"There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope" - Bern Williams                       "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is

when men are afraid of the Light." - Plato 

HISTORY OF SUN GAZING

We emerged, as a species, at Olduvai Gorge, East Africa. From there, over the past four million years, we have spread out to cover the whole land mass of the planet. Nearly every area of land close the equator gets twice as much sunlight as Great Britain, and East Africa gets nearly three times as much. 

Our history begins in Mesopotamia, where Shamash, the Mesopotamian god of the sun, exercised the power of light over darkness and evil. In this capacity he became known as the god of justice and equity and was the judge of both gods and men. (According to legend, the Babylonian king Hammurabi received his code of laws from Shamash.) At night, Shamash became judge of the underworld. In fact, Shamash did not representing the sun, or the sun God, but rather a hero who had the power to stare into the sun, as is written into the story of Gilgamesh, tablet X:265:"No man has ever gone that way and lived to say he crossed the sea. Shamash only ventures there, only Shamash would dare to stare into the sun.”307: "But there is no one else who can see what Shamash only can see within the sun.” The name Shamash/Shemesh or Sama signifies "servant", thus pointing to a secondary position. (1911 Encyclopedia Britannica). In a Babylonian prayer, Shamash is seen as a supreme judge who is different from God: "O Shamash, supreme judge of heaven and earth art thou. O Shamash, on this day cleanse and purify the king, the son of his God. Whatsoever is evil within him, let it be taken out." A similar view had the Essenes. The name of their Lawgiver, after God, was a matter of great veneration to them; if anyone blasphemed the name of the Lawgiver he was sentenced to death. The Essenes kept secret his name, but it is obvious that it was Shamash.Shamash was pictured seated on a throne, holding in his hand the symbols of justice and righteousness, a staff and a ring. He is often pictured with a disk, having a cross inside, that symbolized the Sun. The Assyrians represented the sun as an eagle with a disk having a cross inside, on a bas relief of Assurnasirpal II, found in Irak, at Nimrud. It is the custom of the eagle to look at

the sun's rays with unwavering gaze. Surprisingly, in Wayne County was found an Amerindian representation of the sun which is quite similar to the Assyrian one. Moreover, the inner cross is surrounded by a sun having twelve rays, while the Babilonians considered the sun was moving through twelve zodiacal signs, during the year. Christian priests found in Palenque, Mexico a heathen temple known as the "Temple of the Cross." This temple, almost 3,000 years old, preserved a cross that is identical to the

modern form now being used in the Catholic Church. (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X, p. 252.) The Mayan word uahomche symbolizes the cross and means “the tree which awakens.” The Mayan word for Lord is Ahau, which also means Sun.Traveling into what would one day become Vera Cruz, Mexico, the Spaniard priests found a marble cross, identical to their own sacred symbol, topped with a crown of gold. The natives told the astonished priests that "one more glorious than the sun died upon the cross!" (Murray-Ayosley, Symbolism of the East and West, p 70.)The communion in the form of the Aztec sun deity "was made of the flour of maize, mixed with blood, and after consecration by the priest, was distributed among the people, who, as they ate it, "showed signs of humiliation and sorrow, declaring it was the flesh of the deity." (Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico, Volume 111, p.369.)Another symbol of the sun, a red granite obelisk, 83 feet high, was shipped from Heliopolis (meaning the city of the Sun) to Rome, on the order of Emperor Caligula, on A.D. 38. Caligula, a devoted Sun-worshiper, dedicated the obelisk to Lord Mithra, the Sun-god. In 1585, a decree from Vatican went out

saying that the obelisk must be brought to the front of St. Peter's cathedral and set up in the exact center of the circular court. The decree included a death penalty to the mover, if he accidentally broke the obelisk in moving it. On September 10,1586 the obelisk was ready to be erected in the circular court. The pope himself was present to pray that the obelisk would not be damaged. He also issued a decree that no one in the crowds could speak aloud, on pain of death, lest the workmen be distracted and the obelisk be shattered. When the job was completed, hundreds of church bells rang out, cannons roared, Pope Sixtus dedicated the obelisk to the "cross" and held solemn mass in its honor. It remained up to now, placed into the core of Christianity: the center of St. Peter's square.

Watching the sunrise was a daily practice, performed by the Mesopotamians in the honor of Shamash. This practice was also employed by Jews, even though it was officially condemned: "And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east." (Ezekiel 8:16 ) The practice of sun gazing is also mentioned in Ecclesiastes 11:7: "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." Sun gazing at sunrise is also evidenced in Odes of Solomon: 1 As the sun is the joy to them that seek for its daybreak, so is my joy the Lord;2 Because He is my Sun and His rays have lifted me up; and His light hath dispelled all darkness from my face. (Odes of Solomon, Ode 15)

The above quotes are clearly indicating that sun gazing was a widespread practice among the ancient Jews, and even though it was later banished and those who practiced it were sentenced to death, sun gazing survived inside the community of Essenes, as we'll see in the following quotes.

"And if afterward there remain within you aught of your past sins and uncleanness, seek the angel of sunlight. Put off your shoes and your clothing and suffer the angel of sunlight to embrace all your body. Then breathe long and deeply, that the angel of sunlight may be brought within you. And the angel of sunlight shall cast out of your body all evil-smelling and unclean things which defiled it without and within. And all unclean and evil-smelling things shall rise from you, even as the darkness of night fades before the brightness of the rising sun. For I tell you truly, holy is the angel of sunlight who cleans out all uncleanness and makes all evil-smelling things of a sweet odor. None may come before the face of God, whom the angel of sunlight lets not pass. Truly, all must be born again of sun and of truth, for your body basks in the sunlight of the Earthly Mother, and your spirit basks in the sunlight of the truth of the Heavenly Father." (The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE, Book One)

The inhabitants of Qumran by the Dead Sea, who Pliny referred to as Essenes, used a solar-based calendar, rather than the traditional lunar-based Judaic calendar.  At the beginning of the first century, A.D., there existed two liturgical calendars. In one of these the feasts were assigned to days of the lunar month; this was the official calendar, about which we can find information in later rabbinical Judaism. In the second, the feasts always fell on fixed days of the week. The character of this calendar may now be discovered in contemporary Jewish sources. It is witnessed only in its Jubilees-Qumran type.The Essene calendar, the calendar attested in I Enoch and the Book of jubilees, consisted of a solar calendar of 364 days divided into seven-day weeks, twelve months of thirty days each except for one extra day in the last month of each quarter.

Josephus Flavius says about the Essenes: "Before sun-rise they speak not a word about profane matters, but offer up certain prayers, which they have received from their forefathers, as if they made a supplication for its rising" (Wars II: VIII: 5).  Philo of Alexandria noted that "As regards philosophy, they first of all leave logic to word-chasers, seeing that it is useless in the acquisition of virtue; then they leave natural philosophy to street orators, seeing that it is beyond human nature, except, however, in what it teaches of the existence of God and the origin of the world." (Quod omnis probus liber sit, 80)

Philo relates of the Essene Therapeutes (Vit. Cont. II, II. p. 485), that they "stand with their faces and their whole body towards the East, and when they see that the sun is risen, holding out their hands to heaven they pray for a happy day and for truth and for keen vision of reason." He also mentions that "over four thousand, are called Essenes".

Epiphanius (Hوr. xix. 2, xx. 3, pp. 40 sq., 47) speaks of a sect called the Samps و ans or "Sun- worshippers", as existing in his own time in Per و a on the borders of Moab and on the shores of the Dead Sea. He describes them as a remnant of the Ossenes (i.e. Essenes), who have accepted a spurious form of Christianity and are neither Jews nor Christians. This debased Christianity which they adopted is embodied, he tells us, in the pretended revelation of the Book of Elchasai, and dates from the time of Trajan (Galatians p. 324 sq.). Elsewhere (xxx. 3, p. 127) he seems to use the terms Sampsوan, Ossene, and Elchasaite as synonymous (). Pliny the Younger reported in a letter to the emperor Trajan in 112 CE that "Christians appear to be harmless people who meet at daybreak and sign hymns to the honor of the Christo quasi deo (the Christ as if he were a god)." The Essene book of Elchasai "anathematizes immolations and sacrifices () as being alien to God and certainly not offered to God by tradition from () the fathers and the law". It also "says that men ought to pray there at Jerusalem, where the altar was and the sacrifices (were offered), prohibiting the eating of flesh which exists among the Jews, and the rest (of their customs), and the altar and the fire, as being alien to God" (Epiphanius, Hوr. xix. 3, p. 42). The word Elchasai probably signifies the "hidden power" (Galatians p. 325, note 1); while the book itself directed that its mysteries should be guarded as precious pearls, and should not be communicated to the world at large, but only to the faithful few (Hippolytus, Hوr. ix. 15, 17).

Most of the scholars are considering that Jesus has been a member of  the Essene community and that many of his teachings are similar to the Essene teachings. The Essenes considered themselves to be the children of light. The Essenes fled to Qumran to avoid the rule of the "corrupt" Temple in Jerusalem. According to the War scroll, the Qumran community believed that a coming apocalyptic conflict between the children of the light (Essenes) and the children of darkness (the Jerusalem Temple priests and the Roman authorities) would result in the destruction of the established order in Jerusalem. The Roman general Titus destroyed the Qumran community on his to way to Masada. 

The apostles used the terms "children of light" and "sons of the light" when referring to their followers, the Christians, indicating that they were Essenes: Those who receive the light become children of light (John 12:36).  1 Ths. 5:5-8 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. A medieval Armenian source (eight centuries after the conversion of Armenians to Christianity) describes an Armenian sun cult whose adherents were known as Arevorti (Arevordik), sons (children) of the sun. St. Nersess Shnorhali reacted to the activities the sect, who claimed to be Christians, but who emphasized the sun worship. Besides formulating conditions and devices for the lapsed to return canonically back to the Armenian Church faith, St. Nersess composed the Sunrise Service (Arevakal), performed traditionally during Lent, on the mornings of Wednesdays and Fridays for six consecutive weeks, its message being Jesus, the Light to the World. As an introduction the sunrise is proclaimed the creation of the Creator. The Father is addressed as the Creator of light and the primal light. The background of the service being the physical light of the sun which shines both on the righteous and the sinners, and which makes manifest the deeds of men, good and evil alike. This is the only service where we do not find a dichotomy of the two opposing forces: light and darkness; sinfulness and righteousness.

 We'll see in the further quotes that Jesus preached sun gazing, used to sun gaze and considered the sun to be his power. 1JN 1:5 And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce unto you, that God is light,

and in him is no darkness at all. JN 1:7 The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him.JN 1:8 He was not the light, but `came' that he might bear witness of the light.JN 1:9 There was the true light, `even the light' which lighteth every man, coming into the world. 

Even though Jesus said about himself that he is the light (John 8:12) and has come to be the light of this world (John 11:9), John makes clear into the beginning of his gospel that "He was not the light, but `came' that he might bear witness of the light." (JN 1:8 ). Jesus has similar attributes with Shamash, who also was confused with the sun god.JN 1:9 tells that the "true light" is that "which lighteth every man, coming into the world", suggesting that it has nothing to do with the nationality or religion. Most likely, he was referring to the sunlight, just like in JN 11:9, where the daylight/sunlight is considered to be "the light of this world":  "Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world." (JN 11:9)

The light of God is also considered as "the bread of God": JN 6:33-35 "The bread of God is he who cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world… I [the Christ] am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.."  The communion wafers were made circular and had a cross on them simply because they represented the sun, "the bread of God".

MT 6:22 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. LK 11:34 The lamp of thy body is thine eye: when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. LK 11:36 If therefore thy whole body be full of light, having no part dark, it shall be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining doth give thee light.

Chapter 27 of the Mathew's gospel shows Jesus missing the sun, during the eclipse before his death:45 From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.46 And about three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabahtani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"47 Some of the bystanders who heard it said, "This one is calling for Elijah."The sun disappeared, probably due to an eclipse, from noon to 3 P.M. At about three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabahtani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This was in Aramaic, and the bystanders did not understand correctly the meaning, considering Jesus was calling for Elias (Elijah). The usual genitive of  Ελίας is Ελία.  If we translate Eli = Elia = Helios (Sun), it becomes obvious that Jesus was referring to the disappearance of the Sun. In the ancient Latin version, is written: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Hely, Hely lama zabacthani". Here is obvious that he was referring to Hely/Helios = Sun. At Rhodes, Helios is thought identical with Zeus Atabyrios. In modern Rhodes Mt. Ataira retains the name and Mt. St. Elias is a separate peak. Midsummer fires are lit on St. Ellas’ day in the chapel of St. Elias on the summit of Taygetos (M. Hamilton, Greek Saints, p. 20). Elias' chapels were survivals of Helios worship (see, Petit de Julleville, Recherches en Grece, in Arch. des Miss., 2nd ser., v (1869), p. 519; Deschamps, La Grece d’Aujourd’hui, p. 322; Lawson, Modern Greek Folklore, p. 44; M. Hamilton (Greek Saints, p. 19). There's also a certain similarity in their art-types, Helios being the charioteer of the sun, and Elias being received up into heaven in a chariot of fire.   St. Patrick's Confession refers to him being tempted by Satan in a dream: "It was suggested to me in the spirit that I should invoke Helia" The most explicit text showing Jesus as a sun worshipper comes from the Gospel of Peter. Unlike the canonical Gospel accounts, which do not explicitly name their authors, the Gospel of Peter explicitly names Simon Peter as its author, within the text. The sentence: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is replaced by "My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me", showing that Jesus got his power from the sun:

5 And it was noon, and darkness came over all Judaea: and they were troubled and distressed, lest the sun had set, whilst he was yet alive: [for] it is written for them, that the sun set not on him that hath been put to death. And one of them said, Give him to drink gall with vinegar. And they mixed and gave him to drink, and fulfilled all things, and accomplished their sins against their own head. And many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down. And the Lord cried out, saying, My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me. 

The reason why Pontius Pilate was defending Jesus so hard, was that he was also worshipping the sun, as many Roman soldiers did. In the gospel of Nicodemus (formerly called the acts of Pontius Pilate) is written: "And Pilate was filled with indignation and went forth without the judgement hall and saith unto them: I call the Sun to witness that I find no fault in this man." (III. 1)  4 "Pilate took water and washed his hands before the sun, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this just man: see ye to it." (III. 4)This is the only Gospel that explicitly tells that there was a solar eclipse when Jesus cried "Hely, Hely lama zabacthani": "And Pilate sent for the Jews and said unto them: Did ye see that which came to pass? But they said: There was an eclipse of the sun after the accustomed sort." (XI. 2)

The following is from St. Francis of Assisi's Canticle of Brother Sun: Praise to You, O Lord our God, for all Your creatures,especially our dear Brother Sun,Who is the day through whom You give us light.fair is he, in splendor radiant,Of You, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Egyptians not only did sun gazing, but they ingested extracts of plants containing atropine, in order to enlarge the pupils and get more sunlight. The image shows Tuth-Shena gazing at the sun and having her palms raised to face the sun. The sun is depicted as god Horus, emitting sunrays made of Datura flowers. Datura is one of the atropine containing plants. The atropine dilates the pupil, allowing more sunlight into the eye. Datura has also profound psychic effects. Another painting shows Akhenaton, who introduced the cult of the sun god Aton, using the red Amanita Muscaria mushrooms in the worship of his sun-god. He is depicted wearing something resembling to sunglasses. The muscarine contained in the Amanita Muscaria mushrooms from his hands, has the propriety to contract the pupil, reducing the amount of sunlight entering the eye, just like the sunglasses. Amanita Muscaria has also profound psychic effects. Akhenaton's wife, Nefertiti, became blind, probably because using atropine containing plants before sun-gazing.  Men were asked only to be grateful to the sun for life and warmth. It was unlike the awful austerity of the great gods of former Egypt, who might punish man for disobedience. It was quite unlike the heavy demands that the Hebrew god would lay upon his people. In the Aton religion there was no "Thou shalt . . ." and no "Thou shalt not. . . .".  Egyptians were sun gazing daily in the temple of Aten/Aton, as it's written into an ancient Egyptian Prayer: "Great and living Aten, ordaining life, vigorously alive, our father. Our wall of millions of cubits, our reminder of eternity, our witness of what is eternal. Who fashions himself with his own hands, whom no craftsman has devised. Who is established in rising and setting each day ceaselessly. Whether he is in heaven, or on earth, every eye beholds him without hindrance, whilst he fills the land with his rays and enables everyone to live. With seeing whom, our eyes are satisfied daily in this Temple of the Aten and fills it with his own self by means of his rays, beauteous with love, and embraces us with them in life and power forever." The ancient Egyptians started their day with a prayer to the rising sun:

Homage to thee, O Ra (the sun), at thy tremendous rising!Thou risest! Thou shinest! The heavens are rolled aside!Thou art the King of the Gods, thou art the All-comprising,From thee we come, in thee we are deified.

