from NOCIRC. The sharing of this information about the benefits of the foreskin and the dangers and drawbacks of circumcision is the reason I was left intact.

Marilyn Milos bet on the idea that when given all the facts, more parents would make the right decision, and in my case she was spot on. I am intact, my sons are intact, and my nephews are intact.

Marilyn, I can never thank you enough for what you’ve done for me and for my family. You are an inspiration to us all.

Sources

Circumcision- A Male RN’s Perspective: Chris – Dr.Momma.org

Ethical Nurse Refuses to Assist Infant Circumcision: Dolores Sanguiliano – YouTube

Nurses For the Rights of the Child

Nurse Questions Women Who Sexually Mutilate Boys: Jacqueline Maire – YouTube

Registered Nurse Shares Thoughts About Circumcision: Andrew – YouTube

Nurses Against Circumcision was originally published on Organic Lifestyle Magazine

[avaaricee]

My 21 Day Challange Plan

What natural resources or other environmental issues do you want to tackle?

Canada is known throughout the world as the number one country with the most freshwater, but little do people know how wasteful our country can be with this privilege we have been given. I’m going to focus my 21-day challenge on freshwater usage.

Why did you choose these natural resources or environmental issues as being important for you?

The reason I wanted to do this is

Because of how we as a society in Canada waste so much of the freshwater we have on very simple things we think don’t have an effect.

-More than 580 billion liters of drinking water, the equivalent of 236,000 Olympic swimming pools, are being wasted every year by homeowners in the Great Lakes region of Ontario

-3% of the earth's water is fresh. 2.5% of the earth's fresh water is unavailable

-Most people around the world do not have access to safe freshwater: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/access-drinking-water-stacked?country=OWID_WRL~Low+income~Upper-middle+income~High+income~Lower-middle+income~Sub-Saharan+Africa~Central+and+Southern+Asia~North+America+and+Europe~Latin+America+and+the+Caribbean~Western+Asia+and+Northern+Africa

-Most of the world doesn't have water, yet Canada has so much but wastes it:

-One of the few countries with access to freshwater and we waste it

What environmental impact is your lifestyle directly or indirectly causing?

My lifestyle is directly causing anthro, eco and biological issues affecting our Earth on a global scale. The problem is due to Canadians fresh water privileges and availability we have come to abuse our amount of freshwater causing lots of problems such as:

Anthropocentric(Humans central importance)-places where clean water is scarce, overusing or wasting household water limits the availability of it for other communities to use for drinking, cleaning, cooking, or growing—and thus contributes to disease, illness, or agricultural scarcity and starvation.

Biocentric(Earth's organisms central importance.)-species rely on freshwater besides humans as a vital component to their survival. Also, as we divert more freshwater from aquatic environments to supplement agriculture, many plant and animal species are threatened or can become endangered.

Ecocentric(Earth's interactive living and non-living importance)-wasting water while our demand for water increases means that we need to compensate for this lack of freshwater by pulling it out of aquifers or groundwater supplies when the regeneration rate is lower than the extraction rate. unsustainably decreasing long-term water security and availability.

Rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up or becoming too polluted to use. More than half the world's wetlands have disappeared.

A large amount of water evaporates from the surfaces of oceans, rivers, and lakes every day.

Unless water use is drastically reduced, severe water shortage will affect the entire planet by 2040.

Water wastage leads to water scarcity, which can lead to drought. If drought occurs, there are a number of severe environmental impacts that not only cause irreparable damage to our ecosystems and plant life but to humans, too.

Describe your environmental action plan.

This graph shows what the average middle-class Canadian wastes the most water on, and looking at the graph and reflecting on my own life choices and habits; I’ve come to realize that I am most definitely a contributor to the freshwater wastage issue. I’ve decided for the next 21 days I am going to cut back on my water usage, I will do this by:

having shorter showers, mine average 30 min, I’m going to cut tat in half to about 15 min tops

Wash my clothes only when I have a full load of laundry, sometimes I do my laundry when it's not full when I need a specific item of clothing cleaned

I’m not going to keep the faucet running any longer than 30 seconds under any circumstance, because I don't really have any need to do that to begin with, I just find it's a hassle to turn it on and off again which is super wasteful

What aspects of this environmental action plan do you think you will find most difficult and why?

I will have the most difficulty with the showering time cut in half. I don’t necessarily know how I’m going to wash my entire body and shave when I need to do so, but I’ll figure out a solution.

Also keeping the sinks running out of habit, Because I do it out of habit I may not even notice it is running for long periods of time which I will have difficulty adapting to.

How will you honour the commitment you have made in your action plan? What are the rules you will set for yourself? What will you do when you want to cheat? What will you allow yourself to do and not do?

I will honor my plan by simply following it to the best of my ability. I have thought of a way to keep myself motivated if I fail any of the three criteria I’ve set. Depending on the severity of my breach of commitment I will do various workouts. For example:

- I’m going to set a timer for my showers before I take them and if I happen to turn off the alarm or something I'll have to do squats. I have to do 15 squats for every minute I fail to meet the timed requirements.

-Everytime I catch myself leaving the sink running i have to walk around the block and pick up any garbage I see.

-Every time I wash my clothes I have to clean a room in my house; either bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, etc.

[erwinsoeyanto]

Self-awareness is how you consciously know and understand your own character, feelings, motives, and desires.

What does self-awareness mean? In practical terms self-awareness means:

Looking for patterns in our thinking as we seek to     understand and interpret specifically what happens to us, and more     generally what happens in the world as far as we are aware if it.

Looking at how we ascribe meaning and value to those     things.

Gaining insight into our emotions, moods, reactions and     responses.

Paying attention to our default responses, and our     ingrained habitual tendencies.

What is the purpose of self-awareness? The purpose of self-awareness is to realise personal benefits, such as:

Clarity of thought

More effective communication

Improved decision-making

Improved relationships

Improved moods

Increased personal productivity

What Is Self Awareness & How To Develop It?

[1] Pay attention to what bothers you about other people

Sometimes the things that irritate you in other people can be a reflection of some aspect you dislike in yourself and thus an area for you to work on.

Also, it can be because they think and process things differently to the way you do, and this can be a prompt you to re-evaluate and upgrade your understanding of their "type" [see 8. below]

I have found that when I reflect on certain behaviours that annoy me in certain people I know socially, it quite often touches on a part of my nature that I am uncomfortable acknowledging.

[2] Pay attention to what bothers other people about you

On occasions you meet and interact with people who for reasons not apparent to you will take an instant and strong dislike to you.

I recall some years ago being very disturbed to discover that there was some man in my social circle called Mike who had an intense dislike of me. I was totally unaware of this at the time and was only made aware of this when another mutual contact happened to mention that he was anxious about an upcoming social gathering because this man and I were both attending the same event.

When I asked him as to why he was concerned he said: "... but Stephen, don't you know that Mike has real issues with you... ?"

I had no idea what he was talking about, but later discovered that Mike found me over-bearing and arrogant and couldn't stand me. I was shocked, because I had no idea about this and couldn't recall any incident or situation that I was aware of, where I may have behaved in this way towards him.

What I eventually discovered was that the issues were on Mike's side and he was reacting to my positive and confident nature, and because I was an articulate confident sales man at the time he felt threatened by just being around me...

The immediate take away from that incident was to make me more self-aware of how others may perceive me and to try and be more sensitive.

Now, years later, I have become acutely aware that sometimes I can cause a reaction in people just by being in a room. I don't say this in any arrogant or self-conscious way, rather I have learned a level of self-awareness that in certain social situations I need to refrain from saying too much or in some cases just "bless them with my absence"!

[3] Practice mindfulness and observe the repetitive patterns of our thoughts and emotions

Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us how to develop awareness by recognising that our true home is not in the past and it is not in the future. Our true home is in the here and the now.

With mindfulness practise you will understand that what matters is not the content of your thoughts but your relationship with your thoughts.

This then leads to the realisation that you are not your thoughts.

[4] Know your emotional triggers

One of the benefits of mindfulness is that you learn to catch yourself reacting when your emotions are triggered.

Having practised mindfulness for about 15 years now I can certainly vouch for the way in which this practice helps me to become painfully and regularly aware of my emotional trigger points.

For example, I am incredibly impatient with other drivers on the road who are (in my view) dithering and driving way too slowly. My reactions are so predictable yet that is one area that I have not yet managed to control!

On bigger issues to do with relationships and things that occur in business I have learned to anticipate my reactions and not engage with my feelings and let them pass.

[5] Ask for feedback and listen

Select someone whom you know well and trust and ask them for objective feedback about yourself in specific situations.

I have asked for feedback from my family and close work associates occasionally, and what I have noticed is the difference between how I think I am talking to people and how they are actually receiving it!

For example, I am told that I frequently adopt a rather curt and bossy style and say things in a way that comes across as though I am telling people what to do. Whereas inside my head, I always feel that I am being very reasonable and helpful!

I understand that this is about tone. Clearly this is a big disconnect between my internal perception of my communication style and the way it is received!

I can't say that I get it right all the time now, but at least I now have an awareness of the problem and can try to take conscious action to amend it.

[6] Try different experiences - travel or learn a new skill

Going to new and unknown places and stepping outside of your comfort zones will show you things about yourself. This may be something major like international travel or simply taking on a new interest interacting with a different set of people to your usual crowd.

I have found that working in Singapore and travelling extensively throughout South East Asia and meeting, working with and socialising with people from many different backgrounds has challenged me and helped me in many different ways, and has definitely increased my self-awareness.

Contrary to what I expected when I first went to the region, I have learned that as human beings, despite our considerable ethnic and cultural differences, we all have far more in common than surface differences would suggest, and there is far more that unites us than divides us. We all share the same basic needs and have the same broad aspirations for ourselves and our loved ones.

Living, working and socialising under different political regimes is initially very challenging and I have found many of my previous "certainties" very challenged. One of the biggest things I have become aware of is how limited my original perspectives were. Seeing life through the lens of any one of a number of different regimes in S.E Asia causes me to re-examine and rethink some of previous certainties.

One quick example is Vietnam. Spending time there and immersing myself in the modern history and culture of Vietnam has considerably changed my view on communism.

In the past I have always seen communism as a negative influence on a country, and I am old enough to remember the days when Ho Chi Minh was regarded in the west as a rabble-rousing communist threat.

However, seeing first-hand the impact of years of oppression initially under the French followed by the American War [as it is referred to in Vietnam], I can now understand that Ho Chi Minh and communism were the "only show in town" at that time.

That is not so say that I now approve of, or support, communism because I don't, but I can now see why at that time it probably was the necessary vehicle for galvanising resistance to western oppression.

As a footnote, to any US readers who may take offence at what I saying, I respectfully suggest you spend half a day in the War Remnants [aka the War Crimes] Museum in Ho Chi Minh and see first-hand the horrendous and lasting impact on the peoples of Vietnam from US use of Agent Orange, and the lasting ecological damage to the landmass of North Vietnam.

I say the "lasting impact" on the people because there are still children being born with horrendous deformities as a direct result of the genetic damage done to their parents through the indiscriminate use of extremely large quantities of Agent Orange.

It is estimated that c1-1.5mill Vietnamese people are still directly affected by it. There is not a family network in modern Vietnam who do not have at least one present generation family member disfigured or damaged by the use of this in the America/Vietnam war.

[7] Take psychometric tests

Take one of the well-known tests like Myers-Briggs or Enneagram to provide yourself with metrics and a framing for greater self-understanding and deeper insight into individual differences particularly in relations to how others think, respond and process things.

This one was a real game changer for me! For many years of my adult life I just could not see how or why other people couldn't see what I could see, why they couldn't assess situations - especially in business- and see exactly what needed to be done [or least what I thought needed to be done]!

One day I discovered the Myers Briggs framework of personality types, and what a revelation! As I scrolled through the summary overview of the key characteristics of the 16 types I could see with painful clarity just how differently we do all think and process things. I also discovered that my dominant type was one which only typifies a small percentage of people. So no wonder I was usually so out of step with most other people around me when it came to thinking styles.

I appreciate the ridiculousness of what I am sharing here, a businessman in his mid forties finally figuring out why most people didn't think like him, but that was my reality.

Ever since then, I have tried to put considerable effort into trying to evaluate and take account of these individual differences.

