Secrets of Your Cells: Discovering Your Body's Inner Intelligence (2 page)

Influenced by my shamanic studies, as I witnessed living cells’ heroic efforts to defend against danger, I began to see them as more than programmed tissue. They were holy. They were evidence of God’s handiwork, of a divine design. I now accepted that the invisible world was more than the cells and molecules I had studied in books and thought I knew; this world encompassed spirit, wonder, and the soul.

Not long after my dear little friend Alvaro died, I received a diagnosis of hepatitis. Each morning at the hospital, I had been the “balloon lady,” handing out balloons to the kids to blow up and then draw on. If they couldn’t blow them up full enough, they’d give them back to me—gleaming with saliva—to finish. Who knew then that this could pose a risk to my health? These were the days when few precautions were taken with blood (which I handled all day in my work) and saliva.

Puzzled by the worsening course of hepatitis, my doctor told me, wisely or unwisely, there was a distinct possibility I could go into a coma, and if I did, I could die within twenty-four hours. This frightening
prognosis changed the course of my life. I reasoned that if I were to die young, I’d better reset my priorities. I spent more time with my children and moved out of San Francisco to the beach. There, I met people who were on an alternative healing path, far different from mainstream academic medicine. Healers and yogis, organic gardeners, holistic doctors, and prolific poets visited my new home to share ideas. From them I managed to learn more about healing—and how to save my own life.

For the first time, I experienced bodywork, acupuncture, and fasting. I sought to cleanse my body of the virus and my mind of disappointments. Through my own personal experience, I became convinced of the usefulness of “alternative” healing strategies, even when their efficacy could not yet be proven by Western science. I came to accept that more than the body needs healing—mind, emotions, and spirit each play their part. I saw that emotional and professional disappointments could have contributed to my inner environment being more susceptible to illness.

In turn, my new neighbor friends began asking me questions to help them understand biology and chemistry. I began teaching for the first time, which forced me to deepen my own scientific knowledge. I had to simplify concepts in order to explain them. In other words, I had to understand science better myself.

One outrageous neighbor, the very persistent “Princess of Argisle,” as we affectionately called her, discovered my penchant for photographing everything under the microscope and urged me to take pictures of minerals related to astrology.
Astrology?
I had opened my mind to many new realms of knowledge, but astrology still struck me as nonsense. But because the minerals she was asking about are a part of human cells as well, and because I knew I could use the resulting images to teach children about their bodies, I finally agreed.

When I saw that the photographs of the twelve mineral salts revealed only four distinctive shapes, my curiosity was piqued. There seemed to actually be a connection between these molecular patterns and the symbols of astrology. With a little research I discovered that the four shapes
I saw corresponded to the four astrological elements of earth, water, air, and fire. See four of the mineral photographs—representing these four elements—in the color insert. Further, I learned that this kind of correspondence between physical form and symbolic meaning had roots in ancient medicine, language, and Jungian psychology.

I remained a skeptic, yet I was intrigued. Could modern microscopic patterns possibly align with old occult precepts and ancient wisdom? Was I uncovering another example of “as above, so below”? Had I discovered metaphysical meaning in our molecules beyond their chemical significance? I came to appreciate that
our cells and molecules are divinely designed following sacred universal laws of nature.

Detecting designs and patterns where no designs and patterns were previously apparent can produce tremors of faith. . . . As far as contemporary science can tell, nearly everything about the universe—its knack for self-organization; its fine-tuned potency to bring about galaxies, life, consciousness; its sheer existence—is vastly improbable. This would seem to suggest that we are here because of a deliberate supernatural design.

— HERBERT BENSON, MD
Timeless Healing

I was nowhere near the lab or microscope when another light bulb came on. Instead, I was in the Southwest photographing indigenous cave paintings. Patterns and connections began to emerge, and I soon interpreted a thousand-year-old Native American medicine wheel as a stylized version of a cell. See
plate 4
in the color insert to see a medicine wheel pictograph at the Palakti ruins. It has the same construction as a cell: its center circle is like the core nucleus; the lines on the outer surrounding circle could represent cell receptors and markers of identity. The four sets of three spokes point to the four directions, a central concept of Native American cosmology; the cell, too, has triad structures that point to the cell’s direction. And so it was that I leaped to the possibility that the painting could represent more than we have thought.

Figure P.2
“DNA” pictograph at Palakti Ruins

In that same cave, I saw another pictograph that could easily be interpreted as a drawing of DNA (see
figure P.2
)—that is, if you were thinking about cells.

After this experience, I was off, exploring how our human microenvironment might be reflected in other ancient symbols. Because anthropologists can only speculate what these ancient figures mean, in my mind they could easily have sprung from the imagination or inner vision. Shamans and indigenous people, spiritual seekers, and students of dreams all bring descriptions of images they have seen in the dream-time into everyday reality. Could these forms just as easily come from imagination or the “seeing” of our inner world as from something visible to the eye?

By the time I contemplated the cave paintings, I had experienced powerful shamanic imagery in pursuit of healing that came through altered states—mainly deep meditation—so I knew it was possible for information to emerge through different states of consciousness. This is not to say that ancient people named what they saw
cell
or
DNA;
it took scientists hundreds of years of study to name and show us these realities.
Nonetheless, there is considerable evidence that inner vision can lead to outer manifestation.

