I am frequently found down rabbit trails as I study and research. A bibliography is as good as a round trip ticket to 5 weeks to Europe, because there is so many new things to see and learn. When I began to study the body as a temple, I began to identify the different pre-requisites for what would qualify for a holy of holies. There are a number of sites that give you a very good visual to see how the temple of Solomon has remarkable resemblances for the body, as well as the Egyptian temples. Go to the oracle Google images and put in the search words "Temple of Solomon" and body, as well as Egyptian temples. See what you come up with.
As I delved into this subject deeper, with my eye constantly fixed on the temple and different practices in and around the temple, fasting was next to feasting all the time. Sacrifice, fasting, praising, singing, and feasting seem to pretty well cover the temple experience.
This might look like a rabbit trail or diversion itself, but it is only meant to lay some ground work. They are all a part of the experience of getting closer to Christ.
When I would hit on a discovery (for a better word, a revelation given to me by the Heavens) I would have quite the Ah Ha moment. That is what happened when I started to study the brain as the holy of holies in Solomon's temple. I intend to write a book in the near future (which may be several years from now) showing a large number of the similarities of the body to the temple, but for the time being, I will provide a road map of sorts to show you how this pineal gland plays into the benefits of fasting.
I have spent a great deal of time learning about correspondences. Emanuel Swendenborg talks about them non-stop in all his works. The reason I relate to him so well is that he speaks about correspondences. A great many people have referred to the law of signatures in somewhat the same manner. Christ spoke very briefly, but informative of the correspondences in the Lord's Prayer. Remember that part about on earth, as it is in Heaven.
For a while, all I could think about was the pineal gland. If you haven't seen a picture of it, let me share a few with you. And take a look at brown algae. It looks so much like the pineal gland and spinal column. There is a bulb and a long column called a slipe. It is anchored in the ocean. The properties of the brown algae are incredibly nourishing to that precious and tiny gland in your brain.
There are millions of things on this earth that relate to heavenly things, specifically to teach us the origin and purpose of the use and need of the earthly counterpart to bring us closer to God. One of them is the pineal gland.
If you take a longer look at the pineal gland, you will notice that it looks much like a staff. Look at the pope's staff. There is a pine
cone just lower than the crucified Christ. Look at the caduceus. It looks like the pineal gland with the pineapple at the top. (I don't have the time or space here to illuminate on the pinecone, but if you study anything about divine design, you will see how important a pinecone can really be.)
There is a depiction of a pinecone on the top of the staff. I don't see it when I study the pineal gland anatomically, and I have been darn close in every book I can find, but evidently those who were dissecting cadavers were able to clearly discern one, because it sits on the top of the staff or column. This little gland has been known for millenia as being something powerful and divine. Anciently called the 'Third Eye', it has hosted the belief that with the use of the hormones from this gland, you can achieve the ultimate visitation or spiritual audience with Christ himself. Now, you may be asking, what does this have to do with fasting.
When Christ was on the earth, he instructed those that followed him that they did not need to fast, for he was with them. So we get a gigantic clue that fasting has to do with bringing us close to Diety himself.
If you have done any research on the pineal gland you will know that it secrets hormones that are critical for our health and well-being, especially putting us in a state of rest, even sleep.I will diverge again, but please bear with me.
I am hopeful that you remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. The hare is fast, and zips here and there. He speeds all over the place. He makes promises that he will always win. So many of us have bought into the same false belief that the rabbit had--that fast and speedy was the best possible answer.
On the other hand, the tortoise is slow and steady. He will always get where he wants to go, but maybe not so fast.
The rabbit, in all probability, will eventually burn out (not just lay down and take a nap), because he is always in flight. I don't think our bodies were always meant to be in flight, at least not in that manner. That's why we have day and night, and night and rest are every bit as critical for our living and survival as the effort of work.
Evidently competition is the part of the fight; it causes the body to actually contend with itself. Funny how we think that being competitive is such a great thing, until we find out that it burns out our functioning ability to endure to the end with some dignity, helps us to get a good night's sleep, and teaches us patience. (Hmmm, I am so old to be learning this lesson.)
In our body we have two nervous systems: the parasympathetic and the sympathetic. You could relate the sympathetic to the rabbit, because it is the fight and flight regulator. It provides us the necessary adrenaline surge to race to the end of the road, or hurry up and be busy with our Franklin Planner all day and well into the night. It gives us the desire to make and complete continuous lists. It keeps us burning the candle at both ends. There is just so much our bodies can take, and we have been excessively abusive to that part of our bodies in this day and age, believing that hurry is better than waiting a moment. No wonder God told is to be still so we could know the great I Am.
The parasympathetic nervous system is the thing that allows the pineal gland to manufacture the necessary hormones, such as the melatonin, seratonin, and DMT. DMT is that interesting hormone that initiates spiritual experiences. No wonder the pineal gland, under the sphenoid bone, is the center of the holy of holies in the temple. No wonder it was the representative high priest, a part of us that seeks to confer with God for the entire body, whether it be the body of the church, or our entire being, that enters that sacred, very holy, very private space.
I love this artist's rendition of the Tortoise and Hare. I don't know if he had any idea how prophetic his artistic rendition would be to teach this principle. Look at how the hare has such a nice set of clenched teeth. Look at how relaxed the tortoise is.
When we fast, it allows our sympathetic nervous system to rest, which in this day and age of stresses to an extremely dangerous degree, we desperately need the rest; the peace of mind. It also helps to kick in the power of the pineal gland, so that we can actually be in the presence of God.
Here's the really good news: Fasting rests the body so that the parasympathetic nervous system can operate better.
More of the DMT and other hormones later. Take a break from the stresses in our life. Learn to quiet your mind.