"In days of old, all living beings that had been created were sorely afflicted with hunger. And like a father (unto all ofthem), Savita (the sun) took compassion upon them. And going first into the northern declension, the sun drew up water by his rays, and coming back to the southern declension, stayed over the earth, with his heat centered in himself. And while the sun so stayed over the earth, the lord of the vegetable world (the moon), converting the effects of the solar heat (vapours) into clouds and pouring them down in the shape of water, caused plants to spring up. Thus it is the sun himself, who, drenched by the lunar influence, is transformed, upon the sprouting of seeds, into holy vegetable furnished with the six tastes. And it is these which constitute the food of all creatures upon the earth. Thus the food that supporteth the lives ofcreatures is instinct with solar energy, and the sun is, therefore, the father of all creatures." (Mahabharata, Section III)

<<Yudhishthira said, "Thou art, O sun, the eye of the universe. Thou art the soul of all corporeal existences. Thou art the origin of all things. Thou art the embodiment of the acts of all religious men. Thou art the refuge of those versed in the Sankhya philosophy (the mysteries of the soul), and thou art the support of the Yogins. Thou art a door unfastened with bolts. Thou art the refuge of those wishing for emancipation. Thou sustainest and discoverest the world, and sanctifiest and supportest it from pure compassion. Brahmanas versed in the Vedas appearing before thee, adore thee in due time, reciting the hymns from the respective branches (of the Vedas) they refer. Thou art the adored of the Rishis. The Siddhas, and the Charanas and the Gandharvas and the Yakshas, and the Guhyakas, and the Nagas, desirous of obtaining boons follow thy car coursing through the skies. The thirty-three gods with Upendra (Vishnu) and Mahendra, and the order of Vaimanikas have attained success by worshipping thee. By offering thee garlands of the celestial Mandaras 3 the best of the Vidyadharas have obtained all their desires. The Guhyas and the seven orders of the Pitris--both divine and human--have attained superiority by adoring thee alone. The Vasus, the Manilas, and the Rudras, the Sadhyas, the Marichipas, the Valikhilyas, and the Siddhas, have attained pre-eminence by bowing down unto thee. There is nothing that I know in the entire seven worlds, including that of Brahma which is beyond thee. There are other beings both great and endued with energy; but none of them hath thy lustre and energy. All light is in thee, indeed, thou art the lord of all light.>> (Mahabharata, Section III, Prayer to the Sun)

In the same third section of Mahabharata we find a passage referring to king Yudhishthira, son of Pandu, who after worshipping the sun while standing into the Ganges river, performed a miracle which resembles with Jesus' miracle of feeding 5000 people with 5 breads and 2 fishes, the food increasing and becoming inexhaustible: "the son of Pandu set himself to cook (their day's) food. And the clean food, however little, that was dressed, furnished with the four tastes, increased and became inexhaustible. And with it Yudhishthira began to feed the regenerate ones. And after the Brahmanas had been fed, and his younger brothers also, Yudhishthira himself ate of the food that remained, and which is called Vighasa. And after Yudhishthira had eaten, the daughter of Prishata took what remained. And after she had taken her meal, the day's food became exhausted."

Similarly with the Hindu Surya, the Egyptian Ra is the source of all life forms: "The gods of the South, the North, the West and the East praise thee, O thou divine substance, from whence all forms of life sprang."  (Papyrus of Ani, Sheet 18)

Egyptians knew that the sun existed before the earth and the other planets. In the Bible's Genesis, God's spirit was hovering above the primordial waters, and after that appeared the light. The sun god Ra "made all that sprang from the waters". In Genesis 2:7 God gave life to the man (Adam) through his breath. Ra is praised : "Let me breathe the air

which comes from thy nostrils". This "air" is called "prana" by the yogis and is considered to originate from the sun.

"Thou speakest--earth is flooded with silence, O thou ONLY ONE, who didst dwell in heaven before ever the earth and the mountain came into being.O SHEPHERD, O LORD, O ONLY ONE, Creator of what is, thou didst make the tongue of the Nine Gods. Thou hast made all that sprang from the waters, and thou shootest up from them over the land of the pools of the Lake of Horus. Let me breathe the air which comes from thy nostrils and the north wind which is from thy mother Nut.Glorify my spirit, O Osiris, make divine my soul." (Papyrus of Ani, Sheet 18)

In Rig Veda HYMN XXXVII, Surya, into the 5-th verse we find Surya portrayed as of Universe's law. This view is very similar with that of the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash mentioned earlier and with the view of the Egyptian sun god Ra who is embraced by Maat (the goddess of Law and Truth):

"Thou risest and shinest on the back of thy mother [the Sky-goddess], O thou who art crowned king of the gods.Nut (the Sky-goddess) pays homage to thee, and Maat embraces thee at morn and eve." (Papyrus of Ani, Sheet 18)

Surya is also viewed as bringing a happy long life and purer innocence, which resembles closely with the view of the sun found into the ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE, Book One.

4. O Surya, with the light whereby thou scatterest gloom, and with thy ray impellest every moving thing,Keep far from us all feeble, worthless sacrifice, and drive away disease and every evil dream.5. Sent forth thou guardest well the Universe's law, and in thy wonted way arisest free from wrath. When Surya, we address our prayers to thee to-day, may the Gods favour this our purpose and desire.6. This invocation, these our words may Heaven and Earth, and Indra and the Waters and the Maruts hear. Ne'er may we suffer want in presence of the Sun, and, living happy lives, may we attain old age.7. Cheerful in spirit, evermore, and keen of sight, with store of children, free from sickness and from sin, Long-living, may we look, O Surya, upon thee uprising day by day, thou great as Mitra is!8. Surya, may we live long and look upon thee still, thee, O Far-seeing One, bringing the glorious light, The radiant God, the spring of joy to every eye, as thou art mounting up o'er the high shining flood.9. Thou by whose lustre all the world of life comes forth, and by thy beams again returns unto its rest, O Surya with the golden hair, ascend for us day after day, still bringing purer innocence. (Rig Veda HYMN XXXVII. Surya)

Today in India, millions of Hindus repeat a prayer to the sun known as the Gayatri which similarly reminds us of our sacred relationship with this living being:

"May we gaze on the splendor of your guiding power that charges us with light."

The Vedic scriptures of the Hindu religion refer to the sun as the store house of inexhaustible power and radiance. This sun god is referred to as Surya or Aditya. The Vedas are full of hymns describing the celestial body as the source and sustainer of all life on earth. The Ramayana speaks of Sage Agastya initiating Rama into sun worship through the Aditya Hridaya Mantra. Hindu Gayatri mantra says: "May we gaze on the splendour of your guiding power that charges us with light." "Through meditation, one-pointedly fixed upon the sun, will come a consciousness (or knowledge) of the seven worlds." (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 3:26 ) A similar view is found "in the Pythagorean and Platonic schools of Hellenistic Alexandria, where the sun came to be regarded as the doorway linking together the sensible and intelligible spheres, the material and spiritual orders ofexistence." [David Fideler, Jesus Christ, Sun of God: Ancient Cosmology and Early Christian Symbolism (Wheaton, IL: Quest Books),]

Plato understood the sun as the representation of the Logos, "the underlying Order of the universe, the blueprint on which allcreation is based."[ibid.] It is said that Iran was once a center of Solar worship and that some of the Maga (Magha) priests of Iran had been brought to India to officiate in ceremonies. Referring to the Maga priests, Srivastava shows that these Maga priests came to India during the 6-8th century BC (Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Bhagalpur Session, 1968, pp.86 ff). The Maga priests were the famous Magoi or Magi, Zoroastrian priests who spread the worship of fire and Sun and erected temples at Taxila and Multan. Sun temples in ancient days were known as Aditya Grihas. The traveller Ktesias mentions a site of sun worship in western India (400BC).

From the calendar of Philocalus, which was drawn up at Rome about 354 A.D., we learn that the twenty-fifth of December was celebrated as the birthday of the Unconquered Sun by games in the circus. These games are mentioned by the Emperor Julian, who tells us that they were performed with great magnificence in honour of the Unconquered Sun immediately after the end of the Saturnalia.

"The reason why the fathers transferred the celebration of the sixth of January to the twenty-fifth of December was this. It was a custom of the heathen to celebrate on the same twenty-fifth of December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and festivals the Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnized on that day and the festival of the Epiphany on the sixth of January. Accordingly, along with this custom, the practice has prevailed of kindling fires until the sixth." (Syrian scholiast on Bar Salibi)

December 13 marked the winter solstice until the revision of the calendar by Pope Gregory in 1582. It is still observed in Sicily, Sweden, Denmark and some other places. On December 13 is celebrated St. Lucia, whose name is derived from "lux," meaning light, symbolizes the return of light to the world. During her festival a girl representing Lucia rides through the village before dawn dressed in white garments with a red sash and wearing in her hair a crown of wortleberry twigs set with nine lighted candles. Santa Lucia came to be thought of as the patron of sight and was depicted by medieval artists carrying a dish containing her eyes. 

Apollonius of Tyana lived in the first century AD in Tyana, Cappadocia, and was a Neo-Pythagorean who became a mythical hero during the time of the Roman Empire. Empress Julia Domna instructed the writer Philostratus to write a biography of Apollonius. Philostratus wrote, in 220 AD, "The Life of Apollonius of Tyana". In the chapter called "The Habitation of the Indian Sages" he wrote about some mysterious practices:"Now they regard the summit of this hill as the navel of the earth, and on it they worship fire with mysterious rites, deriving the fire, according to their own account, from the rays of the sun; and to the Sun they sing a hymn every day at midday. APOLLONIUS himself describes the character of these sages and of their settlement upon the hill; for in one of his addresses to the Egyptians he says: "I saw Indian Brahmans living upon the earth and yet not on it, and fortified without fortifications, and possessing nothing, yet having the riches of all men." He may indeed be thought to have here written with too much subtlety; but we have anyhow the account of Damis to effect that they made a practice of sleeping the ground, and that they strewed the ground with such grass as they might themselves prefer; and, what is more, he says that he saw them levitating themselves two cubits high from the ground, not for the sake of' miraculous display, for they disdain any such ambition; but they regard any rites they perform, in thus quitting earth and walking with the Sun, as acts of homage acceptable to the God."

Long before Aurelian created the new cult of the "Sol Invictus" at Rome, Apollo was called Bonus Deus Puer, or Bonus puer phosphorus, in many inscriptions consecrated to him, found in Dacia, mainly in the Apullum city, the capital of Dacia Apulensis province, called so in the honor of the Dacian sun god,

Apollo. Apollo’s sceptre assumes at times the form of a cross (cf. coin of Gallienus reproduced in Victor Duruy’s Hist. des Romains, Paris, 1885, Vol. VIII, p. 42, ERE). The cult of Sun was brought to Dacia and from there to entire Europe, by the Agathyrsi, an Iranian tribe. Like the the Indian priests, they recited their laws in a kind of sing-song to prevent their being forgotten, a practice still in existence in the days of Aristotle (Problemata, xix. 28).  The Dacian pleistoi (majority) were compared by Josephus Flavius with the Essenes (Antiquitates Judaicae XVIII,22).

The original dwellers of the province of Vojvodina, which forms Serbia's most northern border, are believed to be the Agathyrsi and Illyrians, later the Dacians, Thracians and Celts. A unique fragmentary relief, depicting the cult of the sun-god Mithra, was discovered at Konjica, in Bosnia. An miracle from August 2, 1981 restored sun gazing in this region, being practiced today by many pilgrims visiting the holly site from Medjugorje.

SUN GAZING AMONG CHRISTIANS AND AMERINDIANS

"On October 13, 1917, a severe storm had raged through Europe. The ground was soaked and muddy. A crowd of people estimated between 50,000 and 70,000 made it's way--drenched— to the apparition site (Fatima).

"The Lady appeared. . .as the blessed mother was leaving she opened her hands, and from them rays of light extended in the direction of the sun. Gradually the sun grew pale, appeared as a silver disk at which all could gaze directly, without shielding their eyes. Rays of multicolored light shot out from the sun in every direction; red, blue, pink, green, and every color of the spectrum. Then the sun began to spin madly on its axis and appeared like a giant wheel of fire. The sun began to dance wildly. Suddenly the sun seemed to be torn loose from its orbit. It hurtled closer and closer to earth, and looked like it was going to plummet to the earth. The people were terrified and there arose cries of repentance and appeals for mercy. Many thought it was the end of the world. Then, just as suddenly, the sun stopped plummeting downwards, and in the same swirling motion it began to climb upward until it resumed its place in the sky. The rain- soaked clothes of the people were immediately dry. This was an event reported by several newspapers of the day. . . Pope Paul VI, in his May 1967 encyclical entitled "Signum Magnum identifies Our Blessed Mother at Fatima with "The Woman Clothed with the Sun", equating her directly with Revelation, Chapter 12." (Ted and Maureen Flynn, "The Thunder of Justice", Maxkol Communications, 109 Executive Dr. Suite D, Sterling, Va 20166, page 137-138)

There have been various signs and miracles that accompany the already supernatural apparitions in Medjugorje. The most popular is undoubtedly the "Miracle of the Sun" phenomenon. The dance of the sun witnessed on August 2, 1981 at Medjugorje resembled the solar phenomenon from Fلtima, but it was seen on many other occasions. (On October 13, 1917, a crowd, generally estimated at about 70,000, gathered at Fلtima witnessed a "miraculous solar phenomenon"). There seem to be some common elements that were witnessed by all of the approximately 150 people who were present on the mountain side that afternoon. The common elements are:· It took place late in the afternoon when the sun was about to set.  · It seemed to come toward those who were watching it and then to recede from them. As it came closer, great darkness appeared behind it. · The sun spins wildly and throws off a kaleidoscope of colors in all directions. · The people could look directly at the sun without hurting their eyes. It doesn't hurt or damage the eyes

to stare at it, even after 20 minutes or more of constant exposure. The reaction of the people was varied. Some prayed, some cried, some were afraid, and some ran away. At the end of the event, a white cloud was seen coming down over the mountain side of the apparitions. It moved toward the sun, which continued to spin briefly, and then return to its normal state. The entire phenomenon lasted about fifteen minutes. Finally, for the very fortunate, Jesus or Mary may appear in the sun or on top of it, or sometimes a cross will appear. 

An account, from April, 1989 tells the following: "Precisely at 6:40 P.M., a white disc appeared over the sun, dulling its brightness, enabling us to look directly at it without injuring our eyes. The disc began turning, both clockwise and counterclockwise, and moving vertically as well as horizontally over the sun, turning everything from scarlet to silver to copper to royal blue to purple to green--and then some (definitely no pastels, but brilliant breath-taking colors). Some British tourists, not members of our group, happened by and were astounded! In the midst of our joy and excitement, we told them about the events of Medjugorje as the sun pulsated, strobed (appeared to be flashing on and off), and exhibited every hue of the rainbow." "The next day when we returned to Rome, the sun repeated its spectacular display at 6:40 P.M. but with far less intensity of colors, witnessed by all 55 pilgrims on the bus."

Another account, from September of 1990: "I observed thousands of people looking directly into the sun every day at 5:45 p.m., when the apparition was allegedly taking place."

The one hour difference (6:40 in April 1989 and 5:45 in September 1990) of the miracle is apparent and due to the one hour difference between the daylight saving time and normal time.

Rene Laurentin, an eminent Marian scholar, stated that "on numerous occasions, thousands have witnessed the sun change colors, spin, become a silver disc, throb and pulsate in the sky, and throw off a rainbow of colors." [ Rene Laurentin, Latest News of Medjugorje (June 1987), trans. Judith Lohre Stiens (Milford, OH: The Riehle Foundation, 1987), X.] 

On May 23, 1995, over 30,000 Catholics from the underground church of China had gathered for Mass at the Donglu shrine. It was the vigil of the feast of Our Lady, Mary Help of Christians, a favorite of Chinese Catholics. Suddenly, during the opening prayer of the Mass and again during the consecration, the people observed the sun spinning from right to left. Light rays of various shades emanated in the sky. The people mesmerized by this phenomenon could look directly at the sun without blinking. Suddenly from the centre of the sun people saw what they later described as an apparition. Some beheld the cross; others said they had seen the Holy Family. Still others had seen Our Lady holding the Infant Jesus, while others claimed they had seen the Sacred Host. People, overwhelmed by the vision, suddenly became conscious of their sinfulness, and began to cry out, "Holy Mother, forgive me my sins," or "Holy Virgin Mary, have pity on us your children." The phenomenon of the sun changing colours and approaching and then retreating while eradiating various hues lasted for about 20 minutes. 

The Sioux Amerindians believe that the sun sees everything that is going on and knows everything. Thomas E. Mails described the Sun Dance in his book "Fools Crow". As he tells, sun gazing is involved in the ritual of Sun Dance: "People also say that we stare continually at the sun while we dance [for the whole day -ed.]. But we have never done that. Part of the time we have our backs to it and we are staring at the cloth banners that are tied to the top of the Sun Dance Tree. We do face the sun and pray to God through the sun, asking for strength to complete the Sun Dance, and that all our prayers will be heard. As the pledgers and I continue to do this, we are able to see the sun with our eyes completely open. It doesn't blind us, and in it we see visions. No one should be surprised about this. Wonderful and mysterious things happen at the Sun Dances to prove that Wakan-Tanka's and Grandfather's powers are active in our midst."       

TROXLER PHENOMENON, SUN COLUMNS AND PARHELIC CIRCLE

The exhibition of every hue of the rainbow and the apparent variation in size and distance of the sun, can be explained by the so called Sun Dogs, also called mock suns or false suns.  The spinning of the sun and its pulsations might be explained by the Troxler phenomenon. When the gaze is fixed intently on an object for a long time, peripheral images that tend to disappear reappear immediately when the eyes are moved. This effect is called the Troxler phenomenon. To study it reproducibly it is necessary to use an optical device that ensures that the image of any object upon which the gaze is fixed will remain on the same part of the retina however the eyes move. Two investigators found, when they did this, that the stabilized retinal image tended to fade within a few seconds. It may be assumed that in normal vision the normal involuntary movements--the microsaccades and drifts mentioned earlier--keep the retinal image in sufficient movement to prevent the fading, which is essentially an example of sensory adaptation, the tendency for any receptive system to cease responding to a maintained stimulus.

Sun pillars are vertical columns of light that appear above or below the sun, or both, when the sun is near the horizon. They are caused by reflection of sunlight from the near horizontal surfaces of ice crystals and are similar to the glitter path of sunlight reflected on water. Light pillars are also associated with the moon.The parhelic circle is a reflection from the vertical surfaces of horizontally oriented flat plate or columnar crystals when very small ice crystals, diamond dust , fall through the air. The crystals reflect the light in all directions of the azimuth but always downward at the same elevation as the sun. Thus if the sun’s elevation is 25° an observer would see the parhelic circle 360° around the

horizon by looking up 25°, but usually only part of the faint white circle is seen. The parhelic circle and a sun pillar may form a cross in the sky, centered on the sun. This was the main reason why the ancients associated the cross symbol to the sun.

