THE HUMAN ANIMAL, A ZETA PERSPECTIVE

How did man arrive where he is today, with his intelligence?
Did he evolve from the ape, or was he given an assist?
Both.
Man was given an assist, through genetic engineering, by benign aliens.
Sometimes, mistakes are made, requiring correction.
For instance, with Neanderthal man.

ZetaTalk: First Time, written by Jul 15, 1995
Neanderthal Man had a digestive problem and had to be totally re-engineered, with his concurrence, into a later form of man. The start of genetic engineering goes back many multiples of the step back to Neanderthal Man. Tiny apes were changed to make them larger, to make various parts of the brain expand, to make them dextrous, more adventurous, etc. These were stages and steps, in each case. At each stage, the specimen was placed back on the Earth to see how it fared, whether the experiment worked or was tinkering required. In most cases, tinkering was required. Should every change be tried at once, there would be a muddle and a mess. The specimen would fail, and die. So changes are done in stages.

We search for the missing link, not yet found, finding instead great gaps between the developing apes and mankind as we are today.
Just where ARE the missing links?

ZetaTalk: Missing Link, written Feb 15, 2002
What mankind calls the Missing Link will not be located as genetic engineering often took place in tiny labs, islands where those being engineered would not escape and breed with species or individuals not selected for breeding. If one wants to develop a line of thoroughbred horses, one does not have the mares running lose. One keeps them in fields, introduces the stallion of choice, and subsequently selects offspring of choice for the next round. Bluntly speaking, when one is trying to increase the IQ of an ape, and does not wish to spend eternity on a world doing so, one takes such steps. Thus, leaps, or missing links, are often on islands that may have been washed over by great waves during subsequent cataclysms, or even gone under the waves and be ocean bottom now.

The base ape forming the various races of man differed, and not all races of man so engineered survived.

ZetaTalk: Races of Man, written Jul 15, 1995.
Originally, as a result of numerous genetic engineering efforts, the six races were what we will term Northern White Man, African Black Man, China Man, Indonesian Man, Gypsy Man, and Angola Man. Angola Man has not survived, passing early and leaving no genetic mark. Angola Man was not black at all, but pale to the point of being bluish. This color was due to the transparency of the skin, which gave the oxygen depleted veins and capillaries on the surface dominance in setting the color tone. However, this was scarcely noticeable, as Angola Man was literally covered with hair, fine, short, and laying flat. This was not thick enough to be called fur, but should we have chosen to call the original races by their appearance, rather than point of origin, we would have called him Fuzzy Man. Angola Man was the least aggressive of the six races, and this is in no small degree why he passed early, leaving none of his genetic heritage in the vast billions that swarm the surface of the earth today. Angola Man literally allowed an attacker to overtake him while making neither a move to escape or to defend himself. He was eaten, regularly, until gone.

Indonesian Man in the pure form also died out, but through casual encounters with Gypsy Man merged into what we will call Polynesian Man. The Australian Aborigines also can point to Indonesian Man for a large portion of their genetic heritage, being, like the new Polynesian Man, a combination of Gypsy Man and Indonesian Man, with the addition of some Black Man genes due to a highly promiscuous Black Man who traveled with a small band to that part of the world. As an oddity, and tall in stature compared to their tallest warrior, he was treated as a god and given all the women they could muster. He considered this a pleasant retirement. Indonesian Man was short and stocky, with a rounded belly. He had a dominant forehead which protruded out over his eye sockets, giving him the natural equivalent of shades. He was not swift, but moved in a ponderous manner, and thus his demise. He could not run for safety or rescue others quickly, and his lack of agility and rounded shape prevented him from taking to the trees or cliffs for safety. Indonesian Man had what we might describe as a stubborn rage that when lit would not soon quell. Where he stood to fight, and won some, he was invariably bested by large predators. He too was eaten, irregularly, until gone.

Gypsy Man, as the name implied, moved about. His descendants can be seen in India and the surrounding countries, in the Arab countries, and, of course, in the Gypsies themselves. Gypsy Man was slight, and slid from confrontation, a factor of his hominoid genetics as well as the root ape, which took to the trees to escape and confronted only when escape was not possible. He learned to plot evasion rather than employ confrontation. This legacy can be seen today in the Gypsies, who disappear in the night, the Arabs, who likewise fold their tents and slip away, and the Hindus, who actively work at evading reality through meditation when they are forced to stick in one place and can find no escape. The hominoid contribution to Gypsy Man was Pleiadean, so a gentle, nonconfrontational nature compounded the desire to evade conflict. It is not by accident that Ghandi was able to sell the masses in India on passive resistance. It came naturally to them.