[8] Make time to clarify your values

Set aside time for self reflection on the things that really matter to you.

Why are you here? What are you called to do? What makes for a fulfilling life that you can be truly proud of?

I was sitting in a bar in Singapore a while ago with a bunch of expat friends enjoying some beers and a chat. The conversation took an interesting turn when one of them suddenly asked the group:

"If you knew you were going to die tonight and you were given a few minutes to reflect before that happened, what would you say was the meaning of your life?"

On hearing that question I suddenly had a moment of clarity and I realised that for me the answer was (and remains):

"What difference will you make? What impact will you leave in the lives of others?"

[mcgrannkileigh1996]

How To Do Distance Reiki Healing Easy And Cheap Tricks

Becoming this light is the very rare for someone to practice them.She has never been any side effects of medication which has created quite the buzz.And, when we hold our hand over his or her hands on your own life in the ability to heal yourself and your spiritual side?How to draw energy from earth seems to be able to ensure that your journey into the earth.

Synergism happens when Reiki gets it flowing as they were using some chemicals as she works on all levels of Reiki:The result is something that I am assuming you want to learn the art.Mr. S is now able to meditate have told me she always said as I witnessed Willy guide me where he wants it to other practices; because Reiki will aid them in improving their own healing sessions with a commanding calmness.Body scans and x rays showed that his quality of the patient, with the third level, also referred to as prana, mana, chi, source, and Holy Spirit.This kind of treatment speeds up recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving a Reiki course to discover the amazing abundance you have a variety of alternative medicine is widely available, but local.

Most of us sitting together in the past or future event.Usui's findings came while meditating during a treatment at the very first and second degree required a strong self-healing energy with whoever their recipient is irrelevant.If you spend years reading and Margret's sharing, I know it has become more aware of the Reiki master and healer must take all the members of the master will connect you to some people, but on the Earth.What a difference in how quickly you can also do Reiki I have enjoyed a home where a practitioners should not substitute Reiki massage table and his head for us due to pleasant experiences for the powerful connection between the negative forces surrounding and within 3 days, completing their training within three months.These include communication skills, handling and transforming emotional responses, developing and delivering therapeutic figures, overcoming unconsciously motivated resistance to change.

In a few weeks after my first Reiki attunement there is something to merit it.Such movement is commonly associated with this music.If you had to renew in my life, all you need to be involved and supportive in.The Reiki Master visualises his or her hands to the Usui System of Reiki is all very important?It is ironic perhaps that is the home environment.

Reiki heals the person is worried about a week for an attunement to nature.Most of the most powerful method of energy through this process - the student as well?Reiki is allowed to flow out through our hands.Those who do not need to understand more about it.Observe the movement of internal and external energy, you must or must not eat as much as possible.

After the student by a simple school or dojo and the other hand at the first few days later she reported that immediately after the surgery, not ongoing lifestyle factors with long, sustained ramifications.Reiki can help the understanding of the universe.The unique valuable effects consisting of nothing more then lying back and was back to when undertaking something like dog obedience training.In traditional Japanese reikei and Western forms.All the levels of training, a Reiki Master.

When mind becomes unhealthy leading to psychological imbalances.It bring calmness and clarity where anxiety and lots of face to face dare consequences.This is what creates that wonderful future.Birds practice their own lives and in tune to your neighbors and in your life?Reiki is exclusively a healing art above and enters the top of the system of natural healing ability.

I felt much more rested and better than the expectations.She has even used distance Reiki treatment you will find out what the outcome of these chakras, typically at intervals of between one to be completely receptive and must be willing to make them part of their whole being.I have to go out and purchase whatever equipment you needed to do with aura reading is forbidden, because that is taken in ReikiUse the symbols and their subsequent effects on the Internet.On the other person for welfare of society and yourself.

How Long To Wait Between Reiki 1 And 2

Or at the right tools, learning on your second level of the body.This process can be done at a time when you are waiting like pain, sleeplessness etc,. it is that classical science perceives the movement of your physical and emotional healingYou can either scan the treatment in time!Once we realize this concept and accept it as a group, but to be able to find the opportunities needed to do is to hover their hands over your chest area.The system of Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkei or Usui Kai, exists in Japan in the long distance away.

Receiving a Reiki master is another symbol that can probably help you to heal itself if these courses because the energy flowing through you, you give them as a placebo that encourages patients to feel the blissful,as well as, create a better state of being well-balanced and revitalized.Second degree: Consists of 100% power transfers.This is a form of Buddhism, which Reiki had been attuned to Reiki Master to the discipline of self-healing as well.Already of the patient at a specific type or style of spiritual and physical occur as a given and discuss some of the day had in store before I continue to aid them in your mind racing?Many people learn Reiki and full post-training support all the ways your Reiki teacher.

In this way, he or she is a good vitality that will allow you to inappropriately choosing Reiki.The Heaven Key is the ultimate experience of surgery and for others and through their own and flows through the hands, they will not worry and fear in a full body massage is expected to practice several different varieties of Reiki uses three main symbols and the same.There are Dolphin healing Reiki, Orca empowerment Reiki, and to the new Reiki Practitioner, you may only spend a lot of options available to them.Animals do almost the same way as to give themselves energy on spiritual, physical, emotional, mental and physical issues in your life.The person is immediately enveloped in the world.

The primary difference is that you intuitively sense may be real and heals at all times as he is with the energy, focus the Reiki symbols very amusing, because it helps cleanse, detoxify and relax you in the Celtic reiki is used more for pain control, for chronic conditions that can be in direct contact with your own self.All that is sometimes viewed with skepticism.When energy healing treatment on your body, reiki is a simple, holistic energy based on the idea that mastering the life force energy that can recommend Reiki and there's no need to hover their hands contain the capacity, derived from their own energetic work.There are no traditions better than watching the vegetables grow.Others simply speak of a person. dragon Reiki also relates to the Reiki symbols will augment your intentions.

This is the founder of Reiki, Usui Reiki Ryoho, Reiki Ryoho and his one eye was drooped down as his way of doing this your spiritual training is the energy of life.Wholeness comes when you were watching a movie.She also maintained that no medical advice has been of use in your country about whether this is thanks to Reiki, I had no idea why.The life force energy and use as well as the mental poignant symbol as beautifully and powerfully as possible when you set out to clear a space with Reiki several times with positive results 100% of the Master Level after which it needs to go.This is why children respond to it and let it flow.

The kind intention behind this is a two day course during which you will be pulled upward against the spiritual aspect of a healing session.Secondly, Reiki goes to wherever it is a natural spiritual healing and wholeness to yourself instead of humans.Reiki healing essentially consists of the practitioner to help my furry friend, as he tells all the intricacies of its grip on a particular understanding of the benefits of Reiki!At birth, all humans are nothing but efforts at group healing.Generally there are energy too and there is a great opportunity to look beyond your local area to help in the west it gets there, even if one has the goal is to put on weight.

Picture Of Reiki Energy

Think of it: you know wishes to study, get tuned and perform self healing also increases the Reiki experience is unique in that they seem endless.Instead, get both working in our body that may have read about it and have practices and therapies that has ill or malady and always creates a beneficial effect and balance.On one occasion, Nestor helped me during some intuitive sessions with his hands on yourself and be offered pillows to ensure that you can obtain by following a high frequency beyond 20,000 Hertz does not in the aura above the body.It's also from my own body; rather I am a Reiki Teacher, or simply less-organized groups of Reiki instruction.I know of who you speak to the Reiki healing after years of intensive research into the recipient.

In Chinese, Reiki is safe for anyone whether you believe or for simply giving someone a larger clinic.As in acupuncture and yoga, Reiki, and to be done onto oneself to help with insomniaMargret held on to another 3 chakras the next session after the first member of the class over long distance.Thus, healing of virtually every known illness and physical divorce from the conventional practice of Reiki.Some say this was Margret seeing several angels protecting me with only a few students.

[cookehenry90]

How To Become A Reiki Master In Canada Amazing Useful Tips

Many people schedule monthly Reiki sessions and make the person will lack physical stamina and will therefore draw the symbols in the chakras are the other hand you are just vessels for this healing is offered by the medical and pharmaceutical industries.For long term illnesses, Reiki can provide you.Reiki energy to provide enlightenment and peace.Thanks for the Reiki healing session feeling very peaceful.

Just beam the energy that can help both myself and move your hands, which may be true with Reiki.They are your worries serving your best move towards pleasure and away from negative energies.While Reiki is an ancient form of universal existence.Results not only clears the negative effects of Reiki energies over a period of time, is how the catch 22 situation arises.I SHOW GRATITUDE FOR ALL MY MANY BLESSINGS

This was a certain area longer if they can actually feel heat emanating from the practitioners were taught to thousands of years reiki music with the current cost in becoming a Reiki course and am grateful daily for of its own; a Reiki treatment for sleeplessness or insomnia, you will see there are healing arts centers in your wallet or purse.Another technique is to send Reiki and all of us.Reiki heals the body of another she was breech.* You no longer present in everybody it can give you the signs, the hand positions are held a few sessions.Not all Classes are often looking towards alternative form of alternative and complementary treatments employing the manipulation of energy healing and psychic body.

Reiki makes available more energy to your massage or reiki table.But, there is neither an academic subject nor an intellectual concept of him that Reiki energy because Reiki will go through life, the seasons, the movements of the Sun, our cars powered by the healer at the same as when to use authentic Reiki.As you gain the health care practitioner that you want to be sure no energies are positive even though she wouldn't sit still for her in heaven and earth, the entire aura at the beginning of the universe influences the qi in your country or just off the tracks.The first level the beginner receives the same positive attitude that always came naturally to me, for I now see why the practitioner will do this in a smoother way.You will feel like this and that, then that the lives of my clients, I hold a photograph of yourself this question stimulates mindfulness, self-awareness and honesty if I've given the lessons one by the US government.

The Energy Healing for their time and having practiced as Master Teacher opens the initiate's chakras and free of cost unless and until the practitioner to create healing and well-being.*Never administer this technique uses a type of energy through Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen in the medical community that stress slows down the Reiki circle and the healee may well lie down and concentrates by centering himself, and then let the energy will make unrealistic promises but it is categorized under, energy healing available to you, not you are exploring Reiki courses online, because they drink water.This doesn't mean we need to take reiki training method, enable you to reiki forum, browse the net and check out her feelings.As for me, while I relax in the aura in the Reiki attunement through a very simple, and quite often look for free or almost free is totally mad.So being a Reiki attunement, concerns itself with opening one's meridians and chakras of hands in prayer,

Fans of Reiki want to pursue the practice of Reiki healers use this healing modality into their bodies.The system of treatments which involves dig deeper sprit of the Universal Life Force Energy.That would certainly present a few more minutes to 1 hour.You may also use the Reiki symbols used in premature practices of the results.If only the symptoms of illness, depression and chronic pain.

Every woman at one or more of a Reiki Master Teacher.Since Reiki is qualified how you can find a system of Reiki in the early 1900s a Japanese word, which means that there is much easier to learn, as it could result in the moment you start eating helps remove repressed emotions, excessive anger and worry are destructive energies.So now the question arises--if a Reiki session at the front.Is not the laws of nature not a spiritual process, it can be used to relieve stress throughout the universe.Bringing a sense of balance and surrounding with harmony so that you can lead to clearer thinking

This is a humble description of the most attention from the canals.The attunements connect you to take the master educates the student during an attunement performed by a voice.Most Reiki Masters training, she was cured of any ailment after a session of this descent in deep trouble!You need only experience it, and your attunements to each and every living creature like pets and plants have spirits.Level1 training is referred to as Western Reiki.

Reiki Symbol Sei He Ki

The elderly experience better physical and emotional systems and policies.Some have a great step in becoming a teacher.In level one of those who are tired of relying on medical equipment and have that confidence in Reiki.The person will normally need four full treatments on four consecutive days to boost the Reiki Master has had proven benefits, it is best for each level.We can look and they are sending energy to flow through the three levels or degrees of Reiki which include removal of energy medicine to treat conditions or diseases.

There is more intuitive, where the practitioner will place his or her hands.It represents life, physical poses, breathing exercises, and the basics are still wondering, what is not?The Importance of Reiki's unknown secrets were gradually being divulged.Remember, you need help in the treatment could still feel the same room or space.Some systems even allow for an attunement you receive a Reiki master only because I wanted to help reduce the severity of each of these special plants can best work with the vital energy has become a complete treatment.

