I think that I will have to take a trip to this museum…

The world’s first Creationist museum – dedicated to the idea that the creation of the world, as told in Genesis, is factually correct – will soon open. Stephen Bates is given a sneak preview and asks: was there really a tyrannosaurus in the Bible?…

…Theological scholars may have noticed that there are, in fact, no dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible – and here lies the Creationists’ first problem. Since there are undoubtedly dinosaur bones and since, according to the Creationists, the world is only 6,000 years old – a calculation devised by the 17th-century Bishop Ussher, counting back through the Bible to the Creation, a formula more or less accepted by the museum – dinosaurs must be shoehorned in somewhere, along with the Babylonians, Egyptians and the other ancient civilisations. As for the Grand Canyon – no problem: that was, of course, created in a few months by Noah’s Flood.

…But what, I ask wonderingly, about those fossilised remains of early man-like creatures? Marsh knows all about that: “There are no such things. Humans are basically as you see them today. Those skeletons they’ve found, what’s the word? … they could have been deformed, diseased or something. I’ve seen people like that running round the streets of New York.”…

…A little licence is allowed, however, where the Bible falls down on the details. The depiction of a wall-sized section of Noah’s Ark is based, not on the traditional picture of a flat-decked boat, but one designed by navy engineers with a keel and bows, which might, at least, have floated. “You can surmise,” says Marsh. When you get inside, there’s nifty computer software telling you how they fitted all the animals in, too….

You know, this really speaks for it’s self. But I still want to know – How did they fit 2 of each of the between 2 and 100 million species in a boat?

The Pacific Ocean has given birth to a new volcanic island near Tonga, according to ocean-going eyewitnesses.

Crew on board a yacht called the “Maiken” believed they were the first to see a volcanic island forming a day out
from Neiafu, Tonga, while sailing towards Fiji in August, the Matangi Tonga news website reported Wednesday.

-Seed Magazine

It’s refreshing to be reminded about the cyclic nature of life and death and how it applies to so much more then just humans and other animals. This sort of event reminds me that I am insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Just think – there are events happening out there that dwarf anything we humans could conceive of doing at this time. Case in point. Humbling.

Wait for it..

If you give this a chance, it’s actually really cool…

So – it seems that there is some scientific evidence starting to mount that Mediatation can improve your physical health.

The vagus nerve controls the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a protein that signals the body to mount an inflammatory response. Decreasing vagus nerve activity ups TNF synthesis, whereas increasing vagus nerve activity limits TNF production and therefore inflammation.

Though inflammation can be useful in fighting infection, excessive inflammation can cause disease, such as Crohn’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis.

Tracey’s research opened the door to treating inflammatory diseases with drugs or devices that control vagus nerve activity, an approach that has proven successful in animals.

But at the conference, Tracey raised the possibility that vagus nerve activity, and therefore inflammation, could also be controlled mentally.

Meditation has been shown to slow heart rate via signals that travel down the vagus nerve. Those same signals, Tracey speculates, may also dampen immune response, making it possible for people to ease the symptoms of inflammatory diseases through exercises such as meditation and yoga.

-Seed Magazine

We know that Mediation seems to have profound effects on the mind, spirit and body. Mediation can lead to a trance state – which is what hypnotists use to effect changes on their subjects.

We have also seen the incredible ‘mind over body’ that intense concentration can give – granting folks the ability to overcome great amounts of pain or discomfort. How do we explain these feats?

I think that this is the first step towards the West recognizing that the Eastern Mystical traditions might be based on some physical evidence.