Northern White Man first emerged in a climate that was not at that time cold, nor was it even in Europe or the steppes of greater Russia. White Man evolved in the desserts of Africa, and migrated across the Mediterranean, which in those days was not the water barrier it is today. White Man were few at first, a few hundred, and migrated in different directions. Some took a loop south, along the southern edges of what is now the Mediterranean, which in those days was a swamp, and then looped north and east. This band is seen in the large noble noses of the Turks, Afghans, and Italians. The band that headed straight north is seen in those with light hair and fine features. However all are from the same stock. Where White Man entered the world in temperate climes, bad weather descended during a subsequent pole shift and survival became a game not easily won. Warm clothing needed to be constructed and fur bearing animals trapped or hunted down with the least amount of effort. Survival required plotting and planning, and White Man found his stock being shaped in this manner, so that the clever planner survived. This can be seen today in the descendants of White Man, who are innovative and industrialized, and at the forefront of technology developments. Of the races that survived, White Man had the hottest temper. Quick, flashy, but quickly cooled. The root ape for White Man defended itself by a loud bluster, shrieking and hopping up and down. You've heard the expression, hopping mad, and this is where it comes from. White Man, even today, blusters and bluffs more than he engages.

African Black Man also underwent a shock to his system, but not because of climate changes. During the pole shifts the dice did not toss a pole into Africa, but the effects of winds and rain patterns brought dessert conditions. The particular hominoid stock forming Black Man emerged from a portion of the Family of Man that relied on physical skills and social harmony, and this was the legacy Black Man carried when the dessert descended, creeping over his hunting lands until there was less and less to share. Black Man adapted by broadening his embrace to include more of his fellows, and today you see this in the tradition of the extended family in most black communities. Black Man's inheritance was a combination of a benevolent large ape which spent a good part of its time basking in groups. Like the Elephant Seal, this ape had no natural enemies, so the population was held in check by surges in the food supply. Sometimes plenty, sometimes dearth. No need to fight, as there was nothing to fight over. Larger family circles translated to forced civility for longer periods. Those able to suppress their irritability until they could release away from home were kept in the band, and the others expelled where they did not survive to reproduce. Black on black violence occurs, but seldom inside the family circle.

China Man was developed to offset the ruthlessness of the inhabitants of [Planet X], who interbred with humans during their mining operations. The Oriental is slight, and given to ponder and consider the feelings of many before proceeding. It was foreseen that Earth's humanity would grow and eventually blend, as it has, so the ultimate Earthling was the target, and China Man was engineered accordingly. The hominoid stock used to build China Man was from those least likely to be impulsive, where deliberation brought rewards and had thus been selected for survival during evolution. In addition, a different ape was chosen as the base, one with a placid nature, where the apes selected for the other races did not have this quality at the fore. These qualities can be seen today in the descendants of China Man, who consult with one another, proceed only when there is consensus, and succeed best at those endeavors that require group dedication.

We humans, as just another intelligent life form that is capable of housing a soul, sense we have a soul.
All cultures, even those isolated from others, believe in spirits and the soul, so widespread is the intuitive understanding of this.
Souls are born in a creature capable of conscious thought, capable of realizing they are separate from others and unique and independent from others, capable of doing harm to others or reaching out and helping others.
Once born, the soul does not die.
Not only do all cultures and religions espouse the concept of a soul, many espouse the concept of reincarnation.

ZetaTalk: Reincarnation, written by Jul 15, 1995
Reincarnation occurs because birthing envoys, gather up [the soul after death] and discuss the entities progress and growth. You may think of this as a school conference if you wish, where the young [soul] and its guides have a conference with the birthing envoys. The lessons to be learned are formulated, with the most pressing lesson taking priority. In this the [young soul] itself has little input, just as young school children have little input into their curriculum. Many call this karma, where what one did in a past life comes back to haunt one. The [young soul] cannot end an incarnation, except through death or the temporary vacating of the physical body during Out-Of-Body experiences. Some [souls] require fewer incarnations. The key is whether the lesson to be learned has been sufficiently learned. In some cases an incarnation will generate more lessons to be learned than it resolved. The [soul] moves backwards, so to speak.

And a variety of experiences we get!
We get incarnated in male and female bodies, hale and sick, beautify and ugly, in a wealthy household or poverty stricken, with a high IQ or dumb as a stump, depending upon what the soul requires as a setting for its lesson to be learned.
Thus, we all have a variety of past lives.

ZetaTalk: Past Lives, written on Dec 15, 1995
Tapping past lives is much in vogue, especially in California. Since the proposition cannot be disproved, the claimant's wax poetic. All the past lives are invariably romantic or impressive - they lived in interesting times, in elegant surroundings, and were always hale and hearty, intelligent, and attractive. Although the vast number of past lives on Earth were marked by struggle for health, with broken teeth, missing or maimed limbs, and the health problems that plague mankind today present in the extreme - the past lives trotted forth all seem to involve health and even vibrant health. Where all but perhaps 5% of the world's populace is of average or dull intelligence, the past lives claimed invariably involve stations in life which would require a relatively high IQ. And where most of mankind's history has gone down ignominiously and unrecorded, past lives published seem to all be placed smack in the center of either momentous historical times or well-recorded historical times.