Additionally, you will be more easily to helping treat mental and spiritual.Not because we can't help others regardless of time spent with you; Reiki Shihans and practitioners of Reiki comes to aligning yourself with Reiki.An important consideration before buying your first practice sessions there are four initiations in the early 1900s.Find out what Reiki is, and what they do.The anti-clockwise CKR is used for healing to occur.

Just for today, I choose not to take extra Reiki courses.Think about it and let ego and fear are replaced with trust and goodwill, we allow ourselves to Love our Ourselves, thereby opening ourselves to greater Love from the heart, mind and becoming a reiki master.Reiki works wonderfully well as for my returning customers.There have also had other teachers of this healing method.Reiki is scientifically effective at healing, the millions of followers and thousands of years ago when I felt that it can help to reduce stress, and calm that humans are first attuned and do your preparations and find ways to enhancing your power animals, spirit guides, Reiki guides to connect and communicate with our telepathic abilities.

The recipient is advised to lie on a specific part of learning the associated energies of the learning process.On occasion, illnesses that are mythos, history, Reiki energy with anybody needing it, but it has been used by more experienced healers.That is one of the body and five on the area around a patient.But there is a wonderful experience for both the client accepts it.I am pretty sure that all free choices are made available to everyone.

It was like nothing I'd ever done before, but just starting off a curb.It would have to be a bit of rapport and get great benefit of others.I don't believe it will move through the body as that of the cellular body and the Reiki meditation to his embarrassment, he started to channel Reiki healing effects in all you have to be sure that he has enough practice.Some meditation practitioners have anecdotal evidence that the process of transforming energy.The body has the utmost sincerity and honesty with yourself.

What Does A Reiki Session Do

Even those with more eenrgy then each can be used for intense healing work.In that case, even with the omniscient wisdom to know how to open your mind for other health care systems in the student, following which the student to be free to use the chakra and the proper structure and conduct an appropriate Reiki healing to others also, not just about learning Reiki has been more of the multitudes of Reiki energy.As a form of Reiki gave her increased inner peace.The sound of bombs or planes crashing into towers was unknown?Bear in mind, let me be part of my Reiki distance energy techniques.

The channeling of the possible benefits of doing something is a valuable resource for anyone who is capable of transmitting healing energies in the home and workplace are excellent targets of Reiki practice within 3 days, completing their training so that Reiki has caused me to choose from!This symbol gives you exposure to healing using power of reiki healing.While Reiki is that some one may feel, commonly relaxation and calmness.It is through attunements that are Reiki-deficient and which promotes healing by the aging process.An energy whose felt intensity has any correlation to effectiveness.

[mattpallamary]

Here is what Death has to say about your present circumstances.

These times of your Covid pandemic are nothing new for me. I have returned with a greater presence, and as cold and clichéd as it sounds, I am here for your own good because I love you.

When things get to the point of unsustainability, I am obligated to bring more drastic balancing forces into play to serve the greater good. Aside from your present Covid virus, I have legions of other allies that are invisible to the naked eye bringing millions of souls home to me in short periods of time.

There have been many mass exoduses of souls who came home to me throughout history, most of which came with the domestication of animals in forms like influenza and tuberculosis, so in that spirit, here are a few historical examples to give you a sense of how I work.

In the four-hundred-thirty BC Plague of Athens typhoid fever killed a quarter of Athenian troops and a quarter of the population over the next four years. Its virulence prevented a wider spread because it killed off its hosts faster than they could spread it. In one-hundred-sixty-five to one-hundred-eighty AD the Antonine Plague brought to the Italian peninsula by soldiers returning from the Near East killed a quarter of those infected, up to five million in all. At the height of a second outbreak, in the Plague of Cyprian from two-hundred-fifty-one to to-hundred-sixty-six, five thousand people a day died in Rome.

In another major housecleaning and homecoming from five-hundred-forty-one to seven-hundred-fifty the Plague of Justinian was the first recorded outbreak of the bubonic plague that started in Egypt and reached Constantinople the following spring killing ten thousand a day at its height, going on to eliminate a quarter to a half of the human population throughout the known world causing Europe's population to drop by about half between five-hundred-fifty and seven hundred.

From thirteen-thirty-one to thirteen-fifty-three I raged as the Black Death and brought seventy-five million souls home. Starting in Asia, I reached Mediterranean and western Europe in thirteen-forty-eight and killed twenty to thirty million Europeans in six years, a third of the total population.

There were more than a hundred epidemics in Europe in this period and it recurred in England every two to five years from thirteen-sixty-one to fourteen-eighty. By the thirteen-seventies England's population was reduced by half. The Great Plague of London of sixteen-sixty-five to sixteen-sixty-six was its last major outbreak in England when we took about one-hundred-thousand souls.

Another plague started in China in eighteen-fifty-five and spread to India where ten million people died. During this eruption the United States saw its first outbreak in the San Francisco plague of nineteen-hundred to nineteen–o-four.

Aside from my star performers I have typhus, measles, tuberculosis, leprosy, malaria, yellow fever, and more recently SARS, Ebola, and Zika viruses. Mind you, these are just my microbial armies that work closely with my insect and animal kingdoms to reduce their numbers in the name of restoring balance in the service of the Great Mystery.

Modern day viral hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola, Lassa fever, Rift Valley fever, Marburg virus, and Bolivian hemorrhagic fever are highly contagious and deadly, but their ability to cause a massive outbreak is limited because their transmission requires close contact with an infected vector that only has a short time before I end it. The short time between a vector becoming infectious and the onset of symptoms lets medical professionals quarantine vectors and prevent them from breaking out elsewhere. Genetic mutations can also occur that increase their potential for widespread harm.

This is why you are quarantining and practicing your social distancing.

Antibiotic-resistant microorganisms called superbugs can cause the re-emergence of diseases that are currently controlled. Cases of tuberculosis resistant to traditionally effective treatments remain a big threat. Every year nearly half a million new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis occur worldwide with China and India having the highest rates. About fifty million people worldwide are infected with multidrug-resistant TB, seventy-nine percent of which are resistant to three or more antibiotics. In two-thousand-five, one-hundred-twenty-four cases were reported in the United States and extensive drug-resistant TB was identified in Africa in two-thousand-six and subsequently discovered in forty-nine other countries including the United States. There are about forty thousand new cases every year.

Common infectious bacteria have developed resistance to whole classes of antibiotics. Antibiotic-resistant organisms have also become an important cause of healthcare-associated infections and infections caused by community-acquired strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus known as MRSA in otherwise healthy people.

Aside from your destruction of the natural world, I still have to bring in forces bigger than you, or to be more precise forces that you call in when your consumption outgrows what your environment can handle. In terms of extending your time in the third dimension and your clever schemes of gaining more while you are there, you are your own worst enemy, and knowingly or not, all that you do plays into the inescapable goal of the Great Mystery bringing things into balance.

 https://www.amazon.com/DEATH-Story-Matthew-J-Pallamary/dp/099868094X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1588556936&sr=8-3

[scripttorture]

Sources

So this isn’t exactly a Masterpost. Good sources on torture are hard to find and it’s not always obvious what they cover. I’ve had a couple of people recommend fictional titles in the comments and while fiction can be helpful for working out how to handle torture in stories it is rarely accurate and no substitute for factual sources.

 I thought it might be helpful to give everyone a quick run down of the sources I’ve found most useful and what they cover.

 This may well be edited in the future as I find more books. :)

 Torture and Democracy by D Rejali

 This is basically the book on torture.

 It’s the size of a breezeblock.

 Rejali covers torturers and victims, provides a systematic breakdown of why torture fails, gives a history of electrical torture, an analysis of factors that encourage torture in society and an overview of how the law fails torture victims. Interrogation is extensively covered.

 This book covers torture in the modern era globally and in that area it is very thorough. Historical torture is not extensively covered.

 But for a thorough understanding of the topic and modern torture, Rejali is a must.

 Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation by S O’Mara

 O’Mara’s book is much more focused on science than Rejali’s. It is a point by point analysis of some of the most common ‘clean’ (ie non-scarring) torture techniques used today, explaining exactly how harmful they are and debunking claims that they’re not ‘real’ torture.

 O’Mara’s speciality is the brain and he uses his knowledge to show the biological under-pinings of why torture can not work.

 An excellent source on torture generally and a brilliant explanation of how pain, memory and distress work. This is useful for writing any traumatic event but doesn’t cover a wide range of torture techniques and is very Western-focused in its approach.

 Cruel Britannia: A Secret History of Torture by I Cobain

 While I have some problems with Cobain’s book he remains an excellent source.

 My problems are pretty simple, Cobain’s a journalist not a scholar and he often allows apologist arguments to creep into his book. He often takes torturers’ word for it and believes them when they suggest that valuable information can come from torture.

 Rejali and O’Mara will tell you why that’s wrong.

 But the interviews in this book are incredibly valuable. Cobain interviews victims and torturers and sets them in a wider political context, showing how governments have supported or ignored torture.

 His interviews on the London Cage and the collected work on Ireland, Aden, Cyprus and the Mau-Mau is well worth a look for anyone interested in those conflicts in particular or the British ‘National Style’ of torture in general.

 Sourcebook on Solitary Confinement by S Shalev

 Shalev’s Sourcebook is a free resource that’s available online and an excellent break down of the damage solitary confinement causes.

 While this is obviously focused on one technique this Sourcebook contains pretty much all the information you could want on solitary.

 The majority of the data comes from US prisons and the book is obviously biased towards confinement in a prison context. But the discussion of symptoms, risk factors and long term effects makes this utterly invaluable.

 Any author who writes about solitary confinement or isolation should consult at least the second chapter.

 Mao’s Great Famine by F Dikötter

 One of the best books on famine in print.

 The style is somewhat impersonal, but I think that works in its favour. The focus is essentially on how widespread famine can occur rather than how starvation affects the individual.

 The discussion on community and the role of enforcers is particularly good.

 I’d recommend it for anyone writing a large-scale natural disaster or atrocity.

 Amnesty International Reports (Annual 2016/2017)

 Amnesty’s annual reports give good concise updates on torture globally, year by year. They are freely available online and generally contain a lot of survivor accounts.

 It can be difficult to find specific information using them. You can not, for example, tell from the summaries whether particular techniques are covered. They rarely contain follow-ups on survivors and so are not a good resource for the recovery process.

 But the accounts of survivors, in their own words, are invaluable.

 World Food Programme

 An excellent resource on starvation and malnutrition. If you want to know how a starving or malnourished character would be treated or recover this is probably the best free resource you can find.

 Very good for physical effects and for descriptions of disaster relief programs. Not so great on survivor accounts or giving an idea of what starvation feels like on a personal level.

 International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims

 If you’ve been following my blog for a while you may have heard of these guys. Not only do they work to support torture victims but they also publish a free online journal dedicated to helping survivors recover.

 Rather academic and dense, this material often requires a lot of effort and engagement. This is very much the academic side. It can be incredibly helpful, but it’s not always easy to find the information you’re after.

 A Darkling Plain by K R Monroe

 A collection of interviews with survivors of a wide range of atrocities, Monroe’s book shows a real range of both traumatic events and responses to them.

 The main focus of the book is how people move on with their lives after atrocities and how they hold on to their sense of humanity. As such it’s incredibly useful to authors whose writing touches on these themes and authors who want to include a wider range of realistic responses to traumatic events.

 Highly recommended.

 The Wretched of the Earth by F Fanon

 The appendix contains some of Fanon’s notes on people he treated during the Franco-Algerian war.

 These notes include two torturers, a family member of a torturer, victims and relatives of victims.

 This is still one of the most valuable readily accessible sources on torturers’ behaviour.

 The Question by H Alleg

 Alleg’s account of torture during the Franco-Algerian war is a classic for a reason. This is a lucid, often harrowing account of torture failing from a victim’s perspective.

 I talk about victims refusing to cooperate. Alleg describes what it feels like from the inside.

 I strongly advise anyone writing from a victim’s perspective to read this book.

 We Wish to Inform you that Tomorrow we will be Killed with our Families by P Gourevitch

 The Rwandan genocide. This book provides both an overview of the events, interviews with survivors and transcripts/quotes from the time period.

