When a Neurodivergent Mind Made You a Leader: Shamanism & an Esoteric Reality ⋆ Earth and Water

Our familiar reality, grounded in our five senses and rigid logic, might not be the complete picture. For centuries, cultures around the world have explored altered states of consciousness through meditation, psychedelics, and spiritual practices, venturing beyond the mundane into realms unseen.

Within these altered states, some report profound experiences, including encounters with entities, visions of alternate realities, and a deep connection to something beyond the self. Can these be mere hallucinations, or glimpses into a hidden, yet very real, dimension of existence?

Science cautiously explores these altered states. Studies show that meditation alters brain activity, increasing connectivity in regions associated with introspection and intuition. Psychedelics, meanwhile, interact with serotonin receptors, causing a cascade of effects that can include perceptual distortions, emotional shifts, and profound spiritual experiences. While skeptics dismiss these as neurological or chemical oddities, others interpret them as doorways to a hidden reality.

Perhaps for individuals with certain mental health “disorders,” such as schizophrenia or dementia, the boundaries between our familiar reality and these unseen realms can appear more permeable. Their experiences, often dismissed as hallucinations or symptoms, might be interpreted as heightened sensitivity to these other dimensions. Could their “disorders” be, in actuality, gifts – an ability to navigate, perhaps unconsciously, through these hidden realities?

This perspective doesn’t dismiss the challenges faced by individuals with mental health difficulties. Their experiences can be overwhelming and distressing, requiring therapeutic support. However, understanding their experiences through the lens of altered states might offer a new perspective, fostering empathy and encouraging respect for their unique connection to the unseen.

Exploring altered states responsibly, through meditation or with professional guidance in controlled settings, offers a chance to glimpse beyond the veil. These experiences, while subjective, can be profoundly transformative, offering insights into consciousness, reality, and our place within it. For those struggling with mental health diagnoses, embracing their unique sensitivity as a potential bridge to the unseen could empower them and encourage acceptance, both within themselves and society.

While science continues to investigate the mechanisms behind altered states, the question of whether they offer access to hidden realities remains open. Perhaps, our familiar reality is merely a fragment of a vast, unseen world, and those able to perceive it, whether through meditation, psychedelics, or inherent sensitivity, hold the key to unlocking a deeper understanding of ourselves and the universe around us. So, next time you close your eyes in meditation or encounter someone struggling with the seemingly invisible, remember – the veil might be thinner than we think, and the unseen holds secrets waiting to be unraveled.

Beginning –

There hasn’t been any research on it but having mystic experiences seem to run in families. We’ve only just started to become comfortable with researching spirituality and mysticism from a scientific point of view. Quantum physics has really helped us to bridge the gap between the two.

For centuries we’ve sectioned off life into the separate categories of science and spirituality when in reality, they’ve always been two sides of the same coin. It’s only ever been our bias understanding of the world that’s kept them opposed.

Mindfulness and meditation has brought us to more understanding of altered states such as those historically revered in shamanism. We’ve opened the door to more evidence and understanding of these states which has allowed us to ask more questions revolving around the state of reality.

The old paradigm laughed anything “woo-woo” right out of academia but the new paradigm is beginning to question if there may actually be substance to previously thought “crazy” experiences and beliefs.

There’s a theory amongst some that suggests those with “disorders” such as schizophrenia or dementia may be a result of having “one foot” in the physical realm and the other in the spiritual realm. These individuals may simply be hyper aware of and able to exist in both planes more easily than most.

6:40 –

There are tribes that we’ve studied that still live the same way they did thousands of years ago and they take these individuals that wouldn’t fair well in our society and train them to be shamans. These people who we would label as having a mental disorder are seen in these tribes as having gifts for the unseen and ethereal and thrive as shamans and healers in their village.

It’s a beautiful thing that these tribes are able to recognize people’s differences and find a place for the ones that are “different” in a way that not simply placates them but makes them a highly respected and functional member of their communities.

This is conducive in not only primitive tribes but other cultures as well. We call it monophasic versus polyphasic. A monophasic culture would be what is present in the dominant mainstream western way of thinking where only one mind state, the waking mind state, is respected as what is “normal” or “correct”. Whereas the before mentioned tribes and cultures would be seen as polyphasic, meaning they respect multiple mind states.