What is going on here? Are these past lives remembered simply fiction or are the memories selective? Humans delving into their past lives face many hurtles. Past lives are a leap into history recorded nowhere on Earth - living conditions, cultures and traditions, and physical appearance all beyond the imagination of humans alive today. A past life spent as a cave-man, where the diet consisted of bugs and worms and even on desperate occasions of the feces of herbivores, would not be remembered. Thus, past lives remembered do tend to fit into written history. Add to this selective memory the human tendency to deny unpleasantness. A past life where the human was ugly and behaved atrociously would likely not be given center stage, and past lives are pruned and amended by humans remembering them just as they have selective memory about their current incarnation.

Past lives are most often remembered by subtle message the soul gives to the current incarnation, the body. If the soul is strongly into integrating, fixing past mistakes, it may be firm during these messages, so the human has no rest until they are in sync and with the program. It is during such incarnation that humans report they have uncovered past lives. But unless such a situation exists, mediating and begging the soul to play out in full color and sound and fury the interesting past lives is not honored. The soul considers this idle curiosity on the part of the human, who is treated not as an equal during incarnation. Thus, such attempts, where not called for, are futile. Thus, humans seeking to reconstruct their past lives are fighting an uphill battle, and will never get close to the hoary truth.

Come on, lets be fair!
Humans are incarnating on a world full of lions and tigers and bears!
Isn't is easier to concentrate on your lessons when you're a birdform, flitting about from tree to tree, your only empathy issue whether to share your seeds with another?
We've got scary situations to deal with, running from the saber tooth tiger and all.
Isn't that taken into consideration?
Just look at what we humans have to content with!

ZetaTalk: Fight or Flight, written by Jul 15, 1995
Violence is a characteristic of many intelligent species. In fact, all, where the capacity to inflict injury and, in effect, take one's enemy out of the arena exists. Where entities seek dominance over each other, violence exists. Another factor of violence is that it is often a necessary ingredient for primitive life. Depending on the environment, violent tendencies may in fact be crucial to survival. Your Earth was such an environment. During genetic engineering projects in the past, those intelligent species developed without violent tendencies did not survive and flourish. On the contrary, they died out.

What is violence, and the tendency to use violence, and why was this a necessary ingredient in the past? First off, species eat each other. As has been often stated, the species on your planet generally use fight or flight when confronted with this possibility. Where it is assumed that these two reactions differ, they have more in common than not. Adrenaline surges, the heart beating wildly and all thought or necessity of attending to other matters, such as digestion or favoring an injury, put aside. If it is determined that fight is not possible, flight or its variant, playing dead, will be set into motion. In flight the adrenaline is put to good use in pumping legs and frantically scrambling arms. If it appears that escape is not possible, then a last attempt at deflecting the attack is tried - playing dead, or otherwise appearing as an undesirable morsel to the attacker. Thus, defecation and fainting may ensue.

Now, if fighting off the attack is possible, then a different set of staged defenses ensues. First, the defensive posture, where the body is fluffed up to appear larger or weapons such as teeth and claws are flashed. The defensive posture is quite familiar to humans, as the stiff legged circling, with neck hair fluffed and lips curled back over teeth, is seen frequently in canine pets. Humans recognize this in themselves. The refusal to sit down in a relaxed posture when in the presence of those not trusted. Hair up at the back of the neck, and not wanting the enemy to one's back. The sneer, attributed to arrogance, is in fact equivalent to curling the lips back over teeth in preparation for a fight.

Next, if the defensive posture does not succeed in deflecting the attack, taking the offensive in a parry is undertaken. The element of surprise is used as much as possible. Thus, the defensive posture is dropped and replaced with what is termed blind rage. The one under attack is now the attacker. Savage fury is unfurled. Everything in sight is devastated, without remorse or hesitation. When this defensive posture is completed, with the defendant finally spent, the attack will have either been deflected or the outcome of the battle will be in the other direction. One becomes a meal. Blind furry is seen in canine pets frequently, although it goes by different names. Humans assume their guard dogs are the aggressors, when the exact opposite is in force. The vast amount of violence in the world is related to defensive postures, even where fathers dash their crying babies against the walls. A distressing situation that cannot be dealt with in any other way may result in blind rage.