MASTERS OF SUN GAZING

Omram Michael Aivanhov: "The ego is the ultimate black hole. It sucks in light but emits none. The Sun is the exact opposite of the ego. It ceaselessly bestows life upon the world. Its life is a true sacrifice. This secret message was clearly understood by the ancient rishis." "In your thought, with your imagination, try to draw some of these divine particles [of the Sun] into yourself. In this way, little by little, you will completely regenerate all the materials of your being. Thanks to the Sun you will think and act as a child of God." "When we focus our attention on the sun, the centre of our universe, we draw closer to our own centre, our higher self, the sun within; we melt into it and begin to resemble it more and more.""The world needs more and more human beings capable of dedicating themselves to this work with the sun, for only love and light are capable of transforming humanity."  "You go and watch the sunrise for your morning meditation, but you will not gain a great deal from this exercise if you do not prepare yourself; possibly the night before, but certainly from the moment you set off before dawn you must hold firmly in your head and in your heart the belief that you will not just assist but also participate in this incredible event taking place in the universe.[...] You will say that the sun will always rise, whether you are there to watch it or not. Yes, you are right, the sun does not need you to rise in the morning.   It is important for you, however, because there is a connection between the events that occur in nature and those of your inner life." "Light is the true beverage of immortality and you can catch this light in the morning at sunrise and use it to nourish your subtle bodies." "If you are able to watch the sun with a free, clear mind you will feel that you are entering into contact with it, with its spirit,and that you are absorbing its rays, like so many seeds of life." "Prana is a great river flowing from the sun and, by meditation and breathing exercises, we can obtain all the elements we need from it." "In a dream, the sun which is rising can announce, for example: the end of a grave disease (return of health), or blooming, the arrival of a prosperous situation, etc." "The sunset (which is announcing night herald or darkness) represents: loss of consciousness, disease and

death. It connects usto the destructive forces of decline and death. That is why it is not recommended to contemplate sunset." "The nearer you get to the sun in spirit, soul, and thought, with your heart and will, the nearer you will be to God, for on the physical plane, the sun is the symbol and the tangible representative of the Deity." Aïvanhov was always careful to emphasize, however, that the sun should not be worshipped as God: "God isutterly ineffable, beyond our powers of conception; there is no question of thinking the sun is God."

Acharya Jowel is being recognised as Surya Swami for his Suryayog practice that is gaining a lot of followers in Mumbai. He says: "Through Suryayog, your mind naturally begins to concentrate, which is the aim of all spiritual processes. The sun's rays collide with our thoughts and create silence. The mind is too powerful to be managed by ordinary human consciousness. The photons from the solar system help to control the mind."

Dimbeswar Basumatary,  a 24-year-old college dropout from Balimari village west of Assam’s capital Guwahati, has sun-gazing as his passion. He has baffled ophthalmologists by staring at the sun for hours without blinking, while staring at a radiant sun for just 90 seconds can cause solar burn or retina damage.He claimed that he had tried not eating anything for four days and did not experience hunger or thirst because the sun gives him food for survival in the form of solar energy.A senior ophthalmologist Biraj Jyoti Goswami of the Sankardev Netralaya, a premier eye hospital in Guwahati, said that Basumatary had been examined a number of times and was found to have good colour vision with no significant problems detected so far. (Youth’s Sun-Gazing Baffles Eye Specialists, The Star, 17 December 2002)

Sunyogi Umasankar , an Indian Yogi, was born in 1967 in Lachipur, near Calcutta, into a Hindu family.  During his time at the ashram of Pondicherry, he spent every morning meditating on a rock looking out at the sun's reflection off the sea. His daily meditation upon the reflected sunlight onto the sea water, which is a polarized light, gave him great pleasure and became aware that, through this method of meditation, he was somehow able to absorb powerful energies from the sun's rays. He began to experiment by looking directly at the sun, initially as it was rising, then day by day he began to concentrate on it as it rose higher into the sky. He continued his meditation and after a couple of months the sun started to appear as a "clear hazy ring with soft blue sky inside". The harsh brightness disappeared and he felt it become increasingly soothing. As time went on, he started to see "seven bright colours radiating from the sun, slowly reaching closer to the ground".During his three month period of concentrating on the sun, Swamiji had developed a great interest in the way that trees and plants are able to receive energy directly from sunlight. His discoveries now made him believe that he had found a way of absorbing the sun's energy directly into his body, charging his body's cells with kinetic energy and therefore removing the need to eat food. So, as an experiment, Swamiji stopped eating breakfast and continued concentrating on the sun. Six months later, he stopped eating his dinner, then six months after that, he stopped eating food at all. From the 17th August until the 7th December 1996, Swamiji stopped eating and sleeping altogether. His body weight remained the same and he continued his daily routine working in the ashram in a perfect state of health.

Hira Ratan Manek (HRM) was born on 12th of September 1937 in Bodhavad, India, was raised in Calicut, Kerala, India, where he had his Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Kerala. After graduation, he joined the family business, which was shipping and spice trading, and continued working there until he retired in 1992. After he retired, he began to study on sun gazing, in which he had been interested since his childhood. After working 3 years on this method, he was able to find the secrets of sun gazing. During his study, he was mainly inspired from the teachings of Lord Mahavir of Jains, who was also practicing this method two thousand and six hundred years ago. He walked in the sun for long periods of time. As he kept walking in the sun, he felt progressively energized. He also felt less and less need to eat food. There was no

compulsion to do a fast; no will power was necessary. He follows the jain way of fasting and he takes only water after sunrise & before sunset. He has done fasting for 211 days, from 19th June 1995 to 15th Jan 96. The fast ended in the Jain temple situated in the Gujarat. When he completed the 211 days fast, his weight was reduced by 41 kg. and the Sugar level (Glucose) was lowered to 43. "Medical Science says that when the glucose level of a human being decreasing below 50, then the situation becomes dangerous, even though in his case nothing has append." Said Dr. P.D.Doshi the secretary of Health Care International Multitherapy Institute. 

HRM started a 411 days fast at 1st January 2000 and was ready to go for continuous medical checkup during his fasting. The medical team is led by Health Care International Multitherapy Institute & Jain Doctors Federation jointly. It is fully supported by Jain Yuvak Mahasangh President Dr. Jitubhai Shah. HRM has has completed 166 days of fast on 14th June 2000. His initial weight was 77 kg was reduced to 62kg. All other parameters were normal. On 14th Februry 2001 he completed 411 days of fasting. Except for loss of 19 Kg weight (58 kg, which was stable with no further weight loss for last 3 months) a slight reduction of pulse rate and B.P. and definite reduction of respiratory rate (from 18 to now 10/minute) amazingly, there is no other medical abnormality. He has stopped passing stool after the 16th day of fasting and urine output was maintained at around 600 to 800 c.c. His blood sugar was between 60 and 90.  The pineal gland can be enlarged by Surya Yoga. Normal Pineal gland measures 6 x 8 mm in human body. As per C.T.Scan & MRI Scan reports of Mr. Hira Ratan Manek. it is 8 x 11 mm (enlarged). This may indirectly support the important role of pineal gland in energy transformation. The pineal has documented effects on reproductive function, growth, body temperature, blood pressure, motor activity, sleep, tumor growth, mood, and the immune system. A healthy pineal also seems to be a major factor in longevity. HRM has one intention that is to have humanity become truly independent. He stated: "Food makes us commit the maximum pain to others and exploit others."

SUN GAZING HELPS FASTING

There are two mechanisms by which sunlight suppresses the hunger:

1. by stimulating melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) production into the pituitary gland; 2. by stimulating serotonin production and suppressing melatonin production into the pineal gland.

Exposure to sunlight makes pituitary gland to MSH. MSH stimulates the pigmentation of the skin, but it is also anorexigenic (suppresses hunger). Injection of MSH in one of the lateral ventricles of rodents leads to suppression of food intake in a dose-dependent manner. There was proven the physiological suppression of MSH under fasting. However, sun gazing overrides this mechanism. MSH is leading to increased metabolism and accelerates weight loss during a fast, by   increasing the accessibility of fat stores.  

The rate of production of serotonin by the brain was directly related to the prevailing duration of bright sunlight and rose rapidly with increased luminosity. To transform tryptophan into serotonine, vitamin B6 is required. Consuming more protein than you need, requires extra vitamin B6 (and B2 and folic acid). Consuming too much proteinous food inhibits serotonine production. Consuming too much protein increases blood-phenylalanine level. The amino acid phenylalanine inhibits serotonine production, through inhibiting decarboxylation of 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophane into serotonine. Consuming too much protein increases blood-leucine level. The amino acid leucine enhances tryptophan-pyrrolase, irreversibly decomposing tryptophan. A common cause of obesity is the serotonin-deficiency. Symptoms include sugar cravings, food obsession, binge eating, depression, anxiety, and phobias. Fasting results in increased turnover of brain serotonin (Curzon et al, 1972). Sunlight, or simulated sunlight, stimulates the thyroid gland which boosts metabolism and fights obesity.

Melatonin is produced, in the absence of sunlight, by pineal gland. Stress, refined sugars, and other factors that increase epinephrine output will also increase melatonin production. This is the cause of stress induced obesity. Melatonin does inhibit the pituitary secretion of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), which leads to increased hunger. That's why hunger is hard to control during the night and that's why the Ramadan fasting is maintained until sunset. Melatonin suppresses the production of insulin by the pancreas, and therefore causes a rise in blood sugar. In contrast, calcium and vitamin D appears to stimulate the production of insulin. Exposure to sunlight lowers blood sugar by stimulating its storage in the muscles and liver. Diabetics are benefited by getting moderate amounts of sunshine, but lengthy sunbathing is not recommended. The pineal gland produces melatonin from serotonin, causing a decrease of the serotonin level. 

Twenty-two patients with both SAD and bulimia received a four-week trial of light therapy, with each session lasting 30 minutes to one hour. 10 of the 22 patients had a complete remission of depressive symptoms following the trial, while the number of binges decreased by an average of 46%, and the number of purging events dropped by 36%, they report. Norman Rosenthal, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and author of the book Winter Blues, believes that light affects the brain in such a way as to both diminish the need for food and to dampen the need for the good feelings that come with purging. Rosenthal also says that light increases brain levels of serotonin, a chemical involved in mood that also regulates the sense of "satiety" -- the feeling of being full after eating. Vegetarian and vegan diets are exceptionally poor or completely lacking in vitamin D predisposing to an absolute need for UV-B sunlight.  Obesity is associated with vitamin-D deficiency. In fact, obese persons have impaired production of UV-B-stimulated D and impaired absorption of food source and supplemental D.When the diet lacks calcium, whether from D or calcium deficiency, there is an increase in fatty acid synthase, an enzyme that converts calories into fat. Higher levels of calcium with adequate vitamin D inhibit fatty acid synthase while diets low in calcium increase fatty acid synthase by as much as five-fold. In one study, genetically obese rats lost 60 percent of their body fat in six weeks on a diet that had moderate calorie reduction but was high in calcium. All rats supplemented with calcium showed increased body temperature indicating a shift from calorie storage to calorie burning (thermogenesis).

SUNLIGHT REDUCES FATIGUE

Indoor light is missing the ultraviolet (UV) component of the sunlight. When sunlight passes through the windows, the glass is removing the UV component. Electric light is also missing the UV radiation, because it is absorbed by the glass of the bulbs. However, special bulbs, made of quartz, are providing full-spectrum light. Various laboratory tests and on-site studies have shown that UV-inclusive light helps workers reduce fatigue and accidents and dramatically increases productivity. Normal fluorescent lighting actually increases fatigue and drains the body of energy and vitamin A.

Carbohydrates in the diet are broken down into molecules of sugar, which either circulate as blood sugar and are therefore readily available but also readily lost, or else they are stored for later use as glycogen. Glycogen molecules consist of thousands of glucose or sugar units joined together in numbers of small clusters. Each cluster contains thirty four molecules of glucose. It represents the main source of energy for normal physical exertion, and is the limiting factor for endurance. When all the available glycogen in muscle is used up, the muscle relies on what energy can be brought to it in the blood. One of the most important effects of physical training is to increase the store of glycogen in the muscle, and this explains why athletes normally do not train for two or three days before a competitive event - it takes this long for the glycogen store in the muscles to be built up again. When human subjects are exposed to UV, the glycogen level in their tissues dives in the first hour or so, and then the enzymes which manufacture glycogen are stimulated. The level of glycogen stored in the

tissues rises steadily for about sixteen hours. (Ohkawara, A., "Glycogen Metabolism Following Ultraviolet Irradiation", J. Invest Derm: 59; 264-268, 1972) In parallel with the increase in glycogen stores goes a decrease in blood sugar - or, more precisely, a normalization of abnormal blood sugar. Although most cells in the body do not depend on glucose, being able to use their glycogen stores, the one tissue that is most dependent on blood glucose, and which uses up twenty per cent of it, is the brain. When the blood sugar goes down we tend to find ourselves running out of energy and becoming drowsy, irritable and emotional. Blood-sugar level of rabbits during constant exposure to red light causes it to go up rapidly while ultraviolet light reduces it. This effect was further confirmed in human studies when it was shown that the blood sugar of diabetics was also lowered by ultraviolet. Pincussen showed that by using daily doses of UV light, he could bring the blood sugar of diabetics down very effectively. There was an immediate improvement after the first day of treatment, and over a period of up to a fortnight the blood sugar slowly settled down to normal and stayed there. It showed no signs of decreasing to below the normal level, so there is no reason for us to think that UV has a harmful hypoglycemic effect. (Pincussen, L., "Effect of Ultraviolet and Visible Rays on Carbohydrate Metabolism", Arcb Phys Ther: 18; 7SO-7S5, 1937) Exposure to sunlight rises insulin level, which lowers blood sugar by pushing sugar into cells, where it provides them energy. Sunlight entering the eyes prevents the pineal from inhibiting the pituitary, and

thereby provides a counterbalance to the hypoglycemic effect of sunlight hitting the skin. (Relkin, R. (ed), The Pineal Gland, Elsevier, New York, 1983. 13Tanaka, Y., "Effect of 1,2S-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 on Insulin Secretion: Direct or Mediated", Endocrinology: 118(5); 1971-1974, 1986) HRM feels little or no fatigue, and sleeps just for a couple of hours a day. Sometimes he goes for a whole week without sleep and without ill effects.

SUNLIGHT CURES SAD AND REDUCES STRESS

Patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a regular recurrence of depression during the fall and winter, caused by a drop in serotonin levels in the brains, often improve after basking under bright light, a technique known as phototherapy. Little is known about why phototherapy works, but Dr. Gavin Lambert of the Baker Heart Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and his team discovered that serotonin levels rise in the brain on days with longer periods of sunlight, regardless of the season.  The Australian researchers took blood samples from the jugular veins of 101 healthy men and compared serotonin levels based on weather conditions and seasons. They found the turnover of serotonin was lowest in the winter and the amount of serotonin produced by the brain was directly linked to prevailing sunlight duration. (Lancet , news release, Dec. 5, 2002) The symptoms of SAD and the “winter blues” can include fatigue, craving carbohydrates, irritability, sleeping more and a change of personality from your summer self to your winter self. Four times as many women as men suffer from SAD. There is little motivation to get up in the morning or even to live at all. Low sex drive, overeating to compensate and the inevitable weight gain add to the misery. Most people with SAD symptoms, show changes in their sleep/wake patterns and melatonin levels. A recent study at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City found that people who got a burst of artificial light in the morning were twice as likely to overcome their seasonal depression as were those who received the light in the evening. About 80% of sufferers show the sleep delayed pattern. Their melatonin production and sleep periods begin later at night, and creep into the normal AM waking hours. These people have trouble waking up in the morning, and often never feel fully awake, even if they have slept longer than usual. This group should do sun gazing early in the morning. The other 20% who feel best in the morning, then fade steadily by afternoon, often going to sleep hours earlier than normal, should do sun gazing late afternoon. These people feel better when treated with bright light, of over 2500 lux. The average person responds to light therapy in 2 weeks, but some people take up to a month. However, they

get worse again when given melatonin capsules. (Rosenthal, N.E, et al., 'Seasonal Affective Disorder and Phototherapy', Ann. New York Acad. Sci: 435; 260-267, 1985)

A recent controlled experiment by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle found that a simulated dawn—a gradual brightening for ninety minutes in the early morning—was more effective than a sudden burst of light for half an hour (Psychology Today, Mar/April, 2002).Daniel F. Kripke, MD and professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, states that, "The response to light therapy is quite rapid, often within two weeks, which is more rapid than the response to anti-depressant drugs or psychotherapy." "In 1980, Dr. Fritz Hollwich conducted a study comparing the effects of sitting under strong artificial cool-white (non-full spectrum) illumination versus the effects of sitting under strong artificial illumination that simulates sunlight (full-spectrum). Using changes in the endocrine system to evaluate these effects, he found stress like levels of ACTH an cortisol (the stress hormones) in individuals in sitting under the cool-white tubes. These changes were totally absent in the individuals sitting under the sunlight-simulating tubes." (Liberman, Jacob, 1991, Light Medicine of the Future. New Mexico: Bear & Company Publishing)

Sunlight exposure decreases adrenaline and noradrenalin levels, reducing their stressing effect, and releases endorphins, which promote the feeling of "well-being". It also increases vitamin D level. Seasonal Affective Disorder has been treated successfully with vitamin D. In a recent study covering 30 days of treatment comparing vitamin D supplementation with two-hour daily use of light boxes, depression completely resolved in the D group but not in the light box group. High stress may increase the need for vitamin D or UV-B sunlight and calcium.

SUNLIGHT AFFECTS HORMONES' LEVELS

According to Dr. Julian Whitaker (Health & Healing, Vol.2,No.13,12/92), "light enters your eyes and has a stimulatory effect on your hypothalamus, pineal gland, and pituitary gland--the master hormone-secreting gland of the body. Lights that approximate the sun's full spectrum of energy keep your glands stimulated, happy, and healthy. Lights that do not, can make you sick". A San Diego Psychiatrist, Dr. Barbara Perry, has found that women treated with two hours of bright light in the evening experienced a reversal of their PMS symptoms. Her findings, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry ("Morning Versus Bright Light Treatment of Late Luteal Phase Dysphoric Disorder" 9/89), indicate that bright-light treatment may become an effective alternative treatment to drug therapy for PMS.

