Reading this book above, just putting things out that stood out as I read. If you want the book it is on the pdfdrive.com website to download.
Quetzalcoatl—the name unites the quetzal, a bird of Mexico renowned for its colorful plumage, flute-throated flitterer atop rain forest trees, and the serpent, coatl, that slinks on its belly along the Earth. Integrating what slithers, cunningly, in the dust and what soars, brightly, in the air, Quetzalcoatl as a symbol unifies perceived opposites—Heaven and Earth, spirit and matter, light and dark, science and myth. He is the god of wind and the morning star, dispenser of culture, with a special affinity for astronomy and writing and the planet Venus.
Afterward, as myth has it, he wandered across Mexico as a brooding exile before unifying Mayan and Toltec cosmology in the magnificent temple complex of Chichen Itza, and finally disappeared to the West on a raft of serpents, vowing his eventual return.
The pineal gland—that singular organ in the brain that Descartes had considered the seat of the soul—develops in the embryo forty-nine days after conception. Strassman hypothesized that the pineal gland might act as a receiver for the soul, and that DMT could function as the conducting medium. “The pineal gland of evolutionarily older animals, such as lizards and amphibians, is also called the ‘third eye,’” Strassman wrote. “Just like the two seeing eyes, the third eye possesses a lens, cornea, and retina.” In the event of a cataclysmic shock or at death, the pineal gland might release a flood of DMT into the brain, causing the “life review” and the intense visionary phenomena reported in numerous near-death experiences p. 96/418
By inserting nanobots into our brains or ultimately perhaps downloading our psyches into immortal silicon-based supercomputers, humans will be able to contribute our pitiful little brain-wattage and antiquated personalities to the evolution of A.I.’s higher, faster levels of functioning. Hypnotized by their futurist visions, the transhumanists neglect to note that there is no evidence, as of yet, that machines can attain consciousness. p. 110/418
The images of the golden bowls and golden cups that occur throughout Revelation are symbols of the Higher Self, even though these precious vessels release devastating plagues and destruction upon the Earth. The “Whore of Babylon,” a depraved version of Venus, is described as “holding a gold cup filled with the disgusting filth of her fornication”—a clear image of opposites. It is the difficult, but unavoidable, task of the modern individual to assimilate consciously all of the contents—from darkest degradation to profoundest purpose—contained in the psyche. 120/418