The fight or flight mechanism is not, however, the source of the violence that distresses students of human society. Regimented or ritualized violence is the horror. Soldiers marched off to war, where they are set against each other like pit bulls, forced into defensive postures against each other. Kill or be killed, not because the soldiers personally have any interest in this activity, but because elites at a distance desire territory or power. Individuals savaged as examples to others, such as the flaming tires placed around the necks of blacks in South Africa by other blacks. The message is cooperate with the whites and this is what will happen. Regimented or ritualized violence occurs because humans are intelligent enough to use the fight or flight mechanism to their advantage, quite outside of the original setting. Is one about to be eaten during territorial disputes? The fight or flight mechanism is deliberately activated by those in control of the situation, or by those who hope to be in control, more often.

Humm, come to think of it, birds can be pretty vicious.
I have a rooster and hens, and the pecking order is not pretty, I can tell you that.
There is also the ethical situation of creatures eating other creatures, the hunter vs the vegetarian.

ZetaTalk: Intelligent Carnivores, written Jul 15, 1996
Evolution in the Universe takes many paths, but all the paths that corporeal life follows require consumption of other living matter. Eating one another starts early. Unlike the spiritual realm, where consumption of one spirit by another is never required and in fact cannot happen, carnivorous behavior is intrinsic to corporeal life. Why God so structured the world in this way is not known, but considering that all forming [souls] begin their life incarnated, there are certain lessons that are guaranteed. As empathy in some degree is also intrinsic to corporeal life, a conflict between the self and the other is a given.

And being strictly vegetarian, as an ethical decision, does not cut it either, as we need animal protein, or at least some kind of protein.

ZetaTalk: Vegetarian, written on Jul 15, 1997
Humans are omnivores, as during their evolution they required the ability to eat a broad diet in order to survive. Carnivores develop in species that are swift and voracious, but only where a continuous and ample supply of prey exist. Imagine a tiger with nothing but grass to eat. The tiger may be willing to eat almost anything when the hunger pangs get strong enough, but his digestive system won't process anything but meat. Carnivores die when their prey dies out. Species that are vegetarians also have specialized digestive tracts, designed to break down the tough fiber that is intrinsic to plant life. They have multiple stomachs in many cases, digesting in stages. All species that eat plants consume insects as a matter of course, as insects are scattered throughout the plants they munch on, and thus are always part of the intake. Thus, species that evolve are either carnivores, vegetarian, or omnivores. The omnivore, of which mankind is a member, evolve to meet wildly swinging cycles of food availability. Early humans, being land animals and highly mobile, could travel during drought to areas lush with vegetation.

Strictly vegetarian animals do this likewise, but as their digestive tracts digest fiber effectively, they can nibble on dried vegetation on the way. Humans, evolved from apes which were adjusted to eating fruits and insects as well as vegetation, do not have the apparatus to digest fiber. Thus, while on the road during droughts, they would have starved unless able to kill and eat meat. They have dual digestive systems, in effect. Humans are designed, due to the influence of food availability during evolution, to eat either vegetables and fruits or meat, but not both at the same time. This is a fact not widely recognized or understood by humans, and thus they do themselves damage by eating both foods at meals, routinely. Imagine the cave man on the road, traveling to lush fields of vegetation where fruits and grains and tubers could be located with ease. The troop kills a deer or elephant, and feasts on nothing but meat and blood for days, consuming the entire kill before it can spoil. They do this repeatedly while on the road. When they arrive at their destination, they find they no longer need to take the physical risks that hunting invariably presents - flailing hooves and charging frightened beasts. They become vegetarians.

Modern man misunderstands what the cave man ate while lolling about during their vegetarian periods. They did not live strictly on vegetables and fruits and grains. They ate any and everything that was handy, and this included numerous insects and slow moving life forms such as mollusks and possums. They ate less meat, but the diet was highly varied and included occasional small bites from sources other than plants. Thus, those modern humans who try to live what they interpret to be a strictly vegetarian life suffer from malnutrition - poor immunity, anemia, lack of strength, and inability to deal with stress. Man was not designed to live by vegetables alone, and must accommodate their body with protein sources from living creatures other than plants, or suffer the consequences.

If the cave man was free to be himself, express himself openly, civilized man has conflicts in that regard.
Ah yes, the repressed emotions!
We forget that which we are ashamed of or embarrassed about.
We pretend to love those we secretly hate.
How did all this come about?

ZetaTalk: Repressed Emotions, written by Jul 15, 1995
The smooth surface of calm waters can be deceptive. She or he appears so serene, so calm, their feathers never ruffled. Then one day there is an explosion, and murder and mayhem ensue, or else suicide. Perhaps it would have been better to have a bit less serenity, and to have been closer to the truth. Why do humans repress their emotions, and how is this possible? Do all intelligent species do so? Humans have a genetic capacity for repressed emotions that is not present throughout the Universe. Few intelligent species have this capacity, and it arises only when genetic engineering has created this confusion. Repressed emotions do not occur naturally, during evolution. Then how did this come about, in humans? Originally all species on the planet Earth were reptilian, and this is a common form throughout the Universe. The ability to repress emotions comes from the fact that humans have several brains - the forebrain, which is mammalian, the midbrain, which is a mixture of the mammal and reptile, and the early brain, which is reptilian.

