Tag: science

Sleep and Sleeplessness

One of the things I love about reading books from my father’s collection is how I reach back in time to thoughts and wisdom often now supplanted by modern theory. One of the elements that I find lacking in current scientific discourse is the spiritual and unknown aspects of life, whereas work from the early 1900’s so often has a greater holistic and curious perspective which feels much more aligned to reality to me.

This delightful book is chock full of wonderful nuggets of wisdom, particularly as both my daughter and I have a tendency for sleep disturbance and insomnia. (Though I might have to investigate further the theory that cucumbers are a potential cause of nightmares before I can concur on that one!)

It was also full of fascinating tales of premonitions or subconscious wisdom being imparted through dreams, from lost treasures found, to deaths felt before news had arrived. The sort of stories that utterly entrance me and are far too numerous and detailed to be able to be dismissed as mere coincidence.

And in conclusion, after much practical analysis, the author also highlights how important faith and prayer is for the peace of mind required for a good and restful night’s sleep. Now that is the kind of scientific ponderings that I can really relate to.

First published on social media on 14th August 2022

Bechamp or Pasteur

‘It has indeed become the fashion for humanity to consider itself wiser than – choose which name you will – Nature or Providence.’

Ethel D Hume, Bechamp or Pasteur

There are moments, such as these, when I am grateful for the biology and chemistry A-levels that I studied for, nearly 30 years ago. Dredged from the depths of my memories, they were helpful in staying on track with the exploration of the work of these two scientists, Bechamp and Pasteur. 

Pasteur is widely credited as a founder of modern science and medicine (despite not being a medical doctor himself) both with the concept of the Germ theory and with the launch of our vaccine passion. 

Unfortunately, it turns out he was a bit of a charlatan. The Bill Gates of his day, clever at manipulating information, plagiarising ideas and shaking hands with the right people, aka Napoleon. He knew how to sell a concept, no matter if he was contradicting himself, had little evidence or was even causing deaths. 

Ethel Hume carefully lays out all the evidence, the comparative work of these two men, who said it first, and who held the greater integrity. But beyond the politics, lies the real truths about how and why we really get sick – via germs or due to the terrain of our environment and bodies. 

Experientially I know the answer to this but sadly there is so much investment, on so many levels, based on the germ theory of illness that our individual examples fall short of their power. This book places the facts in a line but I wonder how many dare to open their hearts and minds to another paradigm and are willing to read and absorb this data?

I would hope many, I fear far too few. Not least it concludes by highlighting the propaganda used around the anthrax and  rabies vaxx, where a death within 15 days of the shot was not counted as a death from the shot. Remind you of anything? 150 years ago and still going strong. Isn’t it time to awaken to the true science rather than the popular one?  

First published on social media on 12th May 2022

Facts

It is so easy to believe that what we know NOW is the absolute truth. Science is all about the miraculous, the knowledge above the masses, the elite few intelligentsia.

But really it is an industry fuelled by ego that preaches dogmatism despite each new discovery. Wisdom shows us that paradigm shifts have created waves and leaps that have blown old ‘facts’ out of the water. Yet we still hang on to the current truth rather than the reality that everything is up for rediscovery and new paradigms.

The science is never settled. I will accept 2+2=4, although even then I’m willing to see it through a different lens and be wrong. But everything else is a mix of culture, ego, timing, perspective and belief and all of that can turn on a dime.

#science #dogmatism #paradigm #ego #wisdom #belief #perspective #openmind #openheart

First Written on Social Media 7 May 2021

Literally

I have come to the conclusion that the world has become too literal.

Dogmatic science has replaced dogmatic religion and we are no better off for it.

Dogma is bad in whatever form – irony at its finest!

What I see, as indicative of this literal attitude, is the lack of softness towards each other. The words we speak or write are to be perfectly crafted or suffer being torn to shreds by baying hounds. The nuance and subtlety of life are lost in favour of documented evidence. Science is dictating how life must look, from education, medicine, child rearing and career trajectories, everything seems to have a right or wrong way defined by statistics and data. Non-conforming becomes a label of conspiracy theorist or anarchist rather than simply a different perspective.

Recently some mothers inferred that one of my children should somehow be different and I saw this ‘literal’ thread play out in their reasoning. Firstly, they couldn’t seem to grasp that children aren’t always literal (our beautiful shining lights of sanity is this crazy world), therefore strong words or adult themes were read from the adult standpoint of shocking brevity rather than understanding how children explore and play with ideas and concepts that cross their paths in a truly innocent and harmless way. Second to that was the right or wrongness that comes with this societal indoctrination, if my child behaved differently to theirs, they must label mine wrong, so that their way would still be ‘right’. No allowance for different child personalities, developmental stages, parenting influences, beliefs and values… just simple right or wrong.

And it is utterly exhausting. One of the nails in the coffin with my mother was her determination to contradict and undermine my parenting values because they were different to hers. I saw that for her, it felt like I was somehow rejecting her by choosing a different approach and I understand how easy it is to interpret that but just far more simply, I’m my own person with my own viewpoint and that is all. I don’t have to back it up with data and science and facts and figures and I don’t want you to either.

Last week, a stranger mum apologised to me because her son was standing in my pathway and gazing dreamily up towards the sky. Shockingly, I managed to take an extra moment out of my day to walk around him rather than demand him move! But it really hit me hard how that mum felt she must apologise for her naturally day dreamy little one because we have become so desperately unforgiving as a society.

The rigidity of belief is what defines dogma and be it science or religion both lose their true beauty and power under these terms. Science can be a place of magical discovery with the full allowance to release a past belief in order to welcome a new and faith offers us the gentleness of understanding and forgiveness. All so beautiful when held lightly and playfully rather than with heavy and fearful hands.

One of my most memorable lines
from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden is ‘There’s nowt so queer as folk.’

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I am happy to be as queer and different to my neighbour as they are to theirs. It makes life so much more vibrant and gentle and interesting.