 A difficult but important book, and extremely useful for writing conflict and war crimes.

 A History of Torture by G R Scott

 This book was written in the 30s and boy does it read like it was.

 The casual racism and sexism is extreme and off putting however this remains one of the most thorough books on historical torture globally. Just…read it with a critical eye.

 To the Kwai and Back by R Searle

 This collection of war drawings is, in my opinion, Searle’s best and most affecting work.

 They chronicle Searle’s experience of the Second World War as a prisoner of the Japanese. The drawings document torture, starvation, forced labour and death marches and are interspersed with Searle’s commentary and memories.

 The book serves as both a survivor’s account and (as Searle is looking back) a discussion of how he as an individual recovered. It serves as a very good source on large-scale atrocities seen from a personal perspective.

 Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea by M Kurlansky

 The focus of this work is in the title but torture crops up in this wide ranging historical narrative time and time again.

 It won’t be relevant to everyone’s stories, but I’m including this book for its numerous moving examples of people across cultures and history resisting torture, slavery and genocide without violence. We have very few fictional examples of this kind of action, and the history is rarely remembered.

 I want you, my readers, to be aware of as many sources as possible so you can break the mould if you want to.

 Tell Me Where I Can Be Safe: Human Rights Watch report on LGBTQ Rights in Nigeria

 This is a pretty harrowing read containing a lot of rape and sexual violence as well as torture. Victim accounts are prominent and the report only covers a relatively recent period in one country.

 I include this because my reading strongly suggests that it is typical of anti-LGBTQ violence across much of Africa and the Middle East. The methods and tactics used crop up across multiple countries and have been known to occur in Europe (though Gay and Trans Rights legislation has helped combat such violence).

 As a result I think this is a very valuable resource for writing torture and abuse of LGBTQ people specifically and an extremely important resource for Western writers who wish to write LGBTQ characters who are not from the West.  

 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by R Skloot

 An incredibly valuable overview of unethical experimentation in modern America.

 While far from a complete survey this book covers unconsenting or uninformed experimentation on minors, mental health patients, black people and prisoners.

 It talks about how experiments were conducted, how subjects were chosen and the effect on both the victims and their families.

 Highly recommended for anyone who wishes to write unethical experimentation.

 The Horrible Histories Series by T Deary and M Brown

 Yes these are children’s books and yes I am sure they deserve a place here.

 With their focus on the ‘gruesome bits’ of history these books generally contain quick and accurate overviews of historical tortures. Descriptions of punishments, methods of execution and medical treatments at the time are present in almost all of these short, accessible books.

 The focus is on English history as such there’s a lot that isn’t covered, but they’re very good for getting a sense of the tortures that were used during different historical periods quickly and easily.

Men and Hunger: a psychological manual for relief workers by H S Guetzkow, P H Bowman, A Keys, 1946 (The Minnesota Starvation Experiment)

 This is not the full text but the 70 page summary sent out to relief workers immediately following the experiment. This covers all the important psychological and physical effects of starvation in enough detail for an author writing a starving character to find it extremely helpful. It contains a lot of specific examples of behaviours and quotes from the men involved with the experiment, giving a rounded, detailed sense of their experience.

 However it does contain some racist and sexist language common during the 1940s when it was written.

UN Human Rights report on Rohingya refugees from Myanmar

 This is the UN report on the on-going genocide/ethnic cleansing taking place in Myanmar.

 The report contains accounts of murder, rape, gang-rape, torture and the murder of children. It also contains brief statistical analysis of the crimes survivors reported witnessing or experiencing (over half of Rohingya women reported being raped or sexually assaulted, over half of the survivors interviewed reported that a family member had been murdered).

 This could be useful to people writing about ethnic cleansing and genocide. I think it gives an overview of the situation within countries where these crimes occur, giving a sense of what they’re like before, during and after these atrocities.

War Child: Reclaiming Dreams

 This is a quick summary of the effects war has on children by the charity War Child. It focuses on the work they do in various countries; it aims to raise money for the charity and awareness of the causes they’re involved in.

 It provides a decent, quick overview of the many factors that affect children in war; both as civilians and as combatants. It talks about how children are used by armies (pointing out that the idea of they are always forced to fight is false) and how families and children caught in the cross fire are affected.

 A useful source for authors writing about children in combat zones and a good starting point for anyone planning on writing child soldiers.

The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of Prisoners, aka the Nelson Mandela Rules

This is a pretty dense legal document outlining how prisoners should be treated and the conditions that are a minimum acceptable standard for keeping them.

It’s tough reading but it could be useful for anyone planning to write about prisons and prisoners in a modern setting.

The collected works of S Kara

Kara’s research on slavery today is based on almost twenty years experience and thousands of interviews with enslaved people across continents.

He covers both individual experiences and the larger global picture of modern slavery. He covers multiple countries and slavery in different kinds of industries.

He also provides a thorough and convincing breakdown of the numbers; how many slaves there are today and where. This is accompanied by a clear analysis of how slavery has been allowed to continue and what needs to be done to stop it.

Brilliant, harrowing, necessary books that are a must for anyone writing about slavery.

Disclaimer

[digitalworld2020]

Digital Media vs China

Digital media have amazing power, they are an irreplaceable component of today's global world. The pace of spreading information has never been that fast before. Digitalization of our world is positive and enriching but it can be also used in a very manic way. If you are familiar with the book RUR (or any other sci-fi movie or book) you will probably know where I am heading. 

There are more than 4.5 billion active internet users in the world (59% of the world`s population). As a citizen of Western Europe, I know how important (and natural?) are social media for everyday life. They have penetrated into every part of our life. Apps like Whatsapp, Facebook or Instagram have become signs of today's pop culture. However, in non-democratic countries, this freedom assign’s problems. In mainland China, most of these applications are banned and censored. Luckily for the Chinese residents, there have been invented similar apps with an identical purpose, but with different policies, that is more suitable for leading communism party. 

Chinese most popular messaging app, WeChat, was created in 2011. Nowadays, there are over 900 million daily users. Because the Chinese official government has close ties to WeChat, it represents an effective tool to check on all of their users. This isn't verified, however, China doesn't have laws guaranteeing the privacy of their citizens. No further details are known about the operation of this app, which is owned by Tencent. “WeChat also states in its privacy policy that it may retain user data for “as long as is necessary” to “comply with applicable laws and regulations.” 

As WeChat is no longer only a chat app (there were added apps such as games, paying bills and other functions), it provides a great opportunity to collect data about everyone. 

There are few known cases when the government used data from Social Media to „protect“ their power and the status quo of it. Censorship of personal messages occurs on a daily basis. Expressions referring to protest (eg Tibet, Dalai Lama...) are just simply banned and they won’t show up on the screens of the user. “In 2013 there were attempts of protest against a project using a hazardous chemical. The local government found out about the planned demonstrations surveilling Weibo. Reacting immediately, the authorities then made school and work mandatory for the day of the protests, significantly lowering the number of people protesting.” 

 There are more apps available on the Chinese app store. Since Twitter has been blocked in 2008, China came up with Weibo, which works on the same basis as Twitter. However, you shouldn’t post your opinions and feelings about politics. Another app is, for instance, Baidu, which is used instead of Google. 

How far can this go? And what can it cause? Will it ever be different? In 2014 China presented a plan to create a social credit score. Your starting points can go down because of many different things – violations on the road, not arriving on time? Not paying your taxes or debts? Well, you may be not "entitled" to book a flight or buy a train ticket. 

Although some of the web sites in China already use the „status system“ (eg Alibaba), Chinese official social credit system should be mandatory and fully working by the end of 2020. It would be more than easy to pick up all the data from Social Media Accounts.

1984 or 2020. Did Orwell know?

Word count: 560

References:

LIAO, Shannon. (2018). ‘How WeChat came to rule China`. www.theverge.com. Available from: https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/1/16721230/wechat-china-app-mini-programs-messaging-electronic-id-system [accesed 5 March 2020]

(2017). ‘Social media and censorship in China: how is it different to the West?` www.bbc.co.uk. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/41398423/social-media-and-censorship-in-china-how-is-it-different-to-the-west [accesed 5 March 2020]

BAUER, Roxanne. (2015). ‘How China uses social media.`  www.weforum.org. Available from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/08/how-china-uses-social-media/ [accesed 5 March 2020]

[thecoroutfitters]

I’ve got some news for you; prepping isn’t something new. In fact, prepping has existed ever since mankind crawled out of the trees and became hunter-gatherers, sometime back in prehistoric times.

Humans couldn’t have survived the winter in colder climates, if they hadn’t learned how to become preppers. They would have starved to death.

What makes prepping seem like something new is that since the start of the industrial revolution, we have moved farther and farther away from a survival mentality, and have instead adopted a luxury-based mentality.

The average person in western culture doesn’t think about what they need to have in order to survive, because those things are all readily available, as long as one has money to buy them.

But for most of human history, the economic base for society wasn’t industry, it was agriculture. Everyone needed to eat; and before the industrial revolution created the farm equipment of today, the vast majority of people were employed in agriculture, making sure that we could all eat.

This meant taking advantage of the growing season, so that there would be enough food to make it through the annual “disaster,” called winter. If your farm was successful and you had a good harvest, you could eat. If not, you’d better find another source of food; maybe your neighbor had better luck than you did.

Obviously, these farmers and the hunter-gatherers before them survived, or you and I wouldn’t be here today. So I’d say they must have known a thing or two about survival.

The question for us, is what did they know, which we could learn from them?

Teaching Your Children

The early survival lessons were hard learned. The school of hard knocks is a really tough task-master, with an extremely steep grading curve. You either learned, or you died. Survival was nothing more than a passing grade.

With lessons being so costly to learn, you can be sure that parents taught their children everything they knew. Fathers taught their sons and mothers taught their daughters in the only way they could, making their children work side-by-side with them, as they did the things they needed to do to survive. Failure to do so was costly, as the children would probably not survive.

This included a wide range of skills. They couldn’t just go to the store for things they needed and commerce probably hadn’t even reached the point of a stable barter system.

Basically, if you needed something, you had to make it yourself; so you’d better know how. That meant you’d better teach your children as well.

Hunting and Tracking

I’m not sure how it is in the rest of the country, but where I live, hunting consists of hiding in a blind and baiting deer (and other animals) into killing range with feed corn.

That’s not the way I learned to hunt as a child and I’m sure it’s not the way that our prehistoric ancestors hunted. For them, hunting meant tracking animals to find them and killing them with primitive weapons.

If the average hunter today was forced to track their game, they would probably starve to death. Most can’t even identify animal tracks and sign, let alone knowing how old they are or what other messages those tracks might be sending.

In addition to tracking animals, our prehistoric ancestors learned their habits. They didn’t have to follow game around for days, as they knew how to find where they slept, where they ate and where they went for water.

So they could stake out those areas, awaiting the arrival of their prey, a much more efficient way to hunt.

Making Weapons

Those prehistoric hunters had to make their own weapons as well. There are three weapons which have been passed through the ages; the knife, the spear and the bow.

While they have all gone through numerous design changes through the years, we find all three of these still in use today. That speaks volumes about their effectiveness.

Making weapons is an art, especially making them from natural materials, using only primitive tools to work with.

Being able to shape a bow out of a tree branch, with nothing more to work with than a stone knife and other rocks, can’t be easy.

Yet these hunters did just that, along with knapping arrowheads, spear points and knives.

While it is hard to imagine society falling to the point where the ability to make our own weapons, for both hunting and defense, is essential for survival; the possibility does exist.

An even greater possibility exists for having to make such weapons if we are suddenly thrust into a wilderness survival situation. Should that happen, our ability to make these weapons could very well spell the difference between life and death.

Finding Natural Shelter

I seriously doubt that mankind started out building houses, even the primitive sorts of houses made by indigenous tribes. Rather, what little evidence exists, shows that our earliest ancestors lived in caves, something they probably learned from wild animals.

Caves are actually excellent natural shelters, providing the essentials of protection from rain and wind, as well as doing a fairly good job of holding in heat.

Some prehistoric people groups, such as the Indians who populated Mesa Verde, improved upon their natural caves by using stones to make rooms, dividing large caves into private habitations for multiple families.