When humans wish to remember all, they record the information in all their brains, although the information may vary in the different data banks. When humans wish to forget, they disconnect the memory chains between their forebrain and the other brains, and amnesia ensues. The midbrain, being the go-between, is responsible for keeping it all straight, and does so responsibly. Blind rage erupting during the day can get one fired or exiled, and thus the ability to repress emotions has been, if anything, selected for propagation. Those who could not repress appropriately were repelled from the tribe or city, and did not fare well enough to propagate their genes.

And when we can't escape, fight or flight, we have stress diseases.
Ah, to live in the cave man days, when it was so simple!
We're in the office and hate the boss.
We're dying for that sub sandwich, but must wait in line.
Fume fume fume!
Do the Zetas have any advice?

ZetaTalk: Stress Diseases, written by Jul 15, 1995
Worry is the greatest drain, as the body is fighting the issues endlessly, with no end. Your body was not designed for this. It was designed for fight or flight, not endless battle. In your primitive past, when presented with challenges, you either fought off the threat or were eaten or destroyed. The matter was over quickly. Modern society presents situations that are neither over quickly nor [changed] quickly. Thus the battle stage is drawn out endlessly, and the soldiers grow weary. Put the battle to an end somehow, if only by deciding not to engage. If there is nothing you can do at the moment, and you can have no effect on the outcome, then put your weapons down. Be at peace.

Life is rough, and there are only so many ways to escape.
Drugs, sex, rock and roll, and going crazy.

ZetaTalk: Getting High, written on Feb 15, 1996
The desire to forget one's troubles, experience more intense sexual pleasure, or boost one's sense of confidence, via recreational or even prescription drugs, is not unique to the human animal. Such urges are intrinsic to all life, as why would they not be? Does not the turtle, feeling the warmth of the Sun's rays, linger longer in that spot? Does not the amoebae, feeling the burn of a caustic, shrink back? Does not the Beta female in a wolf pack, having an opportunity to break away and become the Alpha female of her own pack, take this opportunity in preference to being in second place? The fuss over recreational drugs and alcoholic excesses is not the desire to use, it's the lack of control. Were everyone to stop at two drinks a day, AA would not exist. Were everyone smoking dope to be of age and not returning to work or driving or operating dangerous machinery or lecturing school children afterwards, who would care? Were cocaine not addictive and intensely destructive to unborn fetuses and even fatal, during an overdose, why would anyone be concerned? Does society cast rules regulating how many calories can be consumed, even when obesity kills and might be considered to be giving children the wrong message? Why is overeating exempt, and smoking dope not? The crux of the matter is control, as society does not care if its members are miserable or quietly killing themselves, as long as they don't make a fuss or a mess. Getting high makes a mess.

The drunk drives on the wrong side of the road and picks fights with strangers. The pot head fails school and ignores his responsibilities. The crack user breaks and enters in order to afford his habit, and if he is a she, delivers terribly damaged babies to be cared for by the state. Messy. We, the Zetas, routinely avoid mind altering substances, as this avoids, rather than addresses, the issue. If one is in pain, the individual is not alone in seeking relief, as all are concerned that this be so. If one lacks confidence, they are given encouragement and offers of assistance. Avoiding problems does not resolve them. Humans, in their existence, find many of their problems intractable, and to be borne in silent agony. It is this that is the driver behind excesses of drug and alcohol use, and this is what should be addressed as a solution.

And eating junk food, which is, SURPRISE, a natural tendency.

ZetaTalk: Junk Food, written on Feb 15, 1996
Humans often dream about what they like to call a perfect world - no need to work, sleep until noon, anything they want to eat or drink, limitless sex, and no rules regarding indulgences of any kind. They strive toward this, reducing their work time and increasing their play time, and moving the menu in the direction of the fun foods, desert first. A lack of exercise, which at first feels good because one feels rested rather than weary, can result in a very unhealthy body. Likewise, fun foods, aka junk food, can be just as destructive. Junk food is just too much of a good thing. Cave men lingered longer at the berry patch because the berries were sweet, and thus got their dose of vitamin C. They ate fat laden foods with gusto, and thus stocked up on calories before the lean times set in. And they ate anything salty they could get their hands on, because they were always on the edge of being depleted, especially when inland rather than along the shore. But cave men were kept in check by their harrowing existence. Overindulgence was the least of their worries. Civilization has in essence allowed man to follow his appetite, unchecked. If sweets taste good, then indulge into diabetes or hypoglycemia.