As puberty progresses and body size increases, the level of melatonin decreases to its adult norm, and the level of LH rises. (Waidbauser F., and Dietzel M., "Daily and Annual Rhythms in Human Melatonin Secretion: Role in Puberty Control", Ann. New York Acad. Sci: 453; 205-214, 1985) LH also peaks at the time of ovulation, and melatonin shows a drop at the same time, which is probably due to suppression of melatonin production by estrogen. Dr. Daniel Kripke, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego, enlisted 11 healthy male volunteers, aged 19 to 30, to test whether light affects the body levels of luteinizing hormone, which is produced by the pituitary gland and assists in the production of other hormones, such as testosterone, in men. The men woke at 5 a.m. for five days and spent an hour in front of a light box giving off 1,000 lux, or much more brightness than typical indoor lighting. Later, they spent five days in front of a light box that only gave out 10 lux. The lux is the measurement unit for illumination. In our homes we have 200 to 300 lux. A well-lit office may have 500 lux, whereas a sunny day produces 50,000 to 100,000 lux.Researchers found the body levels of luteinizing hormone grew by 69.5 percent in the men while they were exposed to the high levels of light.   The researchers didn't look at women because the rapidly cycling hormones in their bodies would make it difficult to study the effect of light, Kripke says. However, luteinizing hormone does affect ovulation, he adds, and "we think light is potentially a very promising treatment for women who have ovulatory problems or long and irregular menstrual cycles." Dr. Norman Shealy from Missouri, found increases in the levels of various hormones and neurochemicals after patients had been treated for 20 minutes with pulsed light. (Shealy, CN, et al., "Effects of Color

Photostimulation Upon Neurochemicals and Neurohormones", J. Neurol Orthop Med Surg, 17:95-97, 1996.)

In an open study 17 women with confirmed, severe and long-standing premenstrual syndrome, was done a photic stimulation with a flickering red light, every day for up to four menstrual cycles. At the end of treatment prospectively recorded median luteal symptom scores were reduced by 76%, with significant reductions for depression, anxiety, affective lability, irritability, poor concentration, fatigue, food cravings, bloating and breast pain. Twelve of the 17 patients (71%) no longer had the premenstrual syndrome. (D. J. ANDERSON, N .J. LEGG and DEBORAH A. RIDOUT, Department of Neurology and Medical Statistics Unit, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, UK, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1997) Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 76-79)

When researchers gave doses of ultraviolet to subjects in Boston, USA, they found that a course of five doses, of increasing duration, each of them sufficient to produce slight reddening of the skin, could double the male hormone output. Some increase could be achieved whichever area of skin received the irradiation, but while exposing the back produced a doubling in hormones, exposing the skin of the genitals could cause the hormone level to triple. The principal male hormone, testosterone, is known to be produced by the effect of sunlight on the skin, and particularly on the skin of the genitals. Its level into the urine rise throughout the spring and summer months, being about one third higher by the end of August than in February. (Myerson, A., and Neustadt, R., "Influence of Ultraviolet Irradiation upon Excretion of Sex Hormones In the Male", Endocrinology:25; 7, 1939)   This ties in with the studies which have shown that levels of testosterone, the major male hormone, rise by about twenty per cent through the summer, reaching a peak in September. (Aschoff, J., "Annual Rhythms in Man", in Aschoff, J. (ed.), Handbook of Behavioural Neurobiology, Plenum Press, New York, 1981)

The levels of 17-ketosterolds, the adrenal steroids, which are produced in response to stress, on the other hand, fall steadily to a trough in August. The further north of the equator, the more marked is the trend. Clearly, at these latitudes our bodies find winter something of a strain. 

Wurtman and Neer (1975) suggest that nonvisual retinal responses to light mediate a number of neuroendocrine hormonalfunctions, which, in turn, regulate such mechanisms as pubescence, ovulation and a wide variety of daily rhythms. Faber Birren has been quoted as saying that ultraviolet radiation intensifies the enzymatic processes of metabolisms, increaseshormone system activity, and improves the tone of the central nervous and muscular systems (A Summary of Light-Related Studies 1992).

Melatonin levels decreased in some of the blind patients when they were exposed to light, even though they couldn't see that light. But when the researchers blindfolded these patients and then turned on the lights, melatonin levels did not drop. Those findings suggest that although their eyes could not sense light in the normal way, they still were somehow regulating the release of melatonin, providing evidence that the eyes are involved in functions other than vision.Recent work by the Van Gelder lab, in close collaboration with researchers at Novartis Gene Research Foundation, has shown the protein melanopsin is critical to these non-visual light responses.    UV radiation (200-400 nm) is generally considered to be outside the range of visible illumination for mammals. Experiments on hamsters confirm that wavelengths as low as 305 nm are transmitted through the clear ocular media to the retina. Furthermore, low irradiances of broadband (340-405 nm) and monochromatic (360 nm) UV radiation are capable of suppressing high nocturnal levels of pineal melatonin (Brainard GC, Podolin PL, Leivy SW, Rollag MD, Cole C, Barker FM: Near-ultraviolet radiation suppresses pineal melatonin content. Endocrinology 1986, 119:2201-2205)

The 446–477 nm portion of the spectrum is the most potent for suppressing melatonin secretion. These data suggest that the primary photoreceptor system for melatonin suppression is distinct from the rod and cone photoreceptors for vision. Finally, this action spectrum suggests that there is a novel retinaldehyde photopigment that mediates human circadian photoreception. (Action Spectrum for Melatonin Regulation in Humans: Evidence for a Novel Circadian Photoreceptor George C. Brainard, John P. Hanifin, Jeffrey M. Greeson, Brenda Byrne, Gena Glickman, Edward Gerner, and Mark D. Rollag, The Journal of Neuroscience, August 15, 2001, 21(16):6405–6412)

Chickens were raised with translucent occluders both under normal light cycles (12-h light/12-h dark) and in constant light (CL). Under normal light cycles, eyes with occluders became very myopic. When the chickens were raised in CL, development of deprivation myopia was reduced (8 days CL) or entirely blocked (13 days CL). Thirteen days of CL resulted in a dramatic reduction of retinal dopamine (DA) and DOPAC levels, but serotonin levels were also lowered. The results suggest that deprivation myopia requires normal diurnal DA rhythms to develop. (Bartmann M, Schaeffel F, Hagel G, Zrenner E., Constant light affects retinal dopamine levels and blocks deprivation myopia but not lens-induced refractive errors in chickens, Vis Neurosci. 1994 Mar-Apr;11(2):199-208)

In 1980, Hollwich studied the levels of ACTH, the adrenal-stimulating hormone, in the blood under natural and artificial light. After a fortnight in light from "cool white" fluorescent tubes, his subjects' ACTH levels had climbed to abnormally high, stress levels. Two weeks under daylight returned them to normal. But when the lights used were of a full-spectrum type, there was no significant increase in ACTH levels. In both cases, the light intensity was high - high enough, at 3500 lux, to suppress melatonin. (Hollwich, F., "The Effect of Natural and Artificial Light via the Eye on the Hormonal and Metabolic Balance of Animal and Man", Ophthalmologica: 180(4); 188-197, 1980)

UV light activates a skin hormone called solitrol, which is thought to be a form of Vitamin D3. It works to counterbalance melatonin, the hormone of darkness, produced by the pineal at night. Solitrol, the hormone of light, affects regulation of the whole body including the immune system, mood, circadian rhythms and seasonal responses. (Stumpf, W. (1988). "Vitamin D - Solitrol the heliogenic steroid hormone: Somatotrophic activator and modulator." Histochemistry 89: 209-19.)

ORANGE SUNLIGHT PROTECTS THE RETINA

In the article "Eye protective techniques for bright light,'' published in Ophthalmology 90, 937-944 (1983), David H. Sliney wrote: "When the sun is low in the sky it is yellow or orange indicating that the hazardous blue light has been scattered out of the direct path of sunlight, and the sun may be fixated for many minutes without risk." From 50% (at noon) to 93% (at dawn and dusk) of the near ultraviolet radiation (397 nm) is scattered into the sky (Jerlov, N.G.,1976. Marine optics. New York: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co.) Sunlight has the highest ratio of near-infrared light at sunrise and sunset, when the ultraviolet and blue radiation are scattered while red and infrared are passing through the atmosphere. That's why the sun is red at these moments, which are the best for improving the vision.

Exposure to near-infrared light helps protect the retina from damage, according to a new study. Near-infrared light which is able to increase the amount of energy in cells, say researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin. They studied the new methods in rats whose retinas had been damaged by methanol, a toxic chemical. It is known that methanol harms the mitochondria, the energy-producing structures within the cells. But exposure to an LED light could prevent this damage. The researchers believe that this method, which they call photobiomodulation, may turn out to be a non-invasive way of treating retinal injury and preventing blindness. 

In the late 1990s, lab studies on cells showed that near-infrared wavelengths can boost the activity of mitochondria, the crucial powerhouses in cells. In a 2002 study backed by the National Institutes of Health and the Persistence in Combat program from the Pentagon's research arm, Harry Whelan blinded rats by giving them high doses of methanol, or wood alcohol. This is converted by the body into formic acid, a toxic chemical that inhibits the activity of mitochondria. Within hours, the rats' energy-hungry retinal cells and optic nerves began to die, and the animals went completely blind within one to two days. But if the rats were treated with LED light with a wavelength of 670 nanometres for 105 seconds at 5, 25 and 50 hours after being dosed with methanol, they recovered 95 per cent of their sight. Remarkably, the retinas of these rats looked indistinguishable from those of normal rats. "There was some tissue regeneration, and neurons, axons and dendrites may also be reconnecting," says Whelan. Whelan and his team have reportedly shown that skin and muscle cells grown in cultures and exposed to the LED infrared light grow 150 to 200 percent faster than ground control cultures not stimulated by the light. 

The specially designed near-infrared LED generates infrared light that penetrates to a depth of 23 centimeters, or more that nine inches without damaging the skin. Though three times brighter that the sun, the LED is very safe and easy to use, as well as portable. DNA synthesis in muscle cells quintupled after a single application of LEDs flashing at the 680-, 730- and 880-nanometer wavelengths, according to Whelan. He identified more than 20 genes that typically are associated with retinal damage, for example, and "the LED alters all of them." "Some increased, some decreased," she added. "But they were all brought back to normal." Whelan thinks that the LED pulses give the retinal cells extra energy, allowing them to heal more quickly. 

According to one scientific research report (ISBN: 0-8194-1500-6) blood exposed to infrared light had less blood cell aggregation (clumping together) which would free up more surface area of red blood cells to transfer nutrients and oxygen to tissues.Britton Chance of the University of Pennsylvania has shown that about 50 per cent of the near-infrared light is absorbed by mitochondrial proteins called chromophores. Whelan and his colleagues think the light boosts the activity of a chromophore called cytochrome c oxidase, a key component of the energy-generating machinery. Whelan's theory is that the photons of the infrared light give the cytochrome electrons it ordinarily would get from sugar. Light becomes a substitute for food, basically.  

Another natural way to expose the retina to infrared light, recommended for persons sensitive to sunlight, who usually wear sunglasses, is to watch into the direction of the sun, preferably at noon, with the eyelids closed. The eyelids act as filters, letting only the infrared light to reach the retina. It is necessary a long time exposure, from 20 to 30 minutes, because the intensity infrared light which reach the retina in this way is hundreds of times lower than that generated by the LEDs. The big advantages are that this therapy is available to anybody and is totally free.

Sunlight influences the metabolism of fatty acids in the retina. "Gazing directly into the sun actually improves sight and aids in overcoming disease" (Dr. Herbert Shelton). After discontinuing wearing his eyeglasses, Dr. John Ott wrote that he exposed his eyes to sunlight without lenses and his vision was much improved. He recommended similar therapy to his friends and they gained similar improvement in their vision. Writing in Psychology (July, 1929), Dr. R. A. Richardson, optician, says: "On a recent trip to Africa, I took advantage of the opportunity to find out whether cataract and blindness, often found there, were caused by the sun's intense light and heat, as I had been told. To my surprise, I discovered that the persons blinded by cataract were not those who worked in the open sunshine, but in the small shops and bazaars of Tunis. Questioning them, I traced their trouble to over-indulgence in proteins, sugars and starches, nicotine and caffeine."

An elderly man in the audience arose, and identified himself as a veteran of the Korean war. He had, he said, worn glasses for much of his life, and had been POW held by the Koreans for about 9 months near the

end of the Koran war. At some point, an apparently sadistic but curious medical doctor at the prison camp had selected 10 men – this man was one of the ten – and forced them to stare at the sun for 10 hours per day, including high noon. If a prisoner resisted or looked away, or closed their eyes, guards would beat them, and the prisoner risked death. While the former POW reported that it was decidedly unpleasant sitting and staring at the sun for 10 hours a day, almost non-stop, and that he and the other prisoners all developed massive headaches and neckaches, none apparently experienced any long-term negative effect upon their vision or their eyes. Further, each man who had previously worn glasses (the POW telling the tale was among them) shortly discovered that their vision had drastically improved and that they no longer needed to wear glasses. The ex-POW relating the tale told the class that he had never since needed glasses, and that he was now in his seventies and his eyesight was perfect.Folks often report really nasty headaches and sinus pains which may last for days afterward, especially when first starting. The headaches and migraines are caused by the increased levels of serotonin, induced by sun gazing. Serotonin is a potent vasoconstrictor and the headaches and migraines are the consequence of that.

SUNLIGHT, THE BILIRUBIN AND THE LIVER

Bilirubin is produced in bone marrow cells and in the liver as the end product of red-blood-cell (hemoglobin) breakdown. The amount of bilirubin manufactured relates directly to the quantity of blood cells destroyed. About 0.5 to 2 grams are produced daily.Newborns with moderately severe jaundice are placed under powerful florescent lights which are designed to emit light at a specific wavelength (range for maximum absorption of bilirubin is 400 - 500 nanometres, corresponding to blue near-UV light) which accomplish the isomerisation of unconjugated bilirubin in the skin. This molecule is converted from the toxic, fat soluble form which can enter and damage the baby's brain tissues to a harmless, water soluble form which is excreted in the urine and stool more readily.Research of Dr. Dan Oren at Harvard has shown that SAD can be caused by excessive bilirubin. The idea behind it is basically that in the winter there is a lot less UV light to break down the bilirubin, which directly affects the brain to cause depression.

In the liver bilirubin conjugates with glucuronic acid made from the sugar glucose. It is then concentrated to about 1,000 times the strength found in blood plasma. Conjugated bilirubin passes from the gallbladder or liver into the intestine.  In the Chinese traditional medicine, "the eyes represent the orifices of the liver. When a person closes his/her eyes and falls asleep, the blood returns to the liver. From there it is transmitted to the eyes, and the ability to see results from this. When a person sleeps, now, the nameless fire within grows dim in order to revitalize." - Yang Jizhou, The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (Zhenjiu Dacheng), ca. 1590In the Suwen and Neijing it says, "Liver qi is in communication with the eyes, so the eyes will be able to distinguish the five colors." A person's eyesight may therefore also serve as an indicator for liver function. If the liver blood is insufficient, there will be a dryness of the eyes, blurred vision, myopia, "floaters" in the eyes, color blindness or night blindness. For the yogis, the Surya chakra (Sun's wheel) controls the liver is assisting the Manipura chakra.

Dr. Holwich, professor of optical medicine, observed that blindness is often followed by a deterioration in many functions of the internal organs and in the secretions of the liver, gall bladder and pancreas. The heart's action is also affected, as is the peristaltic motion of the intestines. When sight is regained, an unmistakable activation of these organic functions is observable.Dr Liberman observed that natural sunlight is required as a catalyst to ensure complete digestion. Following several months of sun gazing, Ed from Netherlands noticed a better digestion, without the energy-drop he normally experienced after breakfast: "I reached 15 minutes and 20 seconds (of daily sun gazing) two days ago.[...] I also notice that the energy-drop I normally experienced after eating a cooked breakfast (two broiled eggs with 100g of roast beef and a lot of butter) has disappeared."

SUNLIGHT AND THE PINEAL GLAND

The Pineal Gland produces serotonin and is the richest site of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is responsable for the "Psychadelic Experience". Considerable excess of serotonin was found in the Pineal Gland of mental patients & schizophrenics.  Administration of pineal extract to rats increased their life-span by up to twenty five per cent. (Ralph, C., "Pineal Bodies and Thermoregulation", Relkin, R., (ed), The Pineal Gland, Elsevier, New York, 1983) The Pineal Gland metabolizes serotonin into the hormone Melatonin. Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland around twilight, in response to the diminishing light, and helps in the sleep process.  The suppression of melatonin from the pineal gland requires a minimum intensity of 2500 lux, compared to the probably maximum of 1000 lux in indoor office environments. (Wurtman, R.J., and Moskowitz, M.A., The Pineal Organ, The New England Journal of Medicine 296; 23: 1329-1333, 1977) The light frequency most effective at suppressing melatonin and therefore at altering biorhythms is between 450 and 550 nanometers. (Rosenthal, N.E., et al., 'Seasonal Affective Disorder and Phototherapy' Ann. New York Acad. Sci: 435; 254-260,1985) This is blue and green light. The effect spills over into the ultraviolet, but there is virtually no effect from the higher - yellow and red - frequencies. The level of light that is required for melatonin suppression is roughly that of a cloudy day. When our eyes are exposed to such level of light, our pineal stop producing melatonin within about half an hour. We know that it's not simply a psychological response, because it can still happen in blind people. (Wurtman, R.J., and Moskowitz, M.A., 'The Pineal Organ', New England Journal of Medicine: 296; 1329-1333, 1977) However, it is abolished with loss of the eyes themselves. This is because the pathway starts with the reception of light by cells in the retina but then travels by a different set of nerves from the optic nerve, which carries visual signals. This pathway leads by a circuitous route to the pineal, where the signal is given to turn off melatonin synthesis. Certain body functions, such as the regulation of human sleep-wake cycles and other biorhythms, require exposure to intensities of 4000 lux or more.  Stress, refined sugars, and other factors that increase epinephrine output (as well as epinephrine medications) will increase melatonin production. The excess of melatonin cause alcoholism and whitens the skin.Research by Dr. K. Blum at the University of Texas medical school showed that in total darkness rats preferred drinking alcohol to water, while if their pineal glands were removed their preferences would be reversed. Other studies where melatonin was injected into rats turned them into alcoholics. People from northern countries have increased melatonin, during the winter time, due to the weak sunlight.The methoxyindoles are synthesized by the pineal in the absence of light and presumably exert inhibitory effects on the gonads. Melatonin is the first substance that has been shown to safely and effectively lower core body temperature in humans.  Larval forms of amphibians undergo a marked blanching when maintained for a time in darkness. A similar response is displayed by many fishes. Blanching, which means the suppressing of melanin pigment, results from the release of melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) from the pineal. Melatonin exerts a profound contracting effect on dermal melanophores (pigment pores) leading to rapid blanching.