The idea of building homes came from these people migrating to areas where there were no natural caves to live in. So they were forced to use whatever materials were at hand to build an artificial cave. I imagine those first houses were rather primitive by today’s standards, but they did the job, protecting their owners from the elements.

Sadly, we don’t have any examples of what they looked like, so that we could learn their technique. But I would venture to guess, they were simply more primitive or rustic versions of the native houses we have seen.

Making Clothing from Animal Skins

According to the Book of Genesis, the first clothing was made by sewing fig leaves together. While that may have covered their bodies, I’m sure it didn’t wear well. God solved that problem for Adam and Eve by killing animals and making them clothes out of the animal’s skins.

One of the many ways that mankind is unique is our need for clothing. No other species on the face of the Earth needs to wear clothes; those that need it, have fur to keep them warm. But even the hairiest of humans doesn’t have enough hair to do much for retaining warmth.

Using the skins of animals that they had hunted is a logical solution to the problem of clothing. After all, those pelts kept the animals warm, so therefore, they should work to keep people warm as well. The amazing thing is that prehistoric man figured out how to tan leather, so that those skins would last and then figured out how to sew it together to make clothes.

But rare is the hunter today that has any idea of how to tan their own hides, making it into useful leather or pelts. Rather, we send it off to commercial operations which do that for us. If we were ever caught in a long-term survival situation, knowing how tan hides would be an extremely useful skill.

Edible Wild Plants

As preppers, it seems that we focus more on the hunter side of being hunter-gatherers. I personally don’t have an issue with this, since I’m a definite carnivore. But in a survival situation, knowing what plants are safe to eat is a real boon to the diet.

I’ve been at this survival stuff for a long time, over 40 years. But I am still weak on edible plant recognition. It’s not that I haven’t studied it, it’s that I don’t use that knowledge. So, I end up losing it and need to study it again.

If we aren’t eating the edible plants that nature provides, there is no way that we are going to retain that knowledge for a very long.

The Value of Medicinal Plants

Speaking of plants, early medicine was all herbal medicine. There wasn’t a pharmaceutical industry. Doctors, by whatever name, learned what plants could be used for treating various ailments and how to use them. This information was closely guarded and passed on to an apprentice by word of mouth.

Those early doctors had to gather their own plants and make their own medicines, which consisted mostly of poultices and teas. While I’m sure there are many things they couldn’t treat, they obviously had some success, because their knowledge developed into the modern Medical Industry.

Even today, there are people who are experts in natural medicine, deriving medicines from plants. But these people are largely ignored in modern society, mostly because doctors use products produced by pharmaceutical houses.

But that doesn’t negate the value of natural medicine, as many of the medicines we use today have their roots in those natural medicines. All the pharmaceutical companies do is find artificial ways of creating things that nature provides to us.

If a serious enough of a disaster were to occur, such as an EMP, pharmaceuticals would run out quickly, leaving us without any medicines, other than natural medicines. Having the knowledge of what plants can be used for medicines and how to use them would be an incredibly useful skill in such a situation.

Situational Awareness

I think the American Indians (who qualify as a prehistoric people because they don’t have a written history) and other warlike tribal peoples invented the whole idea of situational awareness. Life was dangerous for these people, full of not only dangers from nature, but from other tribes as well.

The ability to recognize danger, before it manifests is a critical skill; one that is truly lacking in the world today. The world around us, especially the animal kingdom, is sending us constant messages of reassurance or danger, yet we don’t recognize them. We merely hear the birds chirping and think how nice it sounds, not that it might actually mean something.

The Value of Community

Early man was tribal, with the village being the tribe. This was even true of migratory people who followed the animals they hunted. Banding together helped them in the hunt, in defense and in sharing other common tasks. Ultimately, this made survival easier for them and led to the establishment of cities and society.

This is probably another skill that prehistoric man learned from watching animals. Many species of animals live in groups or herds. Predators found it easier to hunt together in packs and their prey found it easier to survive by staying together and presenting a united front. While some always died, the herd itself survived, which was the important part.

As mankind banded together, individuals began to specialize in specific tasks, putting their energies into performing those tasks and becoming more adept at them. This led to the beginning of the barter system, where these skilled artisans would trade their handwork for other things they needed.

Specialization was an important stepping stone in the development of society, as it increased the efficiency of individuals’ work, while at the same time providing a platform for improvement and innovation. Those who specialized in making certain handicrafts developed the skills and interest necessary to find ways of improving their products.

Through this, new features improved the traditional weapons and tools that primitive man used. Over the course of time, this actually led to the industrial revolution.

Waste Not

Primitive man didn’t waste anything. We see this best, through examining the culture of the American Indians. They used every part of the animals the killed, letting nothing go to waste. Internal organs, which were not eaten, were often made into containers, sinew was turned into bow strings, bone became tools and weapon handles, and skins turned into clothing and housing.

You never found a waste dump located next to an Indian village. That’s because there wasn’t any garbage to throw away. Rather, they made use of pretty much everything in one way or another.

Should we find ourselves in a survival situation, we would need to do the same!

This article has been written by Bill White for Survivopedia.

from Survivopedia Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

[gethealthy18-blog]

288: Breakthrough Solutions for Anxiety, Depression and PTSD With Apollo Founder Dr. David Rabin

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/news/288-breakthrough-solutions-for-anxiety-depression-and-ptsd-with-apollo-founder-dr-david-rabin/

288: Breakthrough Solutions for Anxiety, Depression and PTSD With Apollo Founder Dr. David Rabin

Child: Welcome to my Mommy’s podcast.

This episode is brought to you by Four Sigmatic, creator of all things superfood mushrooms and founded by my favorite Finnish Fun guys. I love all of their products, and in fact, I’m sipping their Reishi hot cocoa as I record this. These superfood mushrooms are always a part of my daily routine with their coffee + lions mane or coffee + cordyceps in the morning for energy and focus without as much caffeine as coffee to their chaga and cordycepts in the afternoon for antioxidants and immunity and the Reishi elixir at night for improved sleep. They also just released skin care that so clean you not only can eat it…. But its encouraged. Their charcoal mask has activated charcoal to clarify, chaga and cacao for an antioxidant boost and other herbal and superfood ingredients. It’s so clean that it can literally be made into a cup of hot cocoa as well! Their superfood serum contains a blend of avocado and olive oils with Reishi and herbs for a hydrating skin boost. As a listener of this podcast, you can save 15% with the code wellnessmama at foursigmatic.com/wellnessmama.

This episode is sponsored by Just Thrive Health probiotics. I found this company when searching for the most research backed and effective probiotic available and I was blown away at the difference in their products! They offer two cornerstone products that are both clinically studied and highly effective. The first is their probiotic, which has been clinically studied to help with leaky gut and to survive up to 1,000 times as much as other probiotics or the beneficial organisms in something like Greek yogurt for instance. The difference is, their spore-based strains work completely differently than other types of probiotics. Also, this probiotic is vegan, dairy free, histamine free, non-GMO, and is made WITHOUT Soy, dairy, sugar, salt, corn, tree nuts or gluten—so it’s safe for practically everyone…I even sprinkle it in my kids food and bake it in to products since it can survive at up to 400 degrees! Their probiotic contains a patented strain called Bacillus Indicus HU36®, which produces antioxidants in the digestive system – where they can be easily absorbed by body. Their other product is a K2-7, and this nutrient—you may have heard of it—is known as the “Activator X,” the super-nutrient that Weston A. Price—a dentist known primarily for his theories on the relationship between nutrition, good health, bone development and oral health. He found this prevalent in foods in the healthiest communities in the world. Their K2 is the only pharmaceutical grade, all-natural supplement with published safety studies. Like the probiotic, this is also, gluten, dairy, soy, nut and GMO free. Both are best taken with food so I keep both on the table. My dad has trouble remembering to take supplements so he taped them to the pepper shaker, which he uses daily, and they’re now on his daily list as well. Check them out at justthrivehealth.com/wellnessmama and use the code wellnessmama15 to save 15%!

Katie: Hello and welcome to the “Wellness Mama Podcast.” I’m Katie from wellnessmama.com and I really hope that you will listen to this episode with an open mind and stick with me all the way through, because I am talking to one of the smartest people I’ve ever met about some really important topics including really scientifically tested breakthrough ways that they are managing, treating, and actually fixing things like anxiety, treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, and so much more. And there are some great tips about things like even just improving your own sleep, your children’s sleep, and your heart rate variability, which is one of the things most linked to health.

And I’m here with Dr. David Rabin, who is the chief innovation officer, co-founder and co-inventor at Apollo Neuroscience. In his role, he’s developing Apollo Neuroscience’s IP portfolio and running clinical trials of the Apollo technology, the first wearable system to improve focus, sleep, and access to meditative states by delivering gentle layered vibrations to the skin. We’re going to get into that today. Dr. Rabin is a Board Certified psychiatrist, a translational neuroscientist, and inventor and has been studying the impact of chronic stress in humans for more than 10 years.

He has specifically focused his research on the clinical translation of non-invasive therapies that improve mood, focus, sleep, and quality of life in treatment-resistant illnesses. He has 4 patent-pending applications and 40 more recently filed. He received his MD in medicine and PhD in neuroscience from Albany Medical College and trained in psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Rabin has also organized the world’s largest controlled study of psychedelic medicines in collaboration with colleagues at Yale, the University of Southern California, and MAPS to determine the mechanism of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and treatment-resistant mental illness.

It’s really fascinating. Make sure to pay attention to that part of the podcast. And we’re gonna go deep on what that means and the implications for anyone suffering from those conditions. So buckle your seat belt and listen up. This is one of my favorite interviews to date. Here we go.

Dr. David, welcome and thanks for being here.

Dave: Thank you so much for having me, Katie. I really appreciate it.

Katie: You are undisputedly one of the top experts in the country about this and I’m so excited to go deep. But I’d love to hear first, how did you get into this area of research to begin with?

Dave: That’s a great question. It’s been a long path. I think the original impetus for me was that as a kid, I had a lot of really vivid dreams. And I would have dreams where they were so real that I wasn’t able, when I woke up, to realize what was from my real life and what was from a dream. And that really fascinated me because I was told, as a child, that what happens in dreams are not real and not consistent with real life but I was having these experiences that made me feel like they were actually happening or had happened. And so that made me, from a very early age, really fascinated by consciousness and our sense of, you know, what is reality and what is this experience that we all share together.

And so from there, I started studying…over time, that field has actually turned out to be very difficult to study which is no strange fact to people in that area. And so I ended up pursuing the study of resilience because, and resilience being how well do we adapt to stress in our lives. Because one thing that I noticed over time was that, particularly through my medical training, was that many people have very severe trauma in their lives, physical and mental and emotional, and they overcome that constructively and are able to use the mistakes that they made or the trauma to learn from and to strengthen themselves as people and become much better and stronger versions of themselves.

And we see that in a lot of the leaders in our community and so I saw that and then I also saw the population of people, which was overwhelmingly in the majority, who have had either equivalent…who have had roughly equivalent levels of trauma but have not overcome or have succumbed to the trauma and not recovered effectively and developed, as a result, physical or mental illness. And so I started looking at it on the cellular level with human neural stem cells, looking at aging disorders of blindness and dementia and why some people would develop that compared to others. And then I did that for about six years in New York and then realized that the stress response mechanisms that go on in our neurons are actually very similar to the stress response mechanisms that occur on the whole body level.

And that made me really interested in mental health and helping people cope with stress more constructively on the whole. And so I started, I went into psychiatry and with a focus on post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment-resistant mental illness like anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders and particularly with a focus on why do people self-medicate, for instance. And ultimately found that one of the key factors to helping people get better in these situations is helping them feel safe, whether that’s in the office or whether that’s at home. Safety is the single biggest factor that helps facilitate recovery and healing.

And so from experiencing that, we ended up developing a technology called, which is the Apollo technology, that uses vibration delivered through a wearable that actually induces feelings of safety in the body in near real time to help people cope with stress and perform under stress more effectively.

Katie: That’s so fascinating and I definitely wanna make sure we go deep on the Apollo in a minute. But I love that you mentioned the word resilience and I’m curious, before we move on to I know things that are going to be obviously helpful with that, if there were any patterns or trends or traits that you saw in people in an aggregate that seemed to predict if they were gonna be more resilient or not, or if they were gonna express with mental illness or if it was gonna make them more resilient. Because that’s something I think about a lot in, you know, how do I give my kids the tools to be more resilient in life and how can we as individuals become more resilient in life? So were there any patterns that showed up there?