If fat foods taste better than lean, then indulge into obesity and cardiovascular disease. If salt puts zing into food, then apply the shaker until your blood pressure sky rockets. Only when health is shattered do most humans take notice. For those who have more than occasional access to junk foods, or even sweet, rich, or salty staples, common sense should be given at least equal billing. Think of how awful you'll feel if fat, apoplectic, and in the grip of blood sugar swings. Drink too much and you have a quick lesson in the comeuppance that a hangover provides. Junk food has a longer curve, but the comeuppance can plunge your life into the grip of misery which won't be cured in a day.

Humor is another means of dealing with what life deals us, as we are not so much laughing, as releasing tension.
Laughing to keep from crying, as the saying goes.

ZetaTalk: Humor, written on Jul 15, 1996
It is not by accident that a person coughing or choking is frequently thought to be a person having a good laugh. Likewise the start of a hearty laugh is often mistaken for a shout or sneeze, and the rhythm of laughing is similar to the heaving rhythm of sobbing. Do these similarities mean that laughter has a physiological basis with sobbing and coughing or a defensive bark? They do indeed. An analysis of situations found humorous invariably uncovers a tense situation. In fact, to discern why one person finds a situation funny while another does not, look to why the amused person is experiencing tension. Muscles tensed without relief naturally begin twitching and cramping, a result of the buildup of toxins in the muscles but also due to the evolution of effective relaxation methods. Those creatures that cramped without release did poorly, and those that twitched into a different state survived. Thus laughter or sobbing or barking - a tension release.

Socialized humans given to denying their hostilities excuse their laughter as benign, which of course in the main it is. If they weren't laughing they might be murdering each other or endlessly fighting, so laughter is encouraged. When there is nothing one can do about it - joke around. Situations of intense jealousy bring forth sarcasm, which is hostility thinly veiled as humor. If someone else gets the promotion, joke around about his qualifications in a semi-sarcastic manner, and you might get away with throwing him a verbal punch. If you have a dominating wife who insists that the doors be opened for her as though she were a helpless queen, the thought of someone like her dropping her parcels when the doorman gets distracted and lets the door smack in her face allows the fuming husband to do this to his wife, by proxy. Humor is thus an effective safety valve for hostility that would prove disruptive, and can even be used to deflect antagonism from others. Oops, the jokes on me.

All other mechanisms failing, those gentically predisposed also just simply go crazy.

ZetaTalk: Psychosis, written on Sep 15, 1995
The brain is intrinsically physical, and subject to thousands of influences including injury, chemicals manufactured within the body, chemicals invading or inserted into the body, and the effects of aging. One has only to visit mental wards, nursing homes, and back alleys to see humans out of touch and apparently in another world. Even primitive man suffered these problems, becoming psychotic with grief or fear or even born psychotic. Is psychosis and senility intrinsic to man, and does it have a purpose? Yes on both counts, though it often seems a purposeless affliction to those intent on keeping the gears of society running smoothly. As with fainting, psychosis and senility allows the human animal to disconnect with reality. Catatonic or autistic individuals are, chemically, in a place where they are not feeling anxiety. The world does not exist for them. Delusions serve the same purpose, as the individual can build a world about them that meets their needs.

How much different are delusions from the games people play with themselves to make themselves more secure, more attractive, or more valued in their own eyes than they are in the eyes of others. Depression serves a purpose in causing the individual to retract and withdraw from a world that is causing injury. Time to reflect and plot a new course. Senility, outside of the genetic disease which is Alzheimer's, is greatest in those who have the least to live for. Activity and involvement actually prevents senility. Senility blunts the awareness of the aged, so they can reminisce about happier days when they were younger.

Human society sees psychosis as a problem because it is a disruption, but mostly because of the apparent pain the afflicted are in. Is the autistic child not frozen in fear? Is the chronic depressive not missing out on life? Is the paranoid schizophrenic not constantly on the alert and never at rest? What is not taken into the equation is what the world of the individual is like without psychosis - where pain is born quietly but is more intense. Psychosis is noisy and noticeable, where the pre-psychotic individual is usually quiet and well behaved. Then is psychosis not a problem? Of course it is, as it is the signal flag of misery. Infants born psychotic are thus because the genetic throw of the dice gave them an ultra sensitive nature, and they are doomed to live in the sheltered world they live in. Depressives recover when they change the life situation that is distressing them, sometimes with dramatic swiftness.

