Hey guys, a friend of mine who tried spice for the first time came up with a very interesting theory. He's a very spiritual guy, regularly practices yoga and meditation.

The mozaic or chrysanthemum pattern that many people see at the beginning of the trip is actually your crown chakra. More specifically you are seeing through your 3rd eye and looking up at at the crown chakra at the top of your head. The crown chakra is depicted in literature as a mandalic pattern made up of petals like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chakra07.gif

and much like the moving mandalic image at the centre of the new nexus homepage

A breakthrough happens when your consciousness goes through your crown chakra and then out into the ether.

Thoughts?

an interesting theory that might explain the connection between the pineal and DMT, should DMT end up not being manufactured in it (though from what i hear INMT is found in human brain tissue, so i believe its still up in the air..?). what does that imply for the rest of the space after the chrysanthemum?

very cool to think about, thank you for posting this.

MachineElf88

Such an intriguing and thought provoking theory. I have experienced the chrysanthemum pattern during my spice journeys and I would personally say that its an incredibly plausible theory.

I have also experienced visions of lotus flowers during my experiences and there seems to be a deep connection with knowledge and existence with these beautiful flowers. Consciousness seems to be born from within a lotus, there are many references in Tibetan Buddhism and Egyptian texts to these sacred and precious flowers.


Much Peace and Compassion

I would be more impressed by a physical theory of what causes perceptions of hyperspace. The value of an interpretation is in its usefulness in various applications, but your friend doesn't really make such a connection to useful applications... or does he?

That's fascinating Aegle regarding the blue lotus. I get lots of Egyptian imagery, but never any lotuses, though I have no doubt observed them all over Egyptian art. According to the Egyptians, they believed that the entire universe formed on a blue lotus lily on the Nile opening.

In regards to the chrysanthemum theory, it sounds plausible to some extent, and it is quite the alluring theory, but in my experiences, the "chrysanthemum" is rarely a component. There's this concept of "breaking through the chrysanthemum" and while that can and has certainly happened to me, most of my breakthroughs are not categorized like this at all. Many times, by the time I've closed my eyes, I'm instantly in the new, fully formed space.

This sort of idea isn't really new at all. Its all over the place, and often associated with the pineal in some way

its true for me at least that looking 'up' and focusing on the third eye area does trigger a spike in the overall intensity of the experience, especially the visual aspect. The same goes for lsd. When meditating on lsd, doing this has led to breakthrough experiences where i've travelled through the lotus-door and out the top of the head into visionary worlds

Often times on threshold doses of dmt that don't quite get me there, simply focusing on this spot can result in a breakthrough, and un-focusing will take me out of it

once i was in a deep state of trance after smoking low to medium doses of changa for about an hour on some caapi tea. at one point i was on a deep sub-breakthrough and an entity reached into the center of my head, and pulled out a gigantic weight of energy that had been doing all sorts of odd things inside me. it was a releasing and healing experience but very intense. after that if i just meditate and focus up i can tap into that pressure/warmth on the top of the head just like the ancients all talk about