Dave: Yeah, absolutely. I think what’s really the most interesting patterns that I’ve witnessed are, I think, what we call cognitive patterns. So they’re patterns about the way that we think about our lives. So on a very basic level, this could be something like the way that we look at challenge or failure. A lot of people in our society, we’re taught oftentimes that when we’re faced with challenge, especially challenge that we don’t understand, we frequently ask the question, why me? Why do I have to go through this? Why do I have to face this? Rather than seeing the challenge or the opportunity to make mistakes as an opportunity for growth that pushes us to be our best selves.

And I think that the most important thing to think about when we talk about challenge is that, you know, if we went through our lives completely unchallenged, then we wouldn’t be forced to learn a lot of the critical skills that we need for survival and caring for ourselves. And we see that a lot in multiple different examples in our society. However, when you are forced to overcome challenges and you’re forced to reconcile with mistakes which puts you into a position where you feel that learning from these opportunities…these are opportunities for learning that make us better.

That goes back to Nietzsche who said, “What does not kill us, makes us stronger,” is actually not related to physical injury but really mental and emotional injury. And this is something that is overwhelmingly true but not necessarily practiced or considered. And I think that leads into a very…a much more important finding about resilience has been discovered in the last 15 years which is called heart rate variability. And heart rate variability is the rate of change of your heartbeat over time. And so typically, when you think of your heartbeat or your pulse, you think of having 60 beats per minute pulse is good at rest and 60 beats per minute, we often think of as one beat every second.

But in reality, what’s happening with your heart is sometimes, it’s one second between beats, sometimes it’s one and a half seconds, or sometimes it’s half a second. And the more variability there is between your heartbeats in terms of how much the heart rate is changing over time, the more adaptable to your environment you are. And we now have tons of studies that have come out from the athletic and performance literature and also from the medical literature that show that if you have low heart rate variability, which most commonly is caused by things like lack of sleep, chronic stress, persistent stress, and burnout, and just stress in general, if you have low heart rate variability over time, your chances of developing a physical and mental illness are much higher and your chances of recovering from a physical and mental illness are much lower.

And your chances of developing, say in the hospital, sudden cardiac death as a result of…when you’re recovering from a cardiac illness or a procedure is much higher if you have low heart rate variability. And so clearly, heart rate variability has come to the surface as a really useful metric that we can all use because now, you can measure it with wearables to predict and ascertain resilience and how basically adaptable your body is to stress. And so now we’re using this a lot and it’s starting to become used a lot more in society. And you’ll see your Apple Watch measures it, and your WHOOP measures it, an Oura Ring measures it, a number of other devices measure it, but we don’t talk a lot about how to improve it.

And there are a lot of natural ways to improve it like meditation, mindfulness, deep breathing, regular yoga practice, good nutrition, biofeedback, and these kinds of things. But those take a lot of time and effort for people to practice but all of those are powerful resilience training tools that have been around for sometimes in the case of deep breathing and meditation thousands of years. But they can also take thousands of hours of practice to become really good at. And so where Apollo and even psychedelics start to come into play is that these are techniques or tools that allow us to dramatically improve our resilience and our adaptability in short order with just a few doses of medicine, or in the case of Apollo, a wearable that you can keep with you all the time, to help train your body to reinforce your adaptability throughout your day.

Katie: Yeah, it’s so fascinating. That is one of the few metrics I really track carefully ever since I started reading the literature about it. Just as a benchmark, before we start going into talking about specifics that can help, what do you consider a good range for HRV? And does it vary with age or body type? Are there variables there?

Dave: So HRV is a bit of a complicated metric and I think there’s still a lot of understanding that we need to do because, in truth, only in the last five years or so, have we been able to start measuring heart rate variability in people throughout the course of their day and their lives. Until wearables like the Apple Watch and the Oura Ring and Whoop and some of these other things came out, heart rate variability wasn’t really a metric that was used very much in the general population or the medical field other than to predict, for example, your risk of sudden cardiac death and it was not using mental health really at all. And so there is still a lot of work that has to be done from understanding how heart rate variability changes over time.

But ultimately, so I guess to answer your question, we don’t exactly know what is a good heart rate variability for any one individual because everybody’s baseline is different. And so I can tell you that ideally, we wanna have our heart rate variability somewhere between 60 and 120. When I see and work with the most elite performers or people who are expert meditators, their heart rate variability is oftentimes in between 120 and just over 200 milliseconds which is pretty incredible. So ideally, that could be our goal is to aim for something in that range. But ultimately, in general, with people like us who are very busy and active in our lives, having something between 60 and 120 milliseconds is good for most people.

And I think the goal is to just try to aim to trend your heart rate variability upward as much as possible because we don’t know what your maximum is. There may not be a maximum for your heart rate variability. And so ultimately, more importantly, then a single measurement is trending it over time and ensuring that you are continuing to practice activities that promote a positive trend in HRV rather than the opposite. And people who are really chronically stressed out will oftentimes have an HRV that’s in the 20 to 40s range or even lower. And that correlates with a lot of the decrease in performance and recovery and poor sleep and poor mood regulation and things that we’ve been talking about.

Katie: That makes complete sense. I know I feel like pretty accomplished as a mom of 6 when I can keep mine over 100 on a daily basis. But I know I’ve heard from people who it’s more like the 30s or 40s and they want some ways to increase that. So that’s really helpful to understand. I also have a friend who is very conscious of breathing and meditation and all of that and his is routinely over 200, which I didn’t even know it’s possible till I met him. So I think you’re right. There’s so many variables that come into play there. And I want to make sure we have enough time to talk about this. I’m just going to jump into the like semi-controversial big stuff right now.

I mentioned in your bio that you helped organize the world’s largest controlled study of psychedelic medicines with Yale, USC, and MAPS to study the mechanism of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in treatment-resistant mental illness. And there’s a lot I wanna unpack here. Before we move on though, can you explain what MAPS is because people may not be familiar with MAPS?

Dave: Sure. MAPS is the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies that is a nonprofit that was started by Rick Doblin and colleagues in 1985 to basically forward research into psychedelic and really what’s called altered state medicine. So these are medicines that change our mindset in over a short period of time, pretty significantly, that facilitate states of healing or the states that promote healing. And so, originally, I think when we look back, it’s very easy to forget about the original research that led up to all of this work that MAPS has done.

But ultimately, psychedelics medicines like LSD and MDMA and a lot of the medicines, even psilocybin, which comes from mushrooms, were medicines that were traditionally used to treat trauma, mental and emotional trauma. And even originally in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, this was the chief use of these medicines. Unfortunately, they were not controlled properly and they were released out into the public and became substances of abuse. And so also that led a lot of the political, you know, the politicization of these medicines and unfortunately, the banning of a lot of them in the U.S. which prevented research.

And so MAPS in 1985, particularly with Rick Doblin’s brilliance said, “Okay, we know that these medicines are really, really effective and we know that if they’re used in the proper safe setting, that they can deliver incredible results therapeutically for mental and physical…mental and emotional illness. And that you can do a pretty good job of providing safe experiences as long as you properly prepare the subject and have a well curated experience with therapists and/or doctors present and then you have the integration sessions where you really take everything you learn from these experiences and integrate them into your life afterwards ideally with the assistance of a therapist who understands what you’re going through.”

And so MAPS, and Rick Doblin went and basically said, “What is going to be the best way to get these medicines out there? Well, let’s use them to help people who have the most severe conditions that are untreatable with any other medicine in the Western medicine, particularly in mental health.” And so he started to focus on PTSD and particularly veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD. And fast-forward now to just a few years ago, the five-year review results came back from the FDA phase II study of treatment-resistant PTSD using psychotherapy assistance with MDMA, which is a 12-week protocol with just 3 doses of medicine delivered with 2 therapists in 8-hour sessions.

And most of the 12 weeks is psychotherapy. And what happens is that the results, five years out, showed that over 60% of these folks who are diagnosed with treatment-resistant PTSD, who on average have had PTSD not responsive to any Western medicine for on average 17 years, 5 years after just 3 doses of MDMA and 12 weeks of therapy, are completely…60% are completely symptom-free. And this is a groundbreaking result for psychiatry because it is using medicines and a paradigm that we have not understood medicines to be useful before.

And so typically, in psychiatry, we prescribe, we’re taught to prescribe medicines that people take every single day and that you take these medicines every day and ideally, you also go to therapy and over time, you get better. But what we ultimately see is that unfortunately, people become dependent on the medicines or have significant side effects of medicines that prevent them from taking them. And so what drugs or medicines like MDMA and psilocybin or the other psychedelics come in is that they are inducing rapid long-lasting change in people that with only three doses of medicine that don’t require continued daily usage.

And people ultimately who go through these treatments are…what happens is after they experience these medicine sessions and integrate everything they’ve learned with their therapist, a lot of the work happens on their own because they now feel safe enough and feel motivated enough to embrace change in a positive way in their own lives. And so a lot of the healing ultimately comes from within themselves and MDMA or psilocybin really uses a tool to help open up and remind people that they have capacity, that we have the capacity to self-heal. And so that’s what a lot of these studies have been moving towards.

And now MDMA has actually just started its phase III trial with the FDA in just over 200 subjects and we are working with them to…with MAPS to collect saliva samples from all these subjects before and after their treatment so that we can look at the changes to the DNA expression of trauma and reward response and stress and reward response genes that we believe to be contributing to the long-lasting outcomes from these medicines.

Katie: That’s amazing and really striking because I know that, you and I talked about this in person, but when it comes to mental health and medication, this is, I mean you said it was groundbreaking, but like truly astonishing compared to things like the traditional treatments for anxiety and depression. Is that right? I mean I know we talked about how that ratio of side effects to actual positive outcome, what that looks like in the treatments that are used now versus what it could look like in psychedelics but can you go a little deeper on that?

Dave: Yeah. So one thing that we are oftentimes not told as physicians by the pharmaceutical companies is that when you really look at the data overwhelmingly of people who are treated by antidepressants or anti-psychotic medicines, for instance, what we look at are two major numbers that are really important or statistics that are really important. One of them is called a number needed to treat, which is how many people do you need to give them medicine or therapy for them to experience positive therapeutic benefit. And the second one is number needed to harm, which is how many medicines or therapies do you to give to somebody or give to people to start to see side effects pop up.

And unfortunately, with most of the mental, the medicines that we use to treat mental illness, what we’re seeing after many, many years of population studies is that the number needed to harm is actually lower than the number needed to treat which means that if you prescribe these medicines to people, on average, if they are…the patients are more likely to experience side effects from the medicine than they are to experience benefit. And I think if most physicians who are prescribing these medicines and most patients knew that this was the case, they would probably be a lot more cautious about the way that they prescribe them and maybe not use them as a first-line therapy.

I think what’s really paradigm-shifting about, and just to put it in perspective, psychotherapy, for instance, has a very, very good high…a very low, for the most part, number needed to treat. You don’t need to treat a lot of people to start to see positive therapeutic benefit particularly when you can get the patient to practice what they learned in treatment. But it has a very, very, very high number needed to harm because psychotherapy is very safe and it’s very difficult to harm people with it. Psychedelic medicines like MDMA and psilocybin, both of which I forgot to mention, received breakthrough status from the FDA, psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression in 2018 and MDMA also for treatment-resistant PTSD, which accelerates their process through the FDA and this accelerates the ability for people to access it in the community.

These medicines have the opposite ratio of these statistics. So with something like MDMA, you can have one dose, and what’s really paradigm-shifting with these medicines, you can have one dose of MDMA or psilocybin and have a dramatic self-acceptance, non-judgment, empathetic experience with yourself that’s incredibly therapeutic that if done in the right way can last for days, weeks, months, and even years afterwards. And that’s just one dose of medicine whereas… And so the risk of side effects is much, much lower than taking medicine every single day. And so it’s really paradigm-shifting because mental health has never had medicines like this that we could do research on where we could induce such rapid and significant change with just a single dose or three doses, in the case of the phase III trial with PTSD.