Monophasic mindsets alienate altered states and experiences as being a sign of disease or trouble. Leaving people who experience these to be labeled with mental disorders and cast aside with medication and little to no help or support. Many people with some of these more extreme cases end up homeless because our world has no place for them.

13:40 –

When someone has what we’re referring to here as a “spiritual emergency” they are often times met with no help, understanding or support. These individuals are generally hard pressed to self stabilize long enough to find answers for themselves, assuming they have the capacity to even do so.

Most of the time all we need is a little bit of validation and support. Simple things like a grounding practice, meditation to find acceptance and peace, banish the fear surrounding it can really help to stabilize the experiences.

There’s a reason people have continued to talk about these things for thousands of years. There’s too many similarities across the board between people who have never crossed paths to dismiss these things as not having some sort of leg to stand on.

Many people who fall into these categories become healers in some way.

Being a human is already overwhelmingly hard and dramatic. You get to choose your beliefs and regardless of whether or not you have any religion or scientific proof to back up these beliefs, all that should matter is whether they help make life a little bit easier for you or not. Do they bring you comfort, peace, joy, purpose or anything that makes life easier? That’s what matters most.

25:30 –

You don’t have to accept any label that’s placed on you. We tend to pathologize the human experience which is often times very detrimental to our own power. Most of these labels have the word “disorder” tied to them which makes us feel weak and like a victim.

We can only experience and see through our senses a very small sliver of what we know is going on around us. One of the theories on psychedelics is that they open our senses up to be able to experience more of these. Meditation, sensory deprivation tanks and some sounds can also open us up to these experiences.

Government files have been declassified and released over recent years that says they’ve been studying various phenomenon for decades. So there’s obviously enough science there to have the governments interested.

The observer effect in the double slit experiment is something that was discovered in the field of quantum physics back in 1801. This is a phenomenon that has proved we, ourselves can change the results of things based on our own beliefs simply by observing the experiment in question. In the double slit experiment, light was discovered to be both a particle and a wave, based on whether or not someone was looking.

When no one was looking, the light behaved like a wave and left wave mark patterns on the medium it was being shown at. When someone was looking, it acted like a particle. It was observed interfering with itself in ways that still don’t make sense to us today. This study turned a lot of things on it’s head for us and made way for previously laughed at ideas to be taken more seriously.

This phenomenon being the closest proof we have to the law of attraction, both proves and disproves itself based on the beliefs one holds about it. If you believe it to be real, you will find evidence of it’s validity. Whereas if you belief it to be poppycock, then that’s exactly the supporting evidence you will find.

38:20 –

Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is a biologist and author best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. At Cambridge University he worked in developmental biology as a Fellow of Clare College. He was Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Hyderabad, India. From 2005 to 2010 he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick project for research on unexplained human and animal abilities, funded by Trinity College, Cambridge.

The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), using science to explain phenomena not previously understood, harnessing the best of the rational mind to make advances that further our knowledge and enhance our human experience.

Everyone is capable of these experiences through various methods if you’re interested in exploring them. Just be sure that you’re doing so responsibly. Everything has a shadow side and so please do your research and know what you’re walking into with whatever you decide. It’s a bit of a toss up whether you’re experience will be terrible or magnificent but it is almost always life changing.

The internet has connected us and brought us the opportunity to make our own decisions based on our own research. We are no longer subject to whatever the lawmakers and government scientists tell us is truth. The majority of us have the means to do our own research and make our own judgements.

Cognitive dissonance holds us back from progress more than anything.

Fortunately, those who hold the most steadfast beliefs contrary to evidence based science will age out of their positions. The only constant is change. Old paradigms run their course to be replaced with newer ones.

Don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself falling into this from time to time and try not to hate your elders. It’s a natural, normal human trait, or shall we say “phenomenon”.

About Our Guest

Andra Dediu supports individuals to integrate the highs & lows of really far-out experiences like spiritual awakenings, mystical experiences, & insights from altered states of consciousness which may come about spontaneously, from spiritual practice or psychedelics.

Her work is experiential, process-based, embodied, systemic, transpersonal, and relational.

And, she is currently preparing to publish her research on integrating spiritual emergencies to better support her work with integration.

website: https://andradediu.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/unitedtransformations/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/integration.work/

Women’s Journey: Women Who Run With The Wolves: https://andradediu.com/women-wolves/