That so many depressives do not recover but mask their unhappiness with antidepressants does not point to the illness as being intractable so much as it points to the rigidity of society. Schizophrenics react to the same stresses as other humans, but with a stronger and quicker reaction. This is widely recognized in giving schizophrenics a more sheltered environment, but as the press is for society to reabsorb the individual, any respite from the chemical surges is short lived. Anti-psychotic drugs simply mask the raging surges, as though the fire hose were perpetually turned on the blaze so that one can say that the fire is out. The problem here is not so much that a psychosis ensues due to life stresses as that society has rigid expectation for all its citizens. Does psychosis occur in the animal kingdom, outside of the human animal? Most certainly, a fact that veterinarians will be the first to attest to. Psychotic pets, however, are usually given the life changes that are indicated, and recover. Human society is not so kind to the human animal, who is generally drugged and told to struggle on, in place.

If not psychosis, the human may develop multiple personalities, to cope.

ZetaTalk: Multiple Personality, written on Jul 15, 1996
The human mind has the capacity to deliberately forget, allowing the amnesia state to wash away bridges between chemical memory lanes. This is but a step away from compartmentalizing memories into packages the human feels capable of dealing with at one time. Brain chemistry and brain structure wise, the process is the same. The average human can point to instances in himself or others where selective forgetting occurred. One just forgets that embarrassing moment or that appointment to go to the dentist. In amnesia the chemistry in the brain shuts down to the extent that the conscious brain is not recording new memories or playing back old memories. It's off-line, rather than on-line, as they say in the computer business.

Individuals recovering from coma move in and out of this state when first awakening. Selective amnesia attacks just those bridges that lead to painful memories, washing these away. Here the conscious brain chemistry is not affected as a whole but is altered at the site due to the strong emotions engendered. The chemical process, however, is the same for selective amnesia, total amnesia, or multiple personality disorders. Its not uncommon for humans to have what they call different sides, or to have what is called a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality. This is the same mental technique that those suffering from multiple personality disorder employ. Situations and the responses to those situations that are by their nature incompatible are compartmentalized. Individuals who develop multiple personality disorders are raised in harsh and hostile social environments where conflicts and duality are rampant.

Children who observe hypocrisy in the adults around them soon pick up this duality, but most often it is a conscious duality. One compliments someone to their face, but behind that individual's back denigrates them, being two-faced as you say. In multiple personality disorder the need to be two-faced is extreme, and is not just a nicety but a lifesaving tactic. If mother cannot abide discussing sex much less observing any expression of sexual heat, but father is molesting the children regularly barely outside of the mother's view, then extreme duality is present. Perhaps things get broken at those times, in the tussle, but where mother ordinarily demands immaculate neatness she has a remarkable tolerance for broken lamps and tossed pillows after a molestation episode - more duality. The child trying to cope in this situation may thus package their messy persona in with their sexual persona.

In response to the duality their childhood presents, the human developing a multiple personality will compartmentalize the various aspects of their personality. Anger, the sex drive, curiosity, aggression, greed, sloth, artistic expression, fear, compassion - those aspects of the persona that are compatible are packaged together, as they are let out to be free at the same time. For multiple personality disorder to develop, harsh duality is not only present in early life but is the situation throughout childhood and frequently into early adulthood. The compartmentalization encompasses their whole early life, and forms the base for the later years. Thus cut into pieces, the sufferer finds they cannot cope with ordinary life.

Even when we are aware that our behavior is self destructive, we often continue.

Why?

ZetaTalk: Self Destructive, written on Nov 15, 1995
Drunk every day, gambling the nest egg away, recklessly careening down a winding road, insulting the boss, or eating high cholesterol foods - why do people do this to themselves? Such self destructive behavior often has a motive behind it that is not recognized, just as suicide does. Where suicide to end a life of chronic physical or psychological pain is understandable, many suicides seem without purpose. People in the prime of life, or young people with their whole lives before them will either attempt suicide or engage in self destructive behavior sure to leave its mark. Since maiming oneself or one's reputation is so lacking in benefit, the purpose of this behavior puzzles many. The answer to this puzzle lies in whom the actor wishes to punish, and what avenues are open to the internal rage that drives this behavior. Perhaps mother only noticed the child when the hospital called, or the only way to escape an unwanted obligation was to be disabled. Look behind the behavior to the dubious benefit, and address this when trying to help those who would be self destructive.

Even the sacred bond between mother and child can be twisted, in intelligent humans, so that the child is harmed and the mother thinks this proper!

ZetaTalk: Mother and Child, written on May 15, 1997
The bond between mother and child is so often romanticized that certain aspects are not recognized for what they are. The maternal bond is more than loving concern and self sacrifice on the part of the mother. It is often a sense on the part of the mother that the child is simply an extension of the self. This aspect of motherhood is assumed to be a projection of the mother's personality, due to a dictatorial nature taking the opportunity to establish a master-slave relationship. Dictatorial and controlling mothers may or may not see the child as an extension of the self, but most often simply see an opportunity to establish a dictatorship.