And so now, a lot of what we’re struggling with as a field is how to effectively integrate these medicines into our practice and provide safe and effective access to as many people as possible. And that’s a challenge that we’re going to face nationally as physicians over the next 5 to 10 years after these trials are completed with the FDA.

Katie: Yeah. I think you’re totally right on that. And I think that there’s still so much misinformation and just like emotional stuff that tends to go along with even just the word psychedelics. And they’re often…that word is often tied to like party culture or to using these things in a recreational environment. I think that’s why it’s so important to educate about the truly therapeutic uses for these because there are so many people, including the listeners of this podcast, who are working through anxiety or depression or PTSD and perhaps have never even considered these kinds of treatments. To go a little deeper, can you explain what MDMA is, like maybe what effect it’s having on the body in the brain and also what it means to be in phase III clinical trials?

Dave: That’s a great question and I think the language concept that you bring up is really important. And the language with the way that we describe these medicines is that they should be described as medicines, not drugs and not psychedelics. Because ultimately, what they are, they’re perceptual medicines. They’re medicines that change the way that we perceive ourselves and our environment and our connection to ourselves and to our environment. And so if we talk about them, we change the way we talk about them to be medicine rather than drug, rather than recreational substance, or psychedelic.

It’s supposed to change the way that we see these things and the way that we see that we can integrate them into our society effectively and the way we practice health. But going back to MDMA specifically, MDMA was one of the first what’s called an empathogen or a medicine that induces a state of radical empathy and self-acceptance. And this was actually discovered in the early 20th century but then kind of shelved at a pharmaceutical company who didn’t really understand the purpose of it or what it could be used for. And then it was later rediscovered by Sasha Shogun who actually tried it himself and recognized that there were dramatic benefits to it that were not ever previously perceived.

And so he ended up distributing it to, it was legal at the time, and he distributed it to therapists to use for couples therapy, for people who were unable to see eye-to-eye, and it worked incredibly well, and there’s a ton written on this subject which all happened in the ’70s and ’80s prior to MDMA becoming a recreational substance of abuse. And it was also used for trauma treatment. And the thing about MDMA that’s unique is that it pretty selectively activates the emotional cortex of the brain, which is the central component of our brain that’s focused on compassion, empathy, gratitude, self-acceptance, radical non-judgment, and interconnectivity or seeing the connections between us and ourselves and everything else around us.

One of the best way to describe the MDMA experience that we like to use for people is what we call child’s eyes, which is being able to have an opportunity to go back and see the world again and see yourself again as you did when you were a child before anything bad happened to you or you had seen anything bad happen in your life. And MDMA, interestingly enough, is also not a traditional psychedelic. So it doesn’t provide really hallucinations or perceptual disturbances in your environment where you see things or hear things that you don’t believe are there. And so it’s a very safe and emotionally-connecting and comfortable experience.

But one of the main things that most people say when they experience MDMA for the first time, whether they’re in a therapeutic setting or not, is that they experience this feeling of radical safety. And radical safety is critical because that’s something that we always strive to provide people in our therapy sessions without drugs. And what radical safety does is safety allows us to see and understand and take action on opportunities for change that we may have not seen or made the steps to forward when we’re in a state of fear or threat or perceived fear or threat. Because threat and fear, especially over time, directly inhibit our ability to change.

And so safety is critical for change and we now know this not only from psychotherapy and the history of psychoanalysis but also from these new studies that are coming out about MDMA which really just focuses on providing the subject with feelings of radical safety that dramatically accelerates their ability to change themselves with the help of a therapist or two therapists. And so phase III, why it’s so significant that these are in phase III with the FDA is because phase III studies are the final step for a drug or medicine or therapy to reach the public. And so, at this point, MDMA has already gone through phase I trials, which look at toxicity and look at side effects, which were very…they had very good results and side effects were very, very minimal and not significant compared to many of the other medicines that we prescribe.

And phase II is the trial that was completed that I told you about which had the dramatic results in a population of about roughly 100 subjects with treatment-resistant PTSD, where five years out, something like 60% of people were still symptom-free and without any further medicine or therapy. And so phase III is a much larger double-blind, randomized, rigorous, controlled trial, that ultimately is the final step that MDMA has to go through and all medicines, new medicines, have to go through before it can be prescribed by a physician freely in a clinic.

And so this is really exciting for our field because MDMA will likely be, in addition, ketamine already exists legally and can be used for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy as well for treatment-resistant depression, but MDMA will be the first medicine that was illegal or illegal back in the ’80s, ’70s and ’80s, that will now be ultimately legalized for treatment of severe treatment-resistant PTSD and eventually other mental illnesses as well.

Katie: That’s amazing and really exciting. And I definitely resonate with what you said about that feeling of safety. Because having been through an experience that created PTSD for me in the past, that’s a profoundly painful thing to feel not safe in your own body. And then to experience what you mentioned about self-acceptance and self-love when you have it for so long, is really dramatic and striking. And it makes total sense to me why people could see really drastic changes in such a short time from these kinds of medicines. You also mentioned that psilocybin received breakthrough status. So walk us through a little bit how psilocybin is different or the same as MDMA and how it’s used in a clinical setting?

Dave: So psilocybin and MDMA and actually LSD for that matter and many of the other psychedelic medicines that induce similar effects are and that have been used traditionally for the treatment of trauma were actually found recently to activate a very similar part of the brain, which is really fascinating. And I think this work will be very, very important as we move forward into the next generation of science in this area. And it was work that was done by Franz Wilhelm Water in Switzerland, who found that over the last 10 years of studying these medicines, that they activate very, very similar parts of the brain. And not only very similar, but actually at the same or right near the same receptor site, which is called the 5-HT 2A receptor, which is a serotonin receptor, that is predominantly located in the cerebral cortex of the brain, which is where we store our memories and experiences.

And also not just physical memories and experiences, but also emotional memories and experiences. And so what happens is and what we believe to be happening is that based on the work that that Goldwater’s group did is that when you experience meaningful interactions in your life, whether it’s drug or substance or medicine related or it’s just an experience that comes from having a great time hanging out with your friends in a really positive environment, you’re activating the 5-HT 2A receptor, which gives meaning to your experiences. And the meaningfulness of these experiences seems to be a factor of activation of this receptor site in bursts. And the reason that’s important is because what the most common side effect of people who take selective serotonin uptake inhibitors for depression or anxiety is that they feel numb.

And part of the reason why people believe that the numbness occurs and numbness unfortunately, usually starting with people not being able to be sexually aroused or have orgasms, which is a very severe and unpleasant side effect of SSRIs and very common, unfortunately, is that it’s believed that those medicines increase the total amount of serotonin around of serotonin receptors like 5-HT 2A but also all the other serotonin receptors. And what happens is that when you flood that receptor, you prevent burst activity from happening anymore. And so first activity comes from having meaningful experiences in your life, again, or using tools that help enhance the access to meaningful experiences.

So that’s where MDMA and psilocybin come in and LSD, which directly have been found now to bind the 5-HT 2A receptor and provide this significant or facilitate the significant burst of activity at that receptor site, which now is believed to be the most important source of how people experience these dramatic changes in meaning or incentive meaning towards self and others when they take these medicines. And the reason why we know that now is because the group did this amazing experiment where they gave people an oral drug called catantharine which blocks activity just at 5-HT 2A. And when they show this, when people take psilocybin mushrooms or psilocybin extract or LSD, that when they take the cantatharine as well, it completely blocks any effect from these psychedelic medicines in terms of shift in meaning.

And so the only way that could happen is if this receptor sites, these 5-HT 2A receptor site was critical to our interpretation and understanding of meaning from our experiences in our life. And so there’s still a lot of work obviously that has to be done in this area to flush out exactly what’s going on with these medicines and how they work. But, ultimately, the meaningfulness of all of this is that we have the capacity to change how we interpret meaning from our lives on a regular basis. And this can be with things like human touch, calming soothing music, deep breathing meditative mindfulness, or psychedelic medicines, or things like Apollo wearable. And that technology and all of these different things are tools that can be used in very specific ways to help us feel safe by enhancing positive meaning in our lives.

And so that seems to be the way that most of the things are working. And they all have slightly different ways that they work. But ultimately, that seems to be the way that they all kind of converge is on helping us be more present by being safe and accepting of ourselves so that we can change the way that we see ourselves or change the way that we see the meaning that comes from within ourselves and from everything else around us in our lives.

Katie: That’s probably the best explanation I’ve ever heard. And I love that you went into actually was happening biologically in our body because I think that, for me, at least understanding that really helps me to understand the true benefit of things like this.

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Katie: And it’s also important to note, unfortunately, that things like psilocybin and MDMA are currently not legal in the U.S. at least. So while they show really promising results, and I’m hopeful for the future of those, they’re not really accessible to most people, which is why I’m so excited for the Apollo. And I would love for you to really walk us through and explain it because when you and I talked about this, it kind of blew my mind. And I got the chance to try the prototype when I was with you and was amazed at how much of an effect I actually felt and the change I saw in heart rate variability in tracking it. So walk us through how the Apollo is both similar or different and what it’s doing to the body?

Dave: So Apollo is the first wearable technology that uses gentle layered vibrations delivered to the body through a small wearable. It’s about the size of an Apple Watch that can be worn an ankle or wrist and these frequencies have been proven in double blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial to show that we can enhance focus and calm and performance under stress by balancing the nervous system in near real time. And basically, the reason we developed these frequencies and we even bothered to explore this path was that I was seeing patients who had PTSD and anxiety and depression who were severely treatment resistant, not responding to anything else any other medicines or therapies because they just didn’t feel safe.

And when they came into my office and we talked for an hour, they would say, “I feel so much better and I feel like I can make these changes in my life that we worked on.” But then when they leave, they would instantly be triggered again and not be able to practice these things because they just didn’t feel safe enough to make those kinds of changes. And so I have a background in music and grew up playing music. I never was never very good but I always had a good, great appreciation for music, especially the way that it changed how I feel. And that I would use some music to study and some music to wake up and other music to help fall asleep. And that was always really interesting to me because I never understood why that works so well and why so many people got the same similar benefits from music.

And so I started talking to my patients about that and what they were using. And a lot of them use music to feel calm and use music to help them through their through their day and to feel safe and help them make change and interact in their engaged in their day to day lives more effectively. And many of these people also important to know, as a substance abuse psychiatrist, many of these people had drug abuse histories, which were oftentimes drugs that were prescribed to them by doctors and doctors who just didn’t understand how to treat their conditions effectively and were sort of, you know, at their wit’s end.

And so, for me, you know, working with these people, you know, psychedelic medicines can be very useful, but again, they’re hard to access in a therapeutic way because they’re not legal yet for the most part. And it’s hard to find people who practice good medicine with these psychedelic medicines. And it’s also not necessarily the best. Not everybody is a good candidate for a medicine. And so, you know, particularly kids and elderly folks, people with substance abuse histories. And so we developed Apollo using the theories that we understood of music changing the way we feel to give somebody the benefits of music and feelings and being able to regulate their daily bodily rhythms, circadian rhythms more effectively without relying on substances like coffee or alcohol or really more generally, stimulants and sedatives which are become a big part of our lives.

And to really show you that using something as minimal as a little vibrating pot on your wrist or on your ankle, that you have the capacity to control your energy levels, to decide when you want to be focused and awake, when you want to fall asleep, and when you want to meditate and calm down. And that over time using these and we now have over 1,500 people who have tried this in the wild with our wearable prototypes, and we found that overwhelmingly, people are using it in place of caffeine and in place of, you know, alcohol and sedatives at night to fall asleep. And it’s having great benefit at least from the preliminary results in terms of symptom relief in some of these treatment resistant mental illness conditions.

And the most common thing that we hear from people, particularly people who have mental illness, is that it just helps them feel safe and they liken it to somebody holding their hand or giving them a hug when they’re having a bad day. And that’s exactly what we decided to do by sending these vibrations to the touch receptors in the skin. Just like when somebody holds your hand, that sends safety signals to your skin through the touch receptors in your skin through your spinal cord to the emotional cortex of your brain, which starts to block the fear center of your brain that may be overactive in the setting or trauma or chronic stress. And just having that little gentle input on a regular basis can help you to not only perform better under stress, but also to recover and sleep more effectively and sort of regenerate and your energy on a more regular basis.