MELANIN AND NEUROMELANIN

There are three types of melanin in humans: 

1. Eumelanin: brown black pigment derived from tyrosine following its conversion to dopa (dihydroxyphenylalanine)

2. Phaomelanin: reddish-brown pigment which are cystine derivatives of eumelanin  3. Neuromelanin: dopamine with 10-20% incorporation of cysteine. 

In plants and microorganisms is found a fourth type of melanin, called allomelanin (similar to eumelanin) formed from catechols via polyhydroxynapthalene. It has a self-assembled network structure, resembling a neural network. It provides basis for the neuro-network of plants, possibly conducting signals. Melanins have unique properties:– biopolymeric semiconductor (band gap of ~1.4eV – tuneable)– biopolymeric photoconductor– electronically bistable with a conducting transition

at biological field strengths (McGinness, Cory & Procter, , Science, 1974)

The microscopic structure of iridescent bird feathers are made up of stacks of melanin rods within layers of keratin, creating a space lattice. This lattice acts as a photonic crystal, with the number and spacing of the rods determining the colour of that part of the feather.The lattice constants for the blue, green, and yellow barbules are 140, 150, and 165 nm, respectively. The number of periods is 9–12 for the blue and green barbules, 6 for the yellow barbule (see electron microscope images of barbule structures).Since the melanin granules have a much higher refractive index than the keratin the phenomenon of iridescence is possible.Melanin absorbs much of the light not reflected by the iridescence and enhances the brilliance of the color. Additionally, at certain angles the reflected light will be highly polarized. 

An experiment at the University of Arizona where male patients were injected with a melanin extract, was designed to see if skin could be chemically darkened to prevent skin cancer. Results showed, as a side effect, that men became sexually aroused.Melanotan - a synthetic version of a natural cell-activating hormone called alpa-MSH (melanocyte stimulating hormone), which the body produces after a sunburn - was found to have other effects, including suppressing appetite and stimulating sexual desire. It works directly on the brain, where it affects a human's sexual desire as well as sexual performance. According to Robins, 1991, darker pigmentation found in the genitals, may have evolved for the “protection of reproductive capacity”, in that the pigmentation protects gametes within the genitalia from ultraviolet radiation damage. When the chest and back are exposed to sunlight, the male sex hormones may increase by up to 120%.

Neuromelanin is found into the eyes and in Substantia Nigra and Locus Coeruleus from brain. People with more eye melanin have less occurrence of macular degeneration; people with less eye melanin have greater occurrence of macular degeneration. About 15% of our original supply of melanin is lost in the eye by the age of forty and about 25% is lost by the age of fifty.The brain center with the deepest pigmentation is the Locus Coeruleus or black dot. The Locus Coeruleus supplies the pineal gland with norepinephrine. The less melanin, the more calcified the pineal gland and less access the individual has to the spiritual world. Women with a calcified pineal gland (associated with a low production of melatonin) have a significantly greater risk of developing breast cancer. The pineal gland secretes melatonin, which activates the pituitary to release M.S.H. (Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone). It is in the melanocytes that melanin (Greek “melas”=black) is produced. Melanin is somewhat analogous to chlorophyll in plants. Neuromelanin consists mostly of dopamine with 10-20% incorporation of cysteine.X ray diffraction studies have shown that neuromelanin has a multi-layer (graphite-like) three dimensional structure similar to synthetic and naturally occurring melanins, but, these layers are stacked much higher in neuromelanin than in any other synthetic and naturally occurring melanins.Neuromelanin was identified as a genuine melanin with a strong chelating ability for iron and an afinity for compounds such as lipids, pesticides, and MPP+. It plays a protective role by inactivating the iron ions that induce oxidative stress. When free neuronal iron increases to the point where neuromelanin becomes saturated and it starts to catalyse the production of free radicals, neuromelanin would become cytotoxic.

Because hydrogen peroxide can degrade neuromelanin, the pigmented neurones could loose this putatively protective agent. The consequence is a release of iron and other cytotoxic metals or compounds from neuromelanin that accelerates neuronal death, as in Parkinson’s disease. The most consistent pathological finding in Parkinson’s disease is degeneration of the melanin-containing cells in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. The more profound degree of hypomelanization found in the right substantia nigra explains the left (side of body) predominance of parkinson symptomsism. Copper oxidizes catecholamines such as dopamine and therefore propagates neurotoxin formation. The brain may fail to store excess catecholamines, a job normally reserved for neuromelanin, and hence allow free circulation of neurotoxins (Smythies, 2000; Hoffer, 1981; Hoffer, 1973). This might under certain circumstances contribute to synaptic deletion. Abnormalities in this neuromelanin storage pathway may be considered causative factors in schizophrenia or Parkinson's disease. This biochemical theory was the first presented in medical literature by Dr. Abram Hoffer M.D., Ph.D. and Dr. Humphry Osmond M.R.C.P., D.P.M. This theory is called the adrenochrome hypothesis. The ability of neuromelanin to chelate other redox active metals such as copper, manganese, chromium, and toxic metals including cadmium, mercury, and lead strengthens the hypothesis that neuromelanin is a high capacity storage trapping system for metal ions and prevent s neuronal damage.The afinity of neuromelanin for a variety of inorganic and organic toxins is consistent with the protective function for neuromelanin.

SUNBATHING AND HEALTH 

Celsus, Pliny the younger, Galen, and Cicero, are among the Roman writers who describe the use of the sun-bath. "Sol est remediorum maximum"--the sun is the best remedy--declared Pliny.The Ancients, as disclosed by Herodotus and Antyllos, knew that "the sun feeds the muscles". The Greeks obviously appreciated the importance of sunlight. Their athletes trained naked out of doors, thus exposing all their muscles to its beneficial effect.The old German epic poem, the Edda, tells us that Germans used to carry their sick, in the springtime to the sunny mountain slopes, in order to expose them to the sunshine. Certain Germanic tribes placed their feverish children in the sunlight on the tops of their houses.

At the turn of the century, it was estimated that as many as ninety per cent of children in some of the crowded cities of northern Europe and the northern United States had rickets. This is despite the fact that the value of sunlight and fresh air in treating rickets had been remarked on in 1822. It took an investigative committee of the British Medical Association in 1889 to state clearly that there was a relationship between urban industrialized environments and rickets.

The modern era of sun therapy began with the knowledge that pathogenic bacteria could be destroyed with the use of sunlight. Dr. Neils Flasen successfully used sunlight in the treatment of tuberculosis of the skin, thereby winning the Nobel Prize in 1903.  Finsen, Niels Ryberg was a Danish physician, founder of modern phototherapy (the treatment of disease by the influence of light). He developed an ultraviolet treatment for lupus vulgaris, a form of skin tuberculosis, which met with great success.  In 1911, Dr Rollier, a Swiss physician of Leysin, treated 369 cases of tuberculosis by the action of the sun's rays. Of these 284 were healed, 48 improved, on 21 there was no change, and only 4 percent died. The same physician exhibited, in 1912, before the Society of Physicians, at Leysin, many photos, showing how all manner of tuberculosis of the bones, fistulas, etc., has been completely cured by heliotherapy.Then, the development of antibiotics caused the death of sun therapy.

Dr. Helen Shaw and her research team conducted a melanoma study at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Sydney Melanoma Clinic, Sydney Hospital. The results of the study were published on August 7, 1982 in the British medical journal, called The Lancet. Researches found that the people who had the lowest risk of developing skin cancer were those whose main daily activity was outdoors. It was found that the incidence of malignant melanomas was considerably twice higher in office workers. The incidence of malignant melanoma,

has increased 1,800 percent since 1930, and melanoma mortality rose 34 percent between 1973 and 1992, which has been documented by the Skin Cancer Foundation.

The book Sunlight by Zane Kime MD shows the beneficial results of moderate exposure to ultraviolet frequencies. Noted in Dr. Kime's book single exposures of a large area of the body to ultraviolet light were found to dramatically lower elevated blood pressure (up to a 40 mm Hg drop), lowered abnormally high blood sugars as found in diabetics, to decrease cholesterol in the bloodstream, and to increase the white blood cells, particularly the lymphocytes which are largely responsible for the body's ability to resist disease. Richard Kovac MD shows in his book, Electrotherapy and Light Therapy that overexposure to sunlight may cause varying degrees of sunstroke, heat stroke or sunburns and such symptoms as headache, undue fatigue or irritability. Properly applied on the other hand, sunshine and open air will act as a powerful tonic, increasing general powers of resistance and promoting mental and physical development. Dr. Holick, one of the world's foremost authorities on vitamin D and a full professor of medicine, dermatology, biophysics and physiology at the Boston University School of Medicine said in an interview: "adequate vitamin D nutrition and sensible sun exposure during childhood not only will maximize the bone health of their children but may decrease their risk of many chronic diseases in life later including type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and common cancers."  Holick has submitted a paper to the Journal of Gastroneurology summarizing the case study  of a 61-year-old woman who came to his Vitamin D clinic who was severely vitamin D deficient and showed signs of significant bone decay consistent with osteoporosis. "It was so severe when she came to my office she couldn't sit down, she was in tears because all her bones ached so much," Holick explained. "So what do you do? Tanning beds to the rescue." Holick exposed the woman three times a week to tanning bed light, following the recommended exposure schedule for her skin type. The woman's condition improved significantly. "The bone pain over several months gradually dissolved, and the vitamin D level increased by 700 percent, just by simply being exposed to tanning bed radiation," Holick explained. Osteoporosis is a greater problem than many people realize. More than 25 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis, 20 million of whom are women. At the Fourth World Conference on Nutritional Medicine, Dr. William Grant presented the maps showing the distribution of ovarian cancer and multiple sclerosis across US. The maps are showing a strong correlation between the latitude and the incidence of the two diseases, indicating that less UV exposure is correlated with higher incidence of these diseases. In "The UV Advantage," Holick recommends exposing the hands, face, arms and legs to the sun for five to 15 minutes a day a few days a week, which he says would be enough to generate that amount without increasing the risk for skin cancer. Many people are not getting even that amount of sun exposure on a regular basis, Holick and others say. Professor Holick believes his research could explain why people living in colder, northern climates who get less vitamin D from the sun have a higher risk of dying from colon, breast and prostate cancers. He said more people than might be expected were vitamin D deficient. In 1998, Holick published a paper in the medical journal The Lancet showing that 41 percent of his medical students and 41 percent of his hospital patients at Massachusetts General Hospital were vitamin D deficient. In Boston, he estimated 40 to 50% of adults over 50 were vitamin D deficient. Professor Holick's team has isolated a key enzyme, or body chemical, which is involved in the processing of vitamin D. It was found in the colon. He said if the body did not take in enough vitamin D then the enzyme would not be activated and the body would not be able to turn the vitamin into a form it could use. The active form of vitamin D prevents colon cells from proliferating and prompts them to change into more mature cells which are less capable of becoming cancerous. The Boston researchers have found the same process occurs in breast, skin and prostate cells. Professor Holick said: "The most beneficial effect of exposure to sunlight is vitamin D protection. Dr William Grant, an independent researcher from Virginia, has examined the difference in cancer rates dependent on where people live. Using data from the Atlas of Cancer Mortality, he found death rates for breast, colon and ovarian cancers in Boston and New England were almost twice as

high as they were in the southwest from 1950 to 1994. Based on his US findings, he estimates a quarter of breast cancer deaths in the UK are as a result of vitamin D deficiency.Because of his book "The UV Advantage", launched in April 2004, the Dermatology Department Chairwoman Dr. Barbara Gilchrest asked Holick for his resignation because of disagreements with his findings. After being with the department for more than a decade and a friend of Gilchrest's for more than 20 years, during which the two published, worked on and discussed research together, Holick said Gilchrest's response was not one he expected. The Boston Globe reported that Gilchrest asked for his resignation partially because of ties he had with the tanning industry. Gilchrest was not available for comment, but Dr. Boni Elewski, president of the American Academy of Dermatology, said in a statement that UV exposure poses medical dangers and that "any group, organization or individual that disseminates information encouraging exposure to UV radiation, whether natural or artificial, is doing a disservice to the public."

When sunlight hits the skin, it stimulates the topmost layer of living cells, the keratinocytes. These are the cells which produce the keratin, the hard outer layer of dead skin that protects us from germs and injuries. It was always thought that they had no other function. But new evidence has proved that when they are triggered by ultraviolet light, keratinocytes produce a chemical called interleukin-1. IL-1 has a simple but potent effect: it causes white cells, and T-cells in particular, to multiply in number. This explains the observation that gamma globulins (the proteins in the blood which contain antibodies) are increased for a month after exposure to ultraviolet light. Several studies have shown that exposure to natural sunlight increases the number of the white blood cells in the body. The main white blood cell increased the most is the lymphocyte. It is the lymphocyte that plays the leading role in defending the body in an invasion by bacteria and foreign organisms. Because the lymphocytes increase in number after a sunlight exposure, their products of defense, the antibodies like gamma globulins, also increase in the blood. This increase of lymphocytes and gamma globulins greatly increase a person's ability to fight infections. The lymphocyte is also capable of producing a substance called interferon. This substance has the ability to stop the reproduction of viruses.A very interesting substance found in almost all cells including lymphocytes is called Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate (CAMP). If high levels of CAMP build up in the lymphocytes, they will be unable to function properly and will not be able to fight cancer cells. This substance is increased in the body under stress and also when such foods as coffee, tea, and chocolate are used in the diet, among other things. These substances block the natural elimination of CAMP that would normally take place.

The animals given sunlight treatments eliminated toxic chemicals of some types 10-20 times as fast as the animals not receiving the sunlight treatments! Lead was removed from the body twice as fast as from those animals receiving sunlight exposure as from those that did not! The ultraviolet light in sunlight seemed to increase the enzymes that metabolize toxic chemicals and help to remove them.  Russians' experiments showed that animals exposed to the correct doses of sunlight were capable of clearing a wide range of toxins out of their system considerably quicker than animals reared away from the sun. The toxins that they studied included quartz and coal dusts, toxic minerals such as lead, cadmium and mercury, liver poisons such as carbon tetrachloride, and the neurotoxins which these days are so heavily used worldwide as pesticides. They found that sunlight speeded up the clearance of toxins from the body twice to as much as twenty times. The best effect was obtained when sunlight exposure had started some time before exposure to the toxin. (Gabovich, R.D., et al., "Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation on Tolerance of the Organism to Chemical Substances", Vestn Akad Med Nauk SSSR: 3; 26-28, 1975) Nowadays, some Russian miners are required to have a treatment with ultraviolet light every day when they leave the coal-face. (Dantsig, M., Effect and Use of Ultraviolet Radiation, (Ultrafioletovoye Iziucheniya), Meditsina Publishing House, Moscow, 1966)

Sunlight not only aids in moving the poisonous materials out of the body, but it also has a wonderful effect on the trace minerals needed by the organism. Sunlight's effects upon copper, molybdenum, manganese, nickel, and other important trace minerals have been studied. Following multiple exposures to sunlight, copper levels in the liver increased to almost half while tripling in the blood. Copper also increases by about 100% in the bones, heart, skeletal muscles, and other tissues beneficially. Therefore, we can deduce

from this that sunlight can help us to metabolize and utilize the trace minerals that arenecessary in our bodies.

When a group of generally unfit students at the University of Illinois was treated with ultraviolet light as well as physical education classes, their pulse rate after exercise came down by more than ten points on average. The students who did the same exercise but did not receive the UV light only had a three point improvement. The experimental group also found that their recovery time after exercise went down by thirty per cent, and their overall muscular fitness improved by half as much again as did that of the control group. In the cardiovascular fitness tests, the experimental group improved by almost 20 per cent, compared to a minute 1.5 per cent improvement in the control group. Cardiovascular fitness, in this case, referred to a combined measure of a number of different parameters, such as resting pulse, rise of pulse after exertion, blood pressure lying and standing, rise in blood pressure after exertion, and time for pulse rate to return to normal after exertion. The students also reported an increase in their interest and enthusiasm for class work, and those receiving ultraviolet developed only half the number of colds that the control group suffered. (Allen, R.M., and Cureton, T.K., "Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation on Physical Fitness", Arch Phys Med: 26; 641-644,1945) The muscles underlying an area exposed directly to sunlight also show some local effects. There is an increase in the amount of blood flowing through the muscles, as the blood vessels relax, together with a measurable rise in the temperature of the muscle. At the same time the work capacity and endurance of the muscle goes up. After a single dose of UV, the effect lasts for at least five days. (Levy, M., "Der Einfluss Ultravioletter Strahlen auf die inneren Organe des Mans". Strablentherapie: 9; 618-623, 1919)After sunbathing, lactic acid, the by-product of muscle metabolism that causes soreness and stiffness after strenuous exercise, is significantly reduced. Sunbathing also increases the ability of the lungs to absorb more vital oxygen, as well as the blood's capacity to carry and deliver it. Oxygen deficiency has been readily linked to a host of illnesses and discomforts ranging from chronic fatigue to cancer.