Mothers who blur the line between their identity and the identity of the child are characterized by a weak personality, one that seeks to ally with others to bolster itself. This is the person who will become the clinging wife, the obedient disciple, or the member who joins groups only for a sense of belonging. When such a weak individual becomes a mother, it is the mother who clings to the child, not the child to the mother. The child can hardly protest, as such clinging is not evident to strangers, who often see nothing more than what they would call devotion or interest on the part of the mother. Where such mother-child relationships exist, the child often develops a strong urge to bolt, and does so at the earliest opportunity. They leave home, decisively, and refuse to return. On occasion the confused identity the mother imposes on her relationship with her children takes disastrous turns, shocking those who cannot comprehend the outcome. If the mother is suicidal, she may take her little ones with her into death, despite their cries. In her mind, if she wishes death then they must too, as they are she and she is them - the maternal bond gone awry.

Something as obvious as cancer, clearly in the minds of most and in the minds of the medial community, a disease inflicted upon the patient, can be self inflicted, deliberate, an attempt at suicide, a desire to die.

ZetaTalk: Curing Cancer, written on Jul 15, 1996
Cancer is considered a scourge of mankind, as cancer is so often what the mortician writes as the cause of death. What is poorly understood is that cancer is a natural process which allows the organism an out, a type of suicide. How often is it observed by humans that a fellow, informed that they have incipient cancer, continues the activity that is deemed to be causing or encouraging the cancer. Smoking is a case in point. Cancer is developing all the time, but is held at bay by scavenger cells that mop them up, as is known by your biologists. What occurs in cancer development is that the scavengers are told to cease, to back off and let the destruction proceed. Cancer occurs for the same reason many infectious diseases run rampant, because the immune system turns off. As has long been recognized by humans, the immune system is highly sensitive to one's surroundings, and by design.

Suicide in nature is rarely possible, other than to cease eating or fail to remove oneself from danger, both actions which are associated with mental depression. The frantic war against cancer waged by the medical profession is most often a losing battle because the patient has determined the outcome. Spontaneous remission occurs without medical assistance, and many cancer patients can be found to have several of these in their history. When a spontaneous remission occurs during medical treatment, the treatment is credited, but in truth the success is due to the care and attention the patient receives. At last they get time off from the hated job, have someone ask with sincerity how they feel that day, or escape from a domineering spouse with a hospital stay. Cancer treatments are always futile where the underlying causative situation is not addressed, as even if all the cancer cells are eradicated, which is never the case, they would just recur in some other spot. To cure cancer, address the patient's life first, and attack the tumor as a secondary measure.

So what is the process, when we die?
Does the soul rise out of the body at the moment of death?
Is the soul trapped in those in a coma, for years?
Don't those experiencing a Near Death Experience report the soul leaving BEFORE the body dies?

ZetaTalk: When We Die, written Apr 15, 1996
Humans are aware of a reception line awaiting them when they die, from the reports of Near Death Experiences - a long tunnel with a bright white light at the end, and those now deceased who were close to them waiting or beckoning. If the moment of death is confusing to doctors, it is no less clear in the spiritual realm. An injured body, such as one sustaining massive brain injury, may cease to be a home for the incarnating [soul] months before those attending the death watch finally pull the sheets up over the lingering beloved. It is possible, in such a circumstance, that the [soul] has already been placed in another, thriving, human body - a newborn babe. On the other hand, some [souls] hang around long after the body has been cremated or burned, as haunting ghosts.

Beyond the issue of when the spirit leaves the body is the spiritual issue of how the entity puts the past life to rest, judges progress made on various lessons that were at the fore going into the incarnation, and determines any future course of action they personally might desire as a result - critique time. If the death was sudden and unexpected, the entity may have many outstanding issues they remain concerned with after the physical body dies. This invariably is the first stop after death, though it varies depending on the general life circumstances. Someone elderly, who had long settled their affairs in preparation for the inevitable, might not do more than cast a backward glance on their way to the future, noting that their death was being handled as they had anticipated. Someone in their prime, with dependent children or oldsters and many outstanding promises, might linger at this stage, visiting those they are concerned about as a ghost, essentially an Out-Of-Body, for days or months until they can see the outcome.

At times, those who have been wronged and wish for vindication or revenge may also linger at this stage, haunting in an effort to influence humans affairs. If the spirit is lingering, it is often allowed to do so, else it avoids the current incarnation and is distracted. The spirit, once sparked, does not die, and pain must be dealt with as a resolution on future lives. Spirits are aware of their past lives, though the human incarnated is clueless, often. Thus, for the spirit, there is no change in this matter after death.