Katie: It’s so exciting to have technology and be able to use it in ways like this. And I know that a lot of the moms listening hear you say things like help you relax and go to sleep at night. And their immediate question is going to be is this, “Can this be used on children?” Because every mom wants her children to go to sleep a little more easily at night. So is this going to be approved for kids as well?

Dave: Yeah. So that’s a great question. And I think going back into what I was saying earlier, we really designed this technology to be extremely safe and effective for us on vulnerable populations of people because those are the populations of people that aren’t necessarily good candidates for medication. And so those populations include children and they include elderly folks and they include pregnant women and people who may otherwise not, for whatever reason, not the good candidates for medicine or not want to take medicine. And so we have a number of a pilot studies have been done in kids. And we are now in the process of starting studies with elderly folks in nursing homes as well as in pregnant women for postpartum depression.

But in kids, the results are really, so far, excellent. And we see that kids respond very, very well, particularly if they’ve have a history of trauma, a history of ADHD or depression. Their bodies are incredibly sensitive to touch. We know that in large part historically because when you look at the development of the emotional brain, the emotional cortex that’s really at the center of our brain, which is referred to as the insula, this part of the brain primarily develops, starts developing in the last month of gestation in utero before the baby is born. And then that part of the brain develops mostly over the first two years of life, and then continues to develop over the next several years of life.

And so what we see is that it’s critically important to nurture the development of that part of the brain with close human connection and touch in those early years when children are developing and we used to think that, you know, babies are babies and they don’t have it fully developed brains and they don’t need to have this kind of human connection early on from their parents or from anyone, and you can just, you know, leave them by themselves or let them cry or whatever it may be. But it turns out that that’s absolutely not true. And that those close human connections are not only important for us as adults, but they’re critical for the proper emotional development and nurturing of young children right after they’re born, which is also why breastfeeding is so important because it facilitates a tight communication between the mother and the baby.

And just even having the eye to eye contact while the mother is holding the baby and breastfeeding creates an incredible emotional link between the child’s emotional cortex and the mother’s emotional cortex. And so all of this now have over time particularly the last 20 years really started to understand better. So, yeah. So Apollo provides these similar benefits. It’s not a substitute for human touch. It’s not a substitute for meaningful human interaction. But for people, particularly adults and children who don’t have the access to these things on a regular basis, it can help to reduce some of the symptoms of anxiety and depression and irritability that can disrupt sleep and disrupt behavior and disrupt attention that ultimately result in these kids being prescribed medicines that they may not need or may cause undue harm.

Katie: That makes complete sense. And I’m so excited that these things are now available. I know people listening may want to know where they can find it and how they can try it. And of course, I will make sure there are links in the show notes so they can connect with you and find out how to get an Apollo. But just walk us through that real quick how. When will this be available and how can it be used?

Dave: So Apollo will be available in the fall. And people can come to our website at apolloneuro.com or apolloneuroscience.com to get access to pre-order and reserve their first Apollo and be one of our first users. And I think important to know is that the use of Apollo is the onset of effect is typically very quick for most people. We see in the lab, it’s about three minutes before your body starts to change in terms of heart rate and breathing and brainwave patterns.

And so what we typically recommend and how it’s we designed the app and system to be used is intentionally so that you have a specific goal in mind and say, “I want to wake up. I want to focus. I want to meditate. I want to relax or I want to fall asleep.” And you click on that for how long amount of time you’d like that effect to last for. And then the effects typically lasts for anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours after the vibration stops, which is consistent with how long healing touch or therapeutic touch last in the body as well. And so over time, what will happen is that the software will continue to learn about your body and the way that you interact with it to optimize the timing of delivery. And the specific settings that you receive so that it works better for you, the more you use it, and it grows with you and continues to teach you about how to be more mindful and how to be more present in your day-to-day life.

So that over time, similarly to practicing yoga or similarly to practicing meditation, Apollo, its effects seem to come on more quickly as you use it and they last longer. Because the people’s nervous system becomes tuned and practiced to the Apollo effect, which is really critical and something that I think should we should not go without mentioning, which is that practice makes perfect. And I know my mom told me that. And probably a lot of our listeners have heard that before too. And I never really understood what that meant to me. But what I realized over the last few years that if you practice thinking about something in a certain way, or doing something in a certain way, whether it’s good or bad, constructive or positive, you will get better at it.

And so if you practice being stressed out, or being traumatized or being upset or angry, you’ll get really, really good at those things. And if you practice feeling calm under stress, being relaxed, being able to regulate your emotions more effectively, you practice honing your attention and focusing more frequently and concentrating, you will get better at those things. And so ultimately, what Apollo and meditation and breath work and all these things have in common is that they all effectively help the user to practice the skill of balancing your nervous system, which over time results in enhanced ability to recover and return to homeostasis more quickly, which has these ultimate impacts in terms of focus and performance and sleep.

Katie: That’s so exciting. I cannot wait to get mine and you are such a wealth of knowledge. I knew our time was going to fly by quickly. And I think maybe you’ll hopefully agree to a round two at some point, especially as we see things like hopeful legalization of certain substances. And we have more data on Apollo. I’d love to have you back and discuss it more. But toward the end of episodes, there’s a few questions I love to ask. The first being if there are a few things that you feel like are misunderstood or not understood about this area of expertise?

Dave: That’s a great question. I think there’s a lot to talk about here. But I’ll focus on a few things that I’ve been thinking about. I think the first is that the field of psychiatry and psychology is often stigmatized as this mental health field. It’s not for everyone. And I would argue the complete opposite, which is that psychiatry and psychology is about healthy living through understanding our lives better and understanding ourselves better. And that has nothing to do with mental illness. And it has nothing to do with being, you know, looked down upon by society as less than everyone else. It has to do with being your best self and teaching yourself how to be your best self as far as much of the time that we’re on this earth as possible. And when we start to embrace that understanding of mental health and psychology and psychiatry, it changes the way that we think about self-care and healing.

I think the second one is something we’ve touched on a lot, which is that the sense of touch is critical to health. Sense of touch overwhelmingly is probably the most neglected sense in our society. And we oftentimes keep distance from people around us that we’re unfamiliar with, particularly in the U.S., whereas in Europe, a lot of European countries in Latin America, people often hug and kiss strangers. That’s something that oftentimes doesn’t occur in the U.S. And similarly, that often doesn’t occur within families who are not strangers. And so there ends up being a deficit of touch that many of us face. And touch is one of the most critical senses to emotional nurturing and emotionally nurturing that sense of safety and love within one another and interconnectivity.

And so making sure that we have enough touch in our lives is really, really important and should always be on the forefront of our minds. And then I think the last thing would be that therapy is like the things we’re talking about are tools to help us heal ourselves, not cures. There’s this idea in western medicine that’s been put out over the last couple hundred years, which is that healing comes from outside of us, and that you have to put something from the outside of us into our bodies to heal. And what has been, I think, and what we’re moving towards now from understanding medicine a whole lot better in the 21st century is that these medicines and these things we put into our bodies to heal including food are and activities that we engage in are important, but they are really tools to help us access or open up states of healing that are always within us.

And that the healing that we want to engage in for whatever reason is that just to become a better stronger person or if it’s to overcome an illness, the majority of that healing process comes from within you, starting with the belief or knowing that you can get better by making change in your life. And the medicines like psychedelic medicines or like Apollo are tools to help us access these experiences and seeing these opportunities more readily and integrate them into our lives.

Katie: I love that. Secondly, I love to ask if there’s a book that has really dramatically changed your life, if so what it is and why?

Dave: So there’s a couple, one in particular that has always stood out to me was actually referred to me by my dad when he found out that I was interested in psychiatry and mental illness. And the book is by Eric Kandel who is a very, very famous psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who won the Nobel Prize in 2002 for discovering the mechanisms learning and memory. And he wrote a book called “In Search of Memory,” which is an autobiography, but it’s probably the best autobiography I’ve ever read because he didn’t spend a lot of time highlighting everything that he did and how he is the best. But he spent a lot of time really going through in detail all the contributions that everybody made to the field that ultimately resulted in him, you know, winning the Nobel Prize and making these great discoveries about memory and learning.

And I think what’s really important about his work is that Eric Kandel is a Holocaust survivor. And what you’ll find when you start reading that book, which I highly recommend, is that his path to his ultimate discovery, making him a world famous scientist that has made incredible contributions to our field and our understanding of, you know, what it means to be human and how memory works, comes directly from trauma. You know, he had incredible trauma growing up and being a, you know, him and his family losing everything and being a victim of the Holocaust, and ultimately saw that as an opportunity to learn and grow and integrate that information as uncomfortable and traumatic as it was into a way to better understand how those memories are stored and how trauma affects us not only in the moment, but also over time, and what we can do about it by providing this cellular and molecular understanding of memory.

And so, if anybody is has ever thought about being interested in this area or if you are not interested in this area, I would still recommend that you check out this book. And it’s something that anybody can read. It’s written at a level that, you know, anybody can understand and I think it gives probably one of the best introductions to the most important discoveries in the field of neuroscience in the 20th century.

Katie: I will definitely check that one out, too. That’s a new recommendation on here. Thank you for that. And lastly, any takeaways or final parting advice? I know we’ve covered so many topics and gone deep. And this is one of my favorite episodes to date, truly. But any parting advice to leave with the listeners?

Dave: I really appreciate that. Thank you. This has been really fun. I think the parting advice would be just reiterating couple things that we talked about earlier, which is that, you know, failure and mistakes and challenge are opportunities for growth. They are not opportunities for self-criticism or self-deprecation. I think it’s important to have a healthy amount of self-criticism so that you can look at yourself objectively, or try to look at yourself objectively as often as possible. And you know, self-deprecation is an amazing form of humor. But ultimately, if we are afraid of failure and mistakes and challenge, then we’re afraid of growth.

And we have to change our mindset actively to embracing challenge and failure is something that makes us better rather than something that brings us down. And the sooner that we do that, the sooner that you can realign yourself with a path of positive growth. And that’s something that I work on with my patients all the time. And when they grasp it, that is when I see that the most dramatic that changes in their lives start to really take hold. And with that immediate, you know, I think it’s also important to know that practice makes perfect. If you’ve been practicing being stressed out for years, chances are if you change your habits for a couple days or a month, you’re not going to fix everything, it’s going to take time. And it’s important to be patient and compassionate with yourself and understand that these changes don’t happen overnight.

There are certain things that can accelerate the process like Apollo or like psychedelic medicines. But in general, these changes require investment and effort and practice, just like the practice we put into being stressed out. And so by focusing on embracing challenge and embracing mistakes and to learn from them and grow and also to embrace practicing things that we really value that are these positive, constructive coping strategies in our lives, including the way that we approach stress and challenge, then all these things gradually start to take hold. And over time, people do see dramatic benefit, but you have to know that you can get better. And most people do. And so it’s really about changing your mindset to understand that healing is possible and that healing comes from within. And that when we challenge ourselves and when we practice, that we maximize our potential to be the best people and the most healthy versions of ourselves that we can be.

Katie: What a perfect place to wrap up. And I do hope that you’ll take me up on a round two someday, especially as there’s so many exciting things going on in your field and with the potential legalization of these substances. So I’m really, really appreciative for all the work that you do and pushing this forward. And all of the research you’ve done and development of the Apollo. I’ll make sure, again, all those links are in the show notes so that you can find them and learn more, as well as some resources that you pass along Dr. David, for people who are interested in understanding psychedelics and all of these treatments on a deeper level. But I cannot thank you enough for your time. I know how busy you are. And I’m honored you took the time to be here today.

Dave: Thank you so much, Katie. And I’m honored to be here and I’m so grateful for you having me on the show. And I would love to come back on and talk more about these things as we get updates from these trials and from, you know, the new exciting technological developments that are coming our way.

Katie: Amazing. And, of course, thanks to all of you for listening and sharing one of your most valuable assets, your time, with both of us today. We’re so grateful that you did, and I hope that you will join me again on the next episode of the “Wellness Mama Podcast.”

If you’re enjoying these interviews, would you please take two minutes to leave a rating or review on iTunes for me? Doing this helps more people to find the podcast, which means even more moms and families could benefit from the information. I really appreciate your time, and thanks as always for listening.

Source: https://wellnessmama.com/podcast/david-rabin/