Twenty-five years ago Dr John Ott investigated the background to a report that children at a school in Illinois had five times the national rate of leukemia. He found that the schoolhouse was a plain, modern building with very large windows in every room, and all the pupils who developed leukemia had been in two particular classrooms. In these two rooms the teachers always kept the large curtains completely drawn across the windows to reduce glare and distraction, and to keep the children's attention on schoolwork. Several years later the two teachers in question left the school, and their replacements kept the classroom curtains open all the time. The lights were also replaced with cool white fluorescent ones, and of course needed to be used less. From then on there was not a single case of leukemia in the school for as long as Dr Ott followed it up. (Ott, John, Health and Light, Pocket Books, New York, 1973)  Laboratory studies have found that there are receptor sites for vitamin D on cancer cells that appears capable of converting human leukemia cells back into normal cells - at least in the test tube. A Russian study found that vitamin D produces a thirty percent improvement in body's conservation of proteins. (Dantsig, M., Effect and Use of Ultraviolet Radiation (Ultrafioletovoye Izlucheniya), Meditsina Publishing House, Moscow, 1966)

If you’re going to be outside in the sun, make sure you take your essential fatty acids (vitamin F). These include flax seed oil, primrose oil, borage oil, etc. The following quote is from a Standard Process Company bulletin:"The ultraviolet rays from the sun convert skin oil to vitamin D. Too much D is called hyper-vitaminosis D. Actually, it is not too much D but a deficiency of F, vitamin D’s antagonist. D picks up calcium from the stomach and puts it into the blood. F, the essential fatty acids, take it from the blood and puts it into the tissues. Suppose you get D and no F. Your blood calcium level will increase at the expense of the tissue calcium level, because D not only picks up calcium from the stomach, in a deficiency of F. It brings calcium from the tissues back into the blood. That’s why farmers and other people who are in the sun a lot get thick skin if they don’t eat enough F, which is primarily in oils. They get sunstroke. Sunstroke involves high blood calcium levels with low tissue calcium levels." Vitamin D affects also the kidney:  it causes a greater proportion of calcium (and of course of magnesium

too) to be recycled back into the bloodstream rather than passed out in the urine. So not only do we absorb more of it; we also waste less.

The ratio of helper to suppressor cells was fifty per cent higher in osteoporotic patients. They then gave these patients vitamin D for two months, and found that this brought down the T-helper/suppressor ratio in every case to around the normal. In people of the same age without osteoporosis, who had a normal T-helper/T-suppressor ratio to start with, vitamin D does not alter this. (Takuo Fujita. et al., 'T-lymphocyte subsets in Osteoporosis', J. Mineral Electr. Metab.: 10; 375-378,1984)

Both cholesterol, which is needed to make the sex hormones, and vitamin D are derived from the same substance in the body - a chemical called squalene, which is found in the skin. There is a new theory that in the presence of sunlight, this squalene is converted to vitamin D but in its absence, it is converted to cholesterol.   Exposing human skin to sunlight for a couple of hours lowers the level of cholesterol in the skin by at least a half. The effect is less in Negro skin, suggesting that it is the ultraviolet, which melanin pigmentation filters out, that is causing the effect. (Rauschkolb, E.W., et al., "Effect of Ultraviolet Light on Skin Cholesterol", J. Invest Derm: 49; 632-636, 1971) It is also known that sunlight lowers the level of cholesterol in the blood stream in humans by 9 or 10 per cent. People with low or normal cholesterol are much less likely to see a significant drop than those with a raised cholesterol. (Altschul, R., "Ultraviolet Irradiation and Cholesterol Metabolism", Arch Phys Med: 36; 394-398, 1955) Doctors in Russia have been using sunlight and ultraviolet light therapy on patients with arteriosclerosis. They have found that as well as improving heart function, the blood supply to the brain can be improved, even in patients with arteriosclerosis of the brain. A study published in 1966 on 150 patients reported that the mental functioning of cerebral arteriosclerosis sufferers was improved greatly by regular sunlight baths. (Mikhailov, V.A., "Influence of Graduated Sunlight Baths on Patients with Coronary Atherosclerosis", Soviet Med: 29; 76-79, 1966) 

Dr. Bruce Armstrong of the University of Sydney in Australia said the impact can occur far from the patches of skin where sunlight hits. The more sunlight people receive, the less likely they are to get non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He looked at 1,398 people and found that those who got the most sun had a one-third lower risk than those who got the least. (Hughes AM, Armstrong BK, Vajdic CM, Turner J, Grulich AE, Fritschi L, Milliken S, Kaldor J, Benke G, Kricker A. Sun exposure mayprotect against non-Hodgkin lymphoma: a case-control study. Int J Cancer 2004;112:865-71.)

A report from the University of Sydney on non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), was published in December 2004. It is the first epidemiological study to examine the association between sunlight and NHL using direct measurements of sun exposure in individual subjects. The study, which reviews sun exposure over a time span of six decades, compares 704 Australian adults (between the ages of 20 and 74) who had a confirmed diagnosis of NHL, to 694 control subjects without NHL. The control subjects were randomly selected and then matched to the NHL patients by age, sex and place of residence. A questionnaire and telephone interview were used to determine the number of hours spent outdoors on working and nonworking days and vacations.Contrary to expectations, the risk of NHL fell with increasing hours of sun exposure. The chance of getting NHL was 35 percent less in that portion of the study population that had the most sun exposure compared to the portion that had the least. The impact was even greater when the scientists looked at sun exposure on non-working days. People who got a lot of sun exposure on weekends and holidays had less than half the incidence of NHL compared to those who stayed indoors on their days off. It was a remarkable difference."Our results provide strong statistical evidence for an inverse association between sun exposure and NHL," Prof. Anne Kricker and her School of Public Health coauthors wrote in the International Journal of Cancer (Hughes 2004). Since sun exposure produces vitamin D in the skin, these findings suggest that this essential vitamin may also protect against some deadly forms of cancer, including lymphoma. The authors say that it makes "UV-mediated synthesis of vitamin D a plausible mechanism whereby sun exposure might protect against NHL." (Reuters. Sunshine may ward off lymphoma. Dec. 3, 2004)

Dr. William Hrushesky, an authority on how disease patterns fluctuate over time, looked at the results of more than 900,000 papilloma tests done in southern Holland between 1983 and 1998. August is consistently the sunniest month in southern Holland, and the screening tests picked up twice as much evidence of papilloma virus infection then as in the winter. The virus fell off sharply in September. “Sexual intercourse did not appear to explain most of the variance,” he said. Hrushesky theorizes that even though women are exposed to papilloma at roughly the same level year round, the extra sunlight weakens their defenses against it in the summer.He noted that sun can dampen the body’s production of antibodies and the activation of protective T cells, the main branches of the natural defenses against infection. Other research has suggested a connection between sunlight and susceptibility to herpes and adenovirus, among other things.

SUNLIGHT DEPRIVATION

In his 1797 book, The Art Of Prolonging Life, Christopher Hufeland, a German physician, commented on the devitalized state of people held prisoner in dungeons for long periods of time. He suggested their sorry state of health was not due to poor diet and inactivity, but to the lack of sunlight in their cells. 

A study, conducted by Dr. John Ott, revealed that mice living under fluorescent lighting live an average of 7.5 months, whereas those living under natural unfiltered daylight were much healthier and lived an average of 16.1 months. 

In 1987, the Wall Street Journal reported that chickens raised under full-spectrum lighting lived twice as long, laid more eggs, and were less aggressive than chickens raised under fluorescent lighting. The chickens raised under the full-spectrum lights appeared to be more effective in metabolizing and utilizing cholesterol. The eggs they produced were 25% less in cholesterol than the standard eggs. In addition, the eggs were larger and with stronger shells. 

In the United States, researchers found that the average levels throughout the year for people living in Palm Beach, in sunny Florida, were twice those of people living in Seattle or Boston, a thousand miles to the north. Moreover, for both these cities, the average level in February, when vitamin D was at its lowest, was higher in men who worked outdoors than the level in August in people who worked indoors. In other words, indoor workers spend their whole lives with lower vitamin D levels than outdoor workers. (Lawson, D.E.M., et al., "The Relative Contributions of Diet and Sunlight to Vitamin D State in the Elderly", British Medical Journal: ii; 303, 1979)

100% of African Americans, East Africans, Hispanics, and American Indians in their Minnesota-based study had deficient levels of vitamin D; overall, 93% of the 150 children and adults in the study, which included 6 broad categories of ethnic groups, were vitamin D-deficient. 100% of patients younger than 30 years and older than 60 years had vitamin D deficiencies, with the younger group having significantly lower levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. The association between nonspecific musculoskeletal pain and vitamin D deficiency was suspected because of a higher prevalence of these symptoms during winter than summer. The study patients ranged in age from 10 to 65 years, and all had symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. Of the more than 90% of patients who were medically evaluated for persistent musculoskeletal pain 1 year or more before screening, none had been tested previously for vitamin D deficiency. (Mayo Clinic Proceedings on 1/2/2004, by Holick, Michael F.)

Nesby-O'Dell reported that 42% of African American women in the United States aged 15 to 49 years were vitamin D-deficient; Tangpricha reported that 32% of healthy young white men and women in Boston aged 18 to 29 years were vitamin D-deficient at the end of winter in 2003. It is now recognized that mothers with darker skin, along with their newborns and young children who receive their total nutrition from breastfeeding, are at high risk of vitamin D deficiency. In Boston, 76% of 50 mother-infant pairs were found to be vitamin D-

deficient, as were 69% of infants in the New York area (J. M. Lee, MD, B. L. Phillip, MD, D. S. Hirsch, MD, M. F. Holick, MD, unpublished data, 2003). Sullivan reported that 48% of girls in Maine aged 9 to 11 years were vitamin D-deficient at the end of winter in 2003. 

Vitamin D deficiency decreases biosynthesis and release of insulin. Glucose intolerance has been inversely associated with the concentration of vitamin D in the blood. Thus, vitamin D may protect against both Type I and Type II diabetes.The risk of senile cataract is reduced in persons with optimal levels of D and carotenoids.Low vitamin D is associated with several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis, Sjogren's Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis and Crohn's disease.D deficiency has been mistaken for fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or peripheral neuropathy.Infertility is associated with low vitamin D. Vitamin D supports production of estrogen in men and women. PMS has been completely reversed by addition of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D. Menstrual migraine is associated with low levels of vitamin D and calcium. Breast, prostate, skin and colon cancer have a strong association with low levels of D and lack of sunlight. All men will develop prostate cancer if they live long enough and lack of vitamin D may be the most likely cause. - Cancer Causes & Control 9: 6 (DEC 1998):567-582 Studies from Harvard School of public Health show that men who drink more than four glasses of milk a day have low blood levels of vitamin D and are at increased risk for prostate cancer. Calcium uses up vitamin D and not enough vitamin D is added to milk to cover the extra calcium used. Men who live in colder climates have a higher incidence of prostate cancer because they get less sunlight. This study shows that prostate cancer is associated with not exposing skin to sunlight and not going on holidays to beach resorts. (Lancet August 25, 2001)Vitamin D inhibits the growth of new, undesirable blood vessels that tumors require for nutrient supply and growth. Laboratory tests have shown vitamin D to be a potent angiogenesis inhibitor. (Shokravi MT, et al. Vitamin D inhibits angiogenesis in transgenic murine retinoblastoma. Inv Oph 1995;36:83-7.)

One researcher estimates moderate sunning would prevent 30,000 annual cancer deaths in the United States. (Ansleigh HG. Beneficial effects of sun exposure on cancer mortality. Prev Med 1993;22:132-40.)

Lack of vitamin D is associated with 17 different cancers. 38% of Americans will get Cancer. At the turn of the century it was 3%. The pH of saliva offers a window through which you can see the overall pH balance in your body.Most children have a saliva pH of 7.5. Over half of adults have a pH of 6.5 or lower, reflecting the calcium deficiency of aging and lifestyle defects. "Cancer patients have a saliva pH of 4.5, especially when terminal." (The Calcium Factor: The Scientific Secret of Health and Youth, by Robert R. Barefoot and Carl J. Reich, M.D., Gilliland Printing Inc., Arkansas City, Kansas, 1996.)Cancer cannot exist in an alkaline environment. All forms of arthritis are associated with excess acidity. Acid in the body dissolves both teeth and bones. Whatever health situation you are faced with, you can monitor your progress toward a proper acid/alkaline balance by testing your saliva pH.  You can use the vitamin D to help push the pH up. With pH 5.6 to 6 clinicians have found that adding 1000 IU of vitamin D once or twice a day is beneficial and pH from 5.2 to 5.6 up to 5000 IU of vitamin D is good, while pH below 5.0 up to 50000 IU of vitamin D once or twice a day would be ok as little vitamin D is being absorbed in the acid terrain. 

It is estimated that for each 5% of skin surface exposed, approximately 435 IU of Vitamin D can be manufactured. The process requires that the oil on the skin remain intact for awhile after exposure to the sun. For instance, life guards and farmers, who don't go shower immediately after sweating in the sun, have the highest serum Vitamin D levels. Try to keep the oil on your skin for at least several hours after sun exposure.Typically, the sun exposure of a person in a bathing suit of 1 minimal erythema dose (which causes a slight pinkness to the skin) is equivalent to ingesting 20,000 IU of vitamin D. Thus, exposure of hands, face, and arms or arms and legs to 25% of a minimal erythema dose (about 5-15 minutes between 11 AM and 2 PM

in Boston, at 45 degree northern latitude) will provide an adequate amount of vitamin D, for a white person.When scientists attached light detectors to the wrists and head of volunteers for stretches of a day or more, they found that their subjects were only infrequently exposed to anything over 1000 lux. They appeared to spend most of their time at an average intensity of around 100 lux. Yet this study was conducted in San Diego, which is one of the sunniest places in the continental USA. (Okudaira, N., Kripke, D.F., and Webster, J.B., 'Naturalistic Studies of Human Light Exposure', American Journal of Physiology, 245: R613-R615, 1983)

In 1980, Mrs A. had  her periods stopped, and she started putting on weight. She gained three stones in two years. Then she developed pins and needles in her extremities, and had difficulty with walking. She was diagnosed as suffering from multiple sclerosis. When I asked her whether she could think of any events or changes in her lifestyle immediately preceding the start of her symptoms, she at first said no. A month later she told me that it had occurred to her that everything started when she began a new job, working in a modern health center, in an entirely windowless room. She worked there until her symptoms became so bad that she had to stop work. 

When  miss Y. came to see me she was twenty-two. Since the age of fourteen she had developed symptoms every year, at around Christmas-time, of lack of concentration, difficulty focusing, fuzzy-headedness, fatigue, generally feeling unwell, fluid retention and swelling, constipation, vomiting, purple discoloration of the extremities, a rash, and loss of the ability to taste and smell. These symptoms gradually worsened for two months, and then improved in the spring, clearing up by April. One year she spent a fortnight in the South of France in the autumn, and didn't become ill that winter. After this she found that she felt much better for having a course on a sun bed, but even better for having a holiday in the sun. 

Mr B. is a hairdresser; every winter, as well as feeling increasingly fatigued as the months went by, he developed a succession of colds and sore throats. He knew that the chemicals used in hairdressing (which may be the most toxic trade that exists in the 1980s) made his sore throat and all his other symptoms worse. But he also knew that he reacted more to them in winter than in summer. When I saw him in mid-January, he had already booked his week in Lanzarote, and was leaving the next day. 'It's the only thing that keeps me going in the winter,' he said. 

Surgery patients in rooms with lots of natural light took less pain medication, and their drug costs ran 21% less than for equally ill patients assigned to darker rooms, a scientist will report. Those in the brighter rooms also had lower stress levels and said they felt less pain the day after surgery and at discharge, says Bruce Rabin, a physician and immunologist at the University of Pittsburgh. Light meters showed that darker rooms at Montefiore University Hospital in Pittsburgh had 46% less natural light than those on the sunny side, says Rabin and co-author Jeffrey Walch. They randomly housed 89 spinal fusion surgery patients on one side or the other.It's thought to be the first evidence that sunlight can affect the perception of pain.

In a school environment which was almost entirely lit by fluorescent tubes, hyperactivity was a constant and substantial problem. But when the ordinary tubes were replaced with full-spectrum ones, things improved dramatically. These results were recorded by a hidden video camera, and studying the video brings the point home powerfully. Children who before could hardly stay on their seats started to sit down and pay attention. The rate of punishment for misbehavior went down and the work output and learning capacity of the children went up. It was noticeable that the children who were worst to start with improved the most. (Ott, John, Health and Light, Pocket Books, New York, 1973)

John Ott had worn glasses since childhood, and had been spending much of his life indoors under photographic lights. By middle age he was going bald, felt generally run down and suffered from frequent colds and respiratory infections, and had X-ray evidence of arthritis in his hip. This became so severe that he used a walking stick and an old bicycle to get from his house to the shed where the cameras were housed. Having heard that the Florida weather was reputed to be very beneficial to health, and that many people retired there for that reason, he spent a holiday on the beach there, sunbathing and relaxing, but experienced absolutely no benefit. During this time he always protected his eyes with sunglasses, or at least

used his own spectacles. Back in Chicago, and feeling no better, he happened to break his glasses. The spare pair were un-wearable, so he was outside in the sun for several days without spectacles. All of a sudden, he noticed that he didn't seem to need the cane any more, and that his joints were generally much looser and easier. He walked cautiously up and down the drive, and then literally ran upstairs, for the first time in years, to tell his wife.   Deducing that sunlight was the factor, and that it was blocked by glasses, he went back to Florida for one week. During this time he never wore glasses, he tried to avoid driving in cars, and spent as much time as possible sitting out of doors in the shade. By the end of the week his arthritis had definitely improved, and he felt much fitter. Thirty years later, Dr. Ott is a fit, elderly gentleman who still lives in the town in Florida which he visited for that holiday. He continues his research, uses glasses only for small print, and even has a good head of gray hair. 

