An Epiphany of Biblical and Biological Scale
“As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul…” ― Hermes Trismegistus
Several years ago, I had an epiphany of biblical and biological scale: humans create technology in our own image. The wheel, the printing press, the radio, and more recently the personal computer and wireless technology mimic the structure and function of human biology. And these external technologies were developed before it was commonly or scientifically known the body (and probably the cosmos) employs similar internal organic technologies. Cavemen likely invented the wheel without knowing energy moves in curves (sine waves, joint surfaces, planetary orbits). Early forms of mass media were printed by lining up blocks of inked letters and pressing them to paper much like proteins are printed from blocks of intracellular letters we call genes.
What fascinates me presently is the relatively new understanding that our bodies are interconnected, semi conductive liquid crystalline, fiber optic, and wireless systems of energy and information flow. Most of us know that semiconductors have something to do with how computers process information so quickly, but not that they have anything to do with human biology. But all our connective tissue (muscle, tendon, ligament, fascia, bone, and even microscopic tubules that communicate across cell membranes) makes up a ubiquitous, integrated, intertwined web of information processing. We are computers, we are the internet, we are the bandwidth, and we are all the invisible data that flows through our circuit boards.
Collagen is a crystalline protein found in all connective tissue of the body. Crystalline structures are known to produce electrical current when under tension (compressed, twisted, stretched, etc.), a property known as piezoelectricity. The work of Mae Won Ho and colleagues in 1998 showed this collagen network is not only crystalline, but liquid crystalline in nature. Water molecules within the connective tissue can bond with each other and electrical currents carried by the jump-conduction of protons through these bonds are propagated faster than nerve conduction. Our body tissue literally knows what is happening to it before the nerves get the information to the brain to be processed by the mind. The body’s knowing is faster than the brain’s knowing because the watery collagen liquid crystalline matrix is semi conductive.
Yes, your flesh can process information like the intel chip in your computer. Your personal semiconductor can move and filter information, store energy, and amplify electrical signals. It connects every part of the body with every other part and can be considered the largest organ in the body. Imagine the communication possibilities as the organs, nerves, blood vessels, skeleton, etc. are all encased within, and responsive to this intelligent, interactive, connective tissue web.
This is important to me as a bodyworker because I access the wisdom of the body through its connective tissue. I have my hands in the soil of direct knowing every day. The body’s deep and direct inner wisdom is the template for the exponential variety of externally manifest technologies. We are the stuff of the universe, we are everything we create. With humble curiosity, we can ask the body (the human, the planetary, and/or the cosmological body) about how life works, about resilient systems, about the regenerative, transformative dynamics of healing. When we witness and learn from our intelligent systems, we apply human consciousness (the catalyst for added value), and we gain organization, integration, order, vitality, balance, wisdom, and enlightenment.
Calling all Garden of Eden Alchemists! Your time has come. We have become well aware of the lead shadows of humanity; now is time to shine our light in service of the photosynthetic transformation of lead to gold, of suffering to healing, of separation to unity. Our intention and attention are fertilizer for a world full of the flowers of humanity— of love and compassion, insight and innovation, gratitude and generosity, vitality and health, inclusion and altruism, art and design, music and dance, joy and reverence. It is our responsibility to learn how to tend the garden with our tools and technology, and the most primary and essential tool we have is the body. We are under-using our most precious technology; there is so much more to see, hear, feel, and know about ourselves and each other, and its at the tip of our tongues, slipping through our fingers, right under our noses. Embodied within humanity are all the stories in the universe, ready to be awakened and read through touch, attention, connection, sharing, integration, and healing. We learn about, co-create, and heal the world by going within. As within, so without.
The Author: Dr. Michele Doucette is a mystic, mother, scientist, chiropractor, and Zero Balancing practitioner from Wilmington, Vermont. Dr. Doucette is a faculty member of the Zero Balancing Health Association and author of the Zero Balancing related book, Waking to Eden.