This theme that the architecture of our molecules and cells provides an underlying framework for spiritual teaching and sacred art pervades my journey. Sometimes I call this
cellular anthropology.
Anthropology being the study of human cultures, cellular anthropology, then, is the exploration of how our cellular architecture has influenced human culture. If we look at how ancient traditions have added to modern knowledge, the invisible world could actually have been part of ancient knowledge. For example, for centuries, people have used the form of the mandala to help center themselves, to access the sacred. The image created by Dr. Robert Langridge, shown in
plate 5
in the color insert, may appear to be an artist’s mandala, yet it’s actually a product of modern technology, a computer graphic of DNA, looking at DNA from the top of the molecule. Is it a mandala or a molecule? Art or science? Ancient or modern?

The roots of knowledge come from many spheres. I have come to understand myself as a “code finder,” whose unexpected path is to uncover and make visible secret messages hidden in the very architectures of life that build us, as well as our holy traditions. I see sacred geometry in our molecules and I see a story of creation as told by our molecules. While it may seem as though cells and molecules are the focus of my work, in fact I sought to offer the whole picture of how mind and body engage and influence our invisible terrain. By teaching the new field of body-mind medicine, or psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), I became convinced of how our healing systems are all connected. My students asked which practices worked best for stress reduction and body-mind healing. For example, does imagery really work? I had to find out, so I began seeing clients in a clinic in Marin County.

Soon, I was leading healing groups, not just teaching classes. Group work takes us into the realm of psychology, not my expertise or experience—I was a scientist in the realm of the physical, not trained or “qualified” to help with the human condition. Nonetheless, over the years, I developed what I called
psychoeducational groups
for adults with cancer,
autoimmune illnesses, and heart disease. I taught the biology of what we knew about these problems and then offered practical solutions for dealing with the disease and its related stress. We practiced imagery, qigong, sound (using chant and toning), and numerous relaxation strategies from my “medicine bag of tricks.” As one of the early teachers of PNI to the lay public, I was invited by an organization to deliver continuing education programs for health professionals. I traveled around the country teaching about the immune network, energy, and stress management.

Two weeks after the World Trade Center towers in New York collapsed, the Pentagon was hit, and a terrorist-piloted plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, I flew toward these same places. My mission, scheduled months before, was to teach stress-reduction and energy-management practices to health professionals—to people who had suddenly found themselves on the front lines.

When I arrived, the whole scene implied war. I was terrified, and I was supposed to be teaching health professionals how to balance their energy—now, in the midst of a catastrophe. How could I possibly help the nurses and psychologists working on the front lines renew themselves and the people they were trying to help, people who were experiencing a depth of fear heretofore unimagined?

I prayed for guidance, and an answer emerged:
Bring your shamanic spiritual wisdom to these people.
I hesitated. I was supposed to be giving them science for continuing education credits. More guidance came:
Give them both—words that support their intellect and internal skills to tap into the heart of their spiritual intelligence.
As never before, I was asked to embrace all that I had ever learned about the healing of mind, body, and spirit, and about the bridge between science and soul. To these large groups I taught a simple health-enhancing qigong exercise and a guided meditation that had helped me in the most stressful times—both of which are shared in this book.

Under such unfavorable conditions (strangers in large unfamiliar hotel rooms), and after the psyche-shattering experience we had all been through, I didn’t expect people to get deep into their feelings or
be willing to share. I was in for a big surprise. Several people said it was first time they had been able to cry since the tragedy—none of these heroes had been able to let go until then. That trial by fire convinced me that I had more to teach than science. I could bring practical applications to the heart of healing.

The book you are holding contains the harvest of my long journey to join the worlds of science and spirit. I have written it because I know I have a unique perspective to offer about cells and molecules in relationship to ancient wisdom. I want to offer this new view to people who are hungry for spiritual connection and for knowledge about how best to care for themselves. And I want to demonstrate the sacred within, the bridge between science and healing. I see it as life’s operating instructions: lessons from our cells.

The scientific doorway opens onto exciting discoveries. The realm of the spirit reveals deep truths. In this book, we will explore the courtship between science and spirituality and discover practical ways of healing while transforming and infusing mind and molecules with the sacred. The cell itself will be our guide.

Introduction

Man is a colony of cells in action. It is the cells which achieve, through him, what he has the illusion of accomplishing himself. It is the cells which create and maintain in us . . . our will to survive, to search and experiment.

— ALBERT CLAUDE 1974 Nobel laureate in medicine

Y
ou are about to embark on an extraordinary voyage. As you enter the chapters of this book, you will don the identity of a new kind of adventurer: a
cytonaut,
a “sailor inside the cell.” Like Alice down the rabbit hole suddenly grown small, you will find yourself in a mysterious new world, and there you will explore the structure and workings of the trillions of tiny cells that compose
you.
You will come to understand that the living cell, the perfect container for the divine spark of life, contains more than scientists may be willing to admit—more than nucleus and membrane; receptors and genetic markers; fluid, flexing strings, and tubes. You will find that it also holds important lessons about how to live a fuller, healthier life. And you will encounter the compelling notion that the shapes and movements of the cell, visible
to the eye only with the aid of the microscope, have been intuited for millennia by seers and shamans and are present in ancient art found around the world.
Secrets of Your Cells
opens the door to cellular intelligence and ancient wisdom, the magic and majesty that dwell within you.