HEMIN AND CHLOROPHYLL 

"Photosynthesis does not mean you need chlorophyll. This concept also we very wrongly understand. Only the plant kingdom needs chlorophyll. Human body can do it with a different medium." (Transcript of a Dec. 01 2002Lecture by Hira Ratan Manek). Unlike the plants, the blood contains hemin, a crystalline product of hemoglobin.Hans Fischer, the German biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1930 for research into the constitution of hemin, the red blood pigment, and chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants, showed that there isa close relationship between hemin and chlorophyll. The only difference is that chlorophyll is bound by an atom of magnesium and hemin is bound by iron. Chlorophyll in leaves appears green because it uses energy chiefly from the blue and red areas of the spectrum for photosynthesis, but the green light is reflected. Hemoglobin appears red because it absorbs green light, and this provides exactly the right amount of energy to shift a molecule from one structure or state to another. Experiments have shown that severely anemic rabbits make a rapid return to a normal blood count once chlorophyll is administered. Chlorophyll also removes carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, has anti-

inflammatory, antioxidant and wound-healing properties. 

ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION

Ultraviolet (UV) is that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum extending from the violet, or short-wavelength, end of the visible light range to the X-ray region. Up to 50% of daily UV is emmited between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.95 % of UV penetrates water, while 40 % reaches a depth of 50 cm.Most natural surfaces such as grass, soil and water reflect less than 10% of incident UV. However, fresh snow strongly reflects (80%) UV. Sand also reflects (10-25%) and can significantly increase UV exposure at the beach. Surprisingly, there is a relatively higher amount of ultraviolet in the skyshine than in direct sunshine. The large amount of ultraviolet in skyshine accounts for the fact that it is possible to get sunburned on a beach on a cloudy day when there is no direct radiation from the sun. A famous practitioner of sun therapy was Auguste Rollier MD, whose clinic was at 5,000 feet above sea level. Dr. Rollier, wrote a volume titled La Cure de Soleil [The Sunlight Cure]. He knew that the higher the UV dosis, the greater the success of the treatment. Many patients were healed from tuberculosis (and it was noticed that the sun did not effect a cure if the patients wore glasses impenetrable to the healing UV rays). He stated that his patients would get the best results if they received the highest amount of ultraviolet light at this altitude. Ultraviolet intensity increases 4% to 5% every 1000 feet ascended. He apparently substantiated incredible results, which were published in his book La Cure de Soleil / Curing with the Sun.  

The energy output of the Sun has its peak at a wavelength of 470 nanometers, but the ozone and the atmosphere are absorbing in different amounts the visible wavelengths, so that the peak luminance on the earth's surface results at 540 nm.  Of the radiation striking the earth, approximately 50% has a visible wavelength of 400 and 700 nanometers. Ultraviolet (100 to 400 nm) frequencies equals 5%, and infrared (over 700 nm) wavelengths are 45% of all radiation reaching earth. UVC are the shortest ultraviolet

rays and virtually all of these frequencies are absorbed by our atmosphere and the ozone layer. The remaining UV light that reaches the ground is about 1-10% UVB and 90-99% UVA at midday.  About 95% of the UVB incident on human skin is absorbed, but only 10% to 20% penetrates beyond the epidermis. The amount of UVA dosage for redness in the skin is 600 to 1000 times that of UVB. Although UVB is implicated in much of the connective tissue damage, shorter UVA is probably responsible for the bulk of UVA -induced photodamage.   Ultraviolet-A (near UV) has a wavelength of 315-400 nanometres. Of the ultraviolet that does reach the Earth's surface, almost 99 percent is UVA radiation. UVA stimulates  the immediate tanning response, which occurs during exposure and increases until exposure ends. It occurs in response to both UVA and certain visible wavelengths. No melanin production is involved.

Visible light, when administered following lethal doses of ultraviolet (UVB and UVC), is capable of causing recovery of the cells exposed. This phenomenon, referred to as photorecovery (also called photoreactivation, especially in microorganisms), has led to the discovery of various enzyme systems that are capable of restoring damaged nucleic acids in genes to their normal form. In 1986 Betsy Sutherland, a researcher at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, finally demonstrated that photo reactivation occurred in human skin. She described its parameters quite clearly: it is light-dependent, being stimulated best by light of wavelength 350 to 400 nanometers (UVA). When such light hits the skin, the process happens very rapidly, clearing most of the dimers out of the tissue within minutes. (Sutherland, B.M., "Photoreactivation and Other Ultraviolet/Visible Light Effects on DNA in Human Skin", Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci: 453; 73-79, 1985) The remarkable fact is that although UVA stimulates synthesis of DNA, and therefore cell activity and multiplication, it suppresses DNA synthesis during the first hour after exposure. During this hour, the photo reactive enzymes are able to repair most of the damaged DNA. (Pathak, M.A., "Activation of the Melanocyte System by Ultraviolet-Radiation and Cell Transformation", Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci: 453; 328-339, 1985) Prof. Smith-Sonneborn irradiated one-celled organisms with bactericidal UV-C rays which damaged their DNA and shortened their life span (accelerated their aging process). She then proceeded to re-irradiate the cells, this time using UV-A. The cells repaired themselves by photoreactivation (PR) and the aging process was halted. This alone was sensational news. Prof. Smith-Sonneborn wanted to know next what would happen if she resubjected the cells to UV-A. This second radiation treatment extended the cells’ lifespan by up to 50 % compared to the control group! Cells treated with caffeine (inhibits DNA repair processes) had a drastically reduced life span. (Smith-Sonneborn J., Age-correlated effects of caffeine on non-irradiated and UV-irradiated Paramecium Aurelia , J Gerontol. 1974 May;29(3):256-60. ) When UV-irradiated embryos of the hermaphroditic fish (Rivulus ocellatus marmoratus) were illuminated by photoreactivating light (PRL) from fluorescent lamps, survival at the hatching stage was markedly increased. The maximum recovery to UV damage was shown by embryos that were exposed to PRL for at least 6 h after UV irradiation. The effect of PRL decreased 30 min after UV irradiation and no PR rescue was detected beyond 96 h. Treatment with 2 mM caffeine for 48 h after UV irradiation increased the sensitivity of the embryos in the dark. The above results demonstrate that Rivulus embryos have an efficient PR system and a caffeine-sensitive dark repair capacity. (Park EH, Yi AK., Photoreactivation rescue and dark repair demonstrated in UV-irradiated embryos of the self-fertilizing fish Rivulus ocellatus marmoratus (Teleostei; Aplocheilidae))

Research on various organisms and cell types consistently demonstrated that light alters cell metabolism,

causing synthetic cell processes to dominate catabolic ones. In a recent paper, Karu described it this way: 'The primary changes induced by light are followed by a cascade of biochemical reactions in the cell that do not need further light activation.'

During the summer, the intensity of wavelengths below 350 nanometers is four times higher than in winter, and below 300 nanometers there may be no radiation in winter at all. (Thorington, L., "Spectral Irradiance and Temporal Aspects of Natural and Artificial Light", Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci: 453; 28-54,1985)

Ultraviolet-B (mid UV) has a wavelength of 280-315 nanometres. It is responsible for the UV radiation's best-known effects on organisms, including tanning. Tanning is a natural body defense relying on melanin, a chemical pigment in the skin that absorbs ultraviolet radiation and limits its penetration into tissues. UVB accelerates the aging of skin by damaging the collagen fibres under it and is the cause of an occupational disease known as "welder's flash," or "arc eye," which is characterized by photophobia, tears in the eyes, spasm of the eyelids, and eye inflammation. UV light of around 295 nanometers wavelength (UVB) has the potential to cause damage to DNA and other molecules. Damaged DNA may lead to a cellular mutation - an abnormal cell which can be the start of cancer, or in the next generation of a genetic change or a congenital abnormality.

Ultraviolet-C (far UV) has a wavelength of 200-280 nanometres. Far-ultraviolet radiation is absorbed by nearly all gases and materials and does not reach the Earth's surface. It is less toxic than mid UV because it does not penetrate tissues as deeply.

Solar retinitis (or photoretinitis) is the result of a photochemical injury mechanism following exposure of the retina to shorter wavelengths in the visible spectrum, i.e., violet and blue light, and not due to thermal burn as was previously speculated. UV is not responsible for solar retinitis. The acute effect of excessive UVexposure to the eye, called photokeratitis, is familiar to the public as "welder's flash" or "snow blindness". Photokeratitis is an acute superficial "burn" of the corneal surface (not of the retina!), resulting from short-term exposure to high-intensity UV radiation. The ocular media in front of the retina are transparent in the visible and near infrared range (400 to 1400 nm) but they absorb most UV radiation. A small UV transmission peak occurs around 320 nm in the normal eye, with higher levels of UV-A transmission among young children.Under certain conditions (lack of antioxidants etc), UV exposure of the eyes can trigger the cataract.When the sun is overhead at noon, the level of UV exposure is 10 times greater than that at either 3 h before or 3 h after noon.

Researchers at John Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that sulforaphane, the naturally occurring antioxidant in broccoli and broccoli sprouts, protects the eye from damage caused by the sun's ultraviolet light. This antioxidant found in broccoli is a powerful force in preventing blindness.In their latest laboratory experiment, the researchers exposed human retina cells, which protect against oxidative stress and free radicals, to various doses of sulforaphane. Then they exposed cells to ultraviolet light -- similar to sunlight -- to produce oxidative damage.Sulforaphane protected eye cells from damage, reports Xiangqun Gao, a molecular scientist with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.Previous studies from this group of researchers have shown that sulforaphane prevents tumor growth and kills stomach bacteria that lead to ulcers and stomach cancer. In one study, they showed that feeding broccoli sprouts to rats prevented high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.  

UV light activates the synthesis of Vitamin D, which is a prerequisite for absorption of calcium and other minerals. One of vitamin D metabolites, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, may influence the resting energy state of the muscle and also protein turnover. UV light can lower blood pressure; can increase efficiency of the heart, can improve EKG readings and

blood profiles; can reduce cholesterol; can increase the level of sex hormones (Vita-Lite has a balanced UV, and is used extensively for enhancing the mating and reproduction of indoor pet and animals).

Narrow-band UVB refers to a specific wavelength of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, 311 to 312 nm. This range has proved to be the most beneficial component of natural sunlight for vitilligo and Psoriasis and is promising in the treatment of some other skin conditions including atopic eczema and vitiligo.   Compared with broadband UVB, in the treatment of psoriasis, Narrow band UVB treatment has the following features:* Exposure times are shorter but of higher intensity. * The course of treatment is shorter* It is more likely to clear the psoriasis* Longer periods of remission occur before the psoriasis reappears

UV BLOOD IRRADIATION

Dr. William C. Douglass pointed in his newsletter, The Cutting Edge, Nov. 1987, p. 3:"It's amazing what you can find by nosing around in the dusty archives of a good medical library.  I came across another remarkable therapy that the AMA and drug industry (or whoever is in charge of suppressing non-toxic treatments that work) have shoved down the memory hole.""Back in 1933, Doctors Hancock and Knott treated a patient dying of septicemia (blood poisoning) with ultraviolet irradiation of the blood.The patient was moribund with a blood stream infection and obviously near death. The patient made a complete and uneventful recovery ." (Northwest Medicine, 33:200, 1934)"Searching further, I found that in 1928 a similar terminal infection was treated by ultraviolet light to the blood.   This patient also made a complete recovery . " (Knott, AM. J. Surg., Aug. 1948, pp. 165-171) "Finally, in 1940, 110 cases treated with ultraviolet spectral energy were reported. The results were uniformly good. Between 1940 and 1948 many other conditions were successfully treated, including vein inflammation (phlebitis), polio and asthma. Up to the late 40's over 40 thousand treatments were given with ultraviolet blood irradiation.""And now for the most interesting part. In 1947, Dr. G .P. Miley reported on 79 cases of virus infection. (Rev. Gastroenterol. 15 271-277, 1948) Miley stated that ultraviolet blood irradiation therapy could be relied upon consistently to control an infection of a virus in a safe and efficient manner." (Am. J. Surgery, Aug. 1948, pp. 170)  Nearly all toxins, such as those excreted from staphylococcus, diphtheria, and tetanus organisms, are also inactivated by UV - as are, remarkably enough, all snake venoms. This therapy appeared to increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood by 50 per cent, and to cure a number of conditions, from asthma through paralytic ileus (a failure of the bowel activity) to thrombophlebitis, that were otherwise untreatable.

UV blood irradiation, also called photopheresis or extracorporeal photochemotherapy, is an FDA-approved treatment for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (a type of cancer affecting the skin) and its variants as well as for psoriasis. It is also used in clinical trials for treatment of such autoimmune disorders as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, and graft-versus-host disease, a complication that can occur after stem cell transplants. The blood, along with an anticoagulant, is collected into the Photopheresis device. The lymphocytes are separated by centrifugation to create a concentrated layer of white blood cells. The lymphocyte layer is exposed to UVA and then returned to the patient. Red cells and plasma are returned to the patient between each cycle.

Doctors treating a range of infections from viral pneumonia, through mumps to acute poliomyelitis, found that the illness cleared within days, and the abnormal temperature, blood cell counts and physical signs

were corrected. (Schwartz, S.O., et al., "Ultraviolet Irradiation of Blood in Man", Journal of the American Medical Association, 149 No 13; 1180-1184, 1952) Some alternative practitioners offer a type of ultra violet blood irradiation (without 8-MOP or Methoxsalen, that sensitizes cells to light) for such purposes as eliminating toxins and viruses, inhibiting growth of bacteria, enhancing immunity, and increasing oxygenation of the blood. 

UV light can protect against the development of coronary artery disease and the other forms of hardening of the arteries in the first place. (Altschul, R., "Inhibition of Experimental Cholesterol Arteriosclerosis by Ultraviolet Irradiation", New England Journal of Medicine: 249; 96-100, 1953) A. Levin and his associates studied the effect of UV blood irradiation on blockage of the arteries of the legs, a common problem in diabetics and heavy smokers. They reported positive results in eight of 11 cases with significant relief of pain, less dependence on pain killers, better sleep, better appetites and quick healing of ulcerations caused by poor circulation.Dutkevich and associates reported that 10.3 percent of surgical cases in their series developed some degree of thrombophlebitis or thrombosis following surgery if not treated with UV light therapy. Not a single case developed these venous complications if they had been treated with UV light therapy prior to or after surgery.

Ultraviolet irradiation typically causes the body to eliminate uric acid more rapidly, suggesting usefulness as a treatment for gout, gouty arthritis, bursitis and other inflammatory conditions of muscles and joints.Researchers also have found that blood sugar is temporarily diminished in diabetic patients by UV irradiation. This is probably due to an increase in insulin sensitivity.

UV, PROSTAGLANDINS, GLAUCOMA AND THE IRIS

Skin explants responded to UV irradiation (120 mJ/cm2) with a fivefold increase in synthesis of prostaglandins E2, F2 alpha and 6-keto PGF1 alpha. Erythema in vivo is associated with increased quantities of prostaglandins 3-6 h after irradiation. In irradiated explants, PG synthesis was stimulated threefold by 3 microM histamine. Unirradiated explants' PG synthesis was unaffected by histamine. These studies demonstrate that endogenous histamine stimulates PG synthesis in human skin after UV injury by potentiation of histamine-induced prostaglandin release. (Enhanced prostaglandin synthesis after ultraviolet injury is mediated by endogenous histamine stimulation. A mechanism for irradiation erythema, A P Pentland, M Mahoney, S C Jacobs, and M J Holtzman, Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110)

Subjects treated for glaucoma, with Travatan (PGF 2 derivative), had the lowest average IOP (intraocular pressure) and the lowest variance as compared with the other treatment groups. (Nordmann JP, LePen C, Berdeaux G. Estimating the long-term visual field consequences of average daily intraocular pressure and variance. Clin Drug Invest 23(7):431-438. 2003.) When applied to the eyes of a rabbit, a 1 µg dose of PGE3 decreases intraocular pressure from 21 mmHg to about 17 mmHg. (Kulkarni, P.S., Srinivasan, B.D. Prostaglandins E3 and D3 lower intraocular pressure. Invest Ophthamol Vis Sci 26, 1178-1182 (1985).)

PGE 2

Arachidonic acid (high in modern diet)

latanoprost (Xalatan), travoprost (Travatan), bimatoprost (Lumigan) and unoprostone isopropyl (Rescula)

Stimulates hyperalgesic response (sensitize to pain)Renal and bronchial vasodilationInhibitor of platelet aggregationStimulates uterine smooth muscle relaxationCytoprotection of GI epithelial cells against acidReduces gastric acid secretionElevates thermoregulatory set-point in anterior hypothalamus (fever)

Lowers IOPPromotes inflammation

PGE 3

Omega-3: EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid)

- Lower IOP without inflammatory effects (rabbit)

PGF 2

- Forskolin (Coleus forskohlii)

Stimulates breakdown of corpus luteum (luteolysis) (Animals)Stimulates uterine smooth muscle contractionBronchial constrictorLower IOPInhibits inflammation

Darkening of the iris colour is a well known side effect of both naturally occurring prostaglandins and prostaglandin analogues, such as isopropyl unoprostone1 and latanoprost. Latanoprost seems to increase the number of melanocytes synthesising melanin and the melanin content of these cells. (Lindquist NG, Larsson BS, Stjernschantz J. Increased pigmentation of irideal melanocytes in primates induced by a prostaglandin analogue. Exp Eye Res 1999;69:431–6)Some investigators have speculated that prostaglandins may actually restore the natural colour of the iris, because the darkening occurs, in their opinion, more often in the peripheral, lighter part of the mixed colour irides, thus producing a more uniform iris colour. (Camras CB. The United States latanoprost study group. Comparison of latanoprost and timolol in patients with ocular hypertension and glaucoma. A six-month, masked, multicenter trial in the United States. Ophthalmology 1996;103:138–47.)The eye color change is apparently irreversible and could represent the latanoprost related activation of melanogenesis in some superficial melanocytes, which increase their melanin content and thus become darker, resembling pigmented dots.

Iridology, the science of diagnosing illness by examining the eye, dates to the nineteenth century, when an eleven-year-old boy found an owl with a broken leg. The Hungarian prodigy noted that a black mark appeared in the owl’s eye that changed and disappeared as the leg healed.Iridology is based on the theory that the nervous system culminates in the surface of the eyes, so by studying the shape, colour and brightness of the iris, alongside the predetermined eye-colour type, an iridologist can make a diagnosis on the state of a person’s health.The black marks from the iris are absorbing more radiation from the sunlight, they are a kind of entry points for the sunlight’s energy. According to their location on the iris, these points are activating the corresponding organs.In the 1950s, an American naturopath, Dr. Bernard Jensen, mapped out the iris into six zones or rings. The six rings all relate to a system within the body. The innermost ring is said to correspond to the stomach; the second to the small and large intestine; the third to the blood; the fourth is connected to the organs and the hormone-producing endocrine system and the fifth is the muscular-skeletal system. The sixth and outermost ring is connected to the skin and the organs of elimination.

UV BIOPHOTONS

Biophotons were discovered in 1923 by Russian medical scientist Professor Alexander G. Gurwitsch, who named them "mitogenetic rays". He found that he could stimulate the growth of cells, and their division, by exposing them to radiations from an already growing organism. In his first experiments, be used onion roots. These were arranged in glass tubes enveloping most of their length, so that only the parts needed in the experiment were exposed. On the side of the detector root nearest to the transmitter root, more cells divided, and there was an increase in size and chemical activity. His first assumption, or hypothesis, was that this was due to a chemical substance released from the transmitter root. So he inserted a quartz sheet between the two roots to block any such mediators, and found that the effect was not abolished. When a sheet of glass was interposed instead, however, there was no response by the detector root. Since the effect could pass through quartz, it had to be an electromagnetic wave; but if it could not pass through glass, then it was almost certainly in the ultraviolet part of the

spectrum. (Gurwitsch, A., "Die Natur des Specifischen Erregurs der Zeliteilung", Roux, Archiv: 100; 11, 1923)

Dr. Vlail

Kaznacheyev was Director of the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Novosibirsk. For 20 years he has been directing highly unusual experiments with twin cell cultures. In the experiments, two sealed containers were placed side by side, with a thin optical window separating them. A tissue was separated into two identical samples, and one sample placed in each of the two halves of the apparatus. The cells in one sample (on one side of the glass) were then subjected to a deleterious agent - a selected virus, bacterial infection, chemical poison, nuclear radiation, deadly ultraviolet radiation, etc - that led to disease and death of the exposed/infected cell culture sample. If the thin optical window was made of ordinary window glass, the uninfected cells on the other side of the window were undamaged and remained healthy. However, if the thin optical window was made of quartz, some time (usually about 12 hours) after the disease appeared in the infected sample, the same features of disease appeared in the uninfected sample. This startling "infection by optical coupling" occurred in a substantial percentage of the tests (70 to 80 percent). Further, if the originally uninfected cells were in optical contact with the infected cells for 18-20 hours or so, and then were correspondingly exposed (optically coupled) to another uninfected cell sample, symptoms of the infection appeared in this third sample in an appreciable amount (20 to 30 percent). Use of the detector as a new inductor in a successive state reduces the effect by 20-30%.  Three or four such stages is sufficient to eliminate the effect. The cellular disease induction effect was called the mirror cytopathogenic effect (CPE for short) by the Kaznacheyev group. Mirror CPE appeared only when the quartz or mica window was no thicker than 0.8 mm. A. F. Kirkin also duplicated the experiments using a thin plexiglas window.There are conditions which enhance the effect, and others which inhibit or degrade it. Both cultures must be maintained in complete darkness throughout the experiment.  Increasing the temperature to 38.5 degrees centigrade also enhances the effect (from 37% to 90% for example). A necessary condition for the success of the experiment is the rotation of the holder with its two optically-coupled samples at a rate of about 24-25 revolutions per hour.  Optical contact between the inductor and detector cells for a minimum of 4-6 hours is necessary, after which the cell cultures can be separated.  A longer contact time is necessary for complete development of the irreversible effect.  In more than 15,000 experiments, monthly variations and daily variations were noted.  Kaznacheyev further discovered that the Sun's activity and the Earth's magnetic field greatly affected the results of his experiments.  Large flashes on the sun seem to inhibit the effect. In a season of active sunspots, the mirror CPE effect becomes highly unstable. Under active sun conditions, the effect varies from 90-100% on some days to complete absence on others. Negative results appear more often in winter. Irradiation of the detector-culture with a low dose of UV prior to its optical contact enhances the effect, increasing it to certainty (99-100% ). (lieutenant colonel Thomas E. Bearden, PhD, AIDS Biological Warfare, 1988, Chapter 5 Extraordinary Biology)

The next key finding was that bioradiation could be triggered off by exposing cells to a source of ultraviolet light. When a graphite-arc lamp, which was the only source of UV available in laboratories at that time, was directed at a preparation of cells, they not only produced their own bioradiation in response, but an increase in metabolic activity followed as well. The implication is clear: UV from natural, sunlight sources

must be equally able to stimulate our metabolisms.  After UVB-irradiation of cells an increase of biophotonic emission was observed in postmitotic fibroblasts. The ultraweak photon emission of a culture medium was significantly higher at 37°C than at 25°C and after UVB-irradiation this difference was even more pronounced. While with cells in the medium no temperature dependence could be determined in unirradiated samples, after UVB-irradiation of cells an increase of biophotonic emission was observed in postmitotic fibroblasts. (Temperature dependence of ultraweak photon emission in fibroblastic differentiation after irradiation with artificial sunlight, Hugo J Niggli, Indian Journal of Experimental Biology Vol. 41, May 2003, pp. 424-430 )

Lipoxygenase (LOX) and peroxidase (POD) reactions, which are involved in the production of reactive oxygen and radical species, are shown to be associated with ultraweak photon emission in plant defense mechanisms. These enzyme reactions induced high-level ultraweak photon emission in an in vitro reaction system. The application of LOX to sweet potato slices caused photon emission directly in plants. LOX substrate promoted photon emission in chitosan-treated sweet potato, and LOX inhibitor markedly suppressed this emission. Therefore, a LOX-related pathway, including LOX and other downstream reactions, is principally associated with photon emission in plant defense mechanisms. (Endogenous enzyme reactions closely related to photon emission in the plant defense response, Youichi Aoshima, Kimihiko Kato & Takahiro Makino, Indian Journal of Experimental Biology Vol. 41, May 2003, pp. 500-510 )

Research projects in China have shown that application of the biofield affects lithium fluoride thermoluminesence detectors, polarized light beams, Van de Graff generators, and silicone crystal plates.

The secondary radiation (the energy put out by an organism or solution in response to an input of ultraviolet energy) became stronger the more dilute the solution. Thus a 0.02 per cent solution of nucleic acid produced its peak effect in one fifth of the time taken by a 1 per cent solution. Similar results were found with suspensions of bacteria. (Miley, G., 'The Knott Technique of UV blood irradiation', New York Journal of Medicine: 42; 38-46, 1942)

When six quartz test tubes containing bacteria were set side by side, and the first one was irradiated with UV, there was a secondary radiation emitted from the other end of the row, which was twenty seven times greater than the input UV. (Ronge, H.E., 'Ultraviolet Irradiation with Artificial Illumination: A Technical, Physiological and Hygienic Study', Acta Pbysiol Scand: 15 (supp. 49); 163-171, 1948)

The degree of radiation appeared to depend on what was going on in the organism or tissue. Cells which were in the process of growing and dividing radiated most, and cells in a state of exhaustion radiated least. In fact, the radiation detected from human blood was highest when the individual's energy level was high, and at its lowest after a day's hard work.  Protti in Milan, and other researchers throughout Europe, found in the thirties that the radiation detectable from blood increased after food, and decreased with fatigue. After a day's work or several hours physical exertion it was down to almost nothing. in a couple of hours it had returned nearly to normal. Inhaling oxygen had a boosting effect on bioradiation, but only for about one hour. The effect of ultraviolet exposure, on the other hand, lasted for hours or even days. (Wassitieff, L.L., "De I' influence de Travail Cerebral sur la Radiation Mitogenetique de sang", Arch. Sciences Biol: 35; 104,1934) Blood from anybody with a serious illness did not radiate well, and the most dramatic difference was found with cancer patients. The lack of any radiation from the blood of people with cancer was so striking that the researchers came to regard this as a reliable test for cancer, and many cases of previously undiagnosed cancer are reported to have been detected by this method. When they took samples from the malignant growth itself, on the other hand, they found that it radiated very strongly.

Red blood cells are peculiarly sensitive to light and will respond to it by emitting biophotons that in turn stimulate other red blood cells to do likewise. Bacteria and viruses are more vulnerable to biophotonic emissions than are somatic cells. 

Two glasses with fresh pig blood were put next to each other. In one glass a causative agent was trickled; the blood reacted by building antibodies. Then, the blood in the other glass also builded antibodies, without the presence of the causative agent! When a light-absorbing wall separated the two glasses, the effect did not occur.The UVB irradiation of a small fraction (some 5 percent) of the blood, that spreads throughout the entire volume of the blood upon returning to the body, induced secondary emissions (biophotons are emitted by the activated cells) which destroyed viruses, bacteria, and--in autoimmune diseases--activated white blood cells. In autoimmune disorders it appears that the metabolically active T-cells and other immune cells absorb much greater numbers of biophotons than ordinary body cells, and this destroys them, thus slowing down or stopping the disease.

In 1974 German biophysicist Fritz-Albert Popp, without knowing the details of the research of Gurwitsch, was able to successfully detect the existence of biophotons, and theorizes that their origin is from cell microstructures and DNA.Popp postulates that biological systems generally have the capacity to store coherent photons that come from the external world. According to him, the energy we extract from our food stems from the sunlight that plants store. His analysis strongly implies that "ultraweak" photon intensity can regulate the whole cell metabolism and related phenomena. Ultraweak bioluminescence, the light emitted from organisms, was found to be coherent, laser like, and typically radiating with intensities of a few tens up to few hundreds of photons per square cm. In his "Photon Storage in Biological Systems," Popp points out the master cellular communication and control system as follows:"The photons which we have measured can be seen as a sort of "waste" from a virtual electromagnetic field with a high coherence. This field has a tendency to become stationary over the whole organism."After additional analysis, he adds:" Consequently, biological systems must exhibit 'holographic' properties to an extremely high degree. The successful trials in finding 'pictures' of various organs in each other organ, such as the ear, the hands, the eyes (acupuncture, iris diagnosis) support these conclusions." Popp concludes: "From this we can easily deduce that pattern recognition, as, for example, repair mechanisms and immunity, depends finally on the coherence of the photon field within the body." 

Biophotons emitted from the center of fingernails and fingerprints from living humans were measured for twenty healthy subjects. Significantly more biophotons were emitted from fingernail than fingerprint for each finger of every subject. For thumb the average biophoton emission rate was 23.0 +/- 4.5 counts per second, and 17.2 +/- 2.0 counts per second from the nail, and print, respectively. There is a slight tendency that the little finger emits less than the other fingers. But some fingers emit far stronger than others, and it depends upon each individual subject which finger emits strongest. (T.J. Kim, K.W. Nam, H.S. Shin, S.M. Lee, J.S. Yang, K.S. Soh, "Biophoton Emission from Fingernails and Fingerprints of Living Human Subjects", Acupuncture and Electrotherapeutics Research, 27 , pp.85-94, Cognizant Communication Corp., 2002,2002)

Thermal stimulation with moxa leads the human body to radiate biophotons. As the biophoton emission intensifies after moxa, an attempt is made to detect changes in the human body. After moxa, the photon numbers and the body temperature are observed as a time chart before and after healing in Okada's manner. In contrast with the decreasing photon number, the temperature increases during the healing. (Tsutomu YANAGAWA, Hiroyuki SAKAGUCHI, Masahiro UENO and Kazuo NITTA, Life Science Labs., "Sustaining Faculty of Living Functions and Its Biophoton Observation",   MOA Health Science Foundation, Tokyo, Japan) Left-right biophoton asymmetry from the palm and the dorsum of hands from 7 Korean hemiparesis patients were studied. There is a strong tendency that the left-hemiparesis patients emit more biophotons from the right than the left hands, while the right-hemiparesis patient emits more from the left hand. Acupuncture treatment reduces dramatically the left-right asymmetry of biophoton emission rates. (Left-right asymmetry of biophoton emission from hemiparesis patients, Hyun-Hee Jung,

Won-Myung Woo, Joon-Mo Yang, Chunho Choi, Jonghan Lee, Gilwon Yoon, Jong S. Yang, Sungmuk Lee & Kwang-Sup Soh, Indian Journal of Experimental Biology Vol. 41, May 2003, pp. 457-472 ) It turned out that biophoton emission reflects, (i) the left-right symmetry of the human body; (ii) biological rhythms such as 14 days, 1 month, 3 months and 9 months; (iii) disease in terms of broken symmetry between left and right side; and (iv) light channels in the body, which regulate energy and information transfer between different parts. (Biophoton emission of human body, S Cohen & F A Popp, Indian Journal of Experimental Biology Vol. 41, May 2003, pp. 446-451 )

BIOLOGICAL TRANSMUTATION

Neutrinos are produced in many circumstances in the earth, in the sun, stars and galaxies. The Sun may be regarded as a huge nuclear fusion reactor and hence a source of neutrinos. In order to detect these a detector has been built at the bottom of the Homestake mine in South Dakota. The reason for burying the detector so deep is that nuclear transmutation can also occur when cosmic rays interact with matter, but these are absorbed by the intervening rock leaving neutrinos as the only candidate for the transmutation. The detector is full of industrial cleaning fluid since Chlorine 37 is converted to Argon by the occasional neutrino; measuring the Argon content gives a measure of the neutrino flux through the detector. The measured neutrino flux is only a third of that predicted by nuclear physics. A suggestion is that if neutrinos possess mass they may alternate between their three types (electron, tauon and muon neutrinos) with only one form being detected. That "solar neutrino problem" has persisted for many years, since 1968 when the first solar neutrino experiment, for which Ray Davis was awarded the Nobel Prize, made observations of electron neutrinos from the sun. Later similar radiochemical experiments in Russia and Italy with Gallium being transmuted to Germanium, showed a similar discrepancy. On June 19, 1995, Texas A&M University hosted a low-energy transmutation Conference, sponsored by the "father of electrochemistry", Professor Dr. John O'M Bockris. Some of the papers which were presented noted anomalies in the formation of new elements in cathodes -- definitely not sourced from contamination -- which were involved in cold-fusion experiments. For example: Drs. T. Ohmori and Reiko Notoya, both of Hokkaido University, reported Iron formation in Gold and Palladium cathodes, Potassium changing into Calcium, Cs133 producing an element of mass 134, and Na23 becoming Na24; Dr. John Dash of Portland State University reported spots of silver, cadmium and gold protruding in palladium electrodes in both light and heavy water cells; Dr. Robert Bush of California Polytechnic, Pomona, reported strontium on the surface of nickel cathodes. (Rabzi, Georgiy S. Mechanism of low temperature transmutation. In: John O'M. Bockris. Proceedings of Low-energy Transmutation Conference, Texas A&M University, June 19, 1995. [Available from New Energy News, P. O. Box 58639, Salt Lake City, Utah 84158-8639; (801) 583-6232, fax: 583-2963])

For eight years, from 1875 to 1883, a German biologist named von Herzeele grew plants without soil, using solutions whose mineral content he measured and controlled. Like scientists before him in England, France and Germany he found that there were elements in the ashes of the plants he grew that could not have got in from the growth medium. He concluded that "plants are capable of effecting the transmutation of elements." In the 1940s M. Baranger at the Ecole Polytechnic, Paris, decided to repeat von Herzeele's experiments but with tighter controls and greater precautions against error. He also performed a much larger number of experiments. His study lasted four years and involved thousands of analyses. Baranger measured the phosphor, potassium and calcium content of vetch seeds before and after germination in twice-distilled water. In some cases pure calcium chloride was added. He found that, in the case of seeds germinated using added calcium chloride, they experienced a 10 per cent increase in their potassium content and a significant decrease in their phosphor content. He concluded, "These results, obtained by taking all possible precautions, confirm the general conclusions proposed by V. Herzeele and lead one to think that under certain conditions the plants are capable of forming elements which did not exist before in the external environment." In 1946, the director of the Dinard Maritime Laboratory, Henri Spindler, investigated seaweed and found that the algae Laminaria manufactured iodine out of water which did not contain this element. 

In 1959, Dr Julien at the University of Besancon found that if he placed tenches into water containing 14 per cent sodium chloride, their production of potassium chloride increased by 36 per cent within four hours.   Prof. Perrault (Paris University) found that the hormone aldosterone provoked a transmutation of Na to K, which could be fatal to a patient; heart failure occurs when blood plasma K reaches approximately 350 mg/liter. The labs of the French Society of Agriculture tried germinating rye seeds. They found that the initial input of 13.3 milligrams of magnesium dropped as low as 3.2 milligrams (a fall of 335 per cent) while the initial input of 7.3 milligrams of potassium rose to 16.6 milligrams (an increase of 133 per cent).   It is fair to add that scientists at other institutions have attempted to replicate these results and have found no evidence of transmutation (for instance professor Jungermann at University of California in 1977 and Carolyn Damon of the US Customs in 1978). 

Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, a celebrated French chemist, discovered that chickens could produce more calcium in their eggshells than entered their bodies. Hence they had to be able to "create" the calcium, else their own bodies would have been completely depleted.In 1822 an Englishman named William Prout had studied chicken eggs in incubation. He found that hatched chicks had more lime (calcium) in their bodies than was originally present in the egg!Another French scientist named Henri Spindler discovered that a kind of algae called Laminaria could create iodine.A German researcher named Vogel had planted cress seeds in a bell jar. They were fed nothing but distilled water; still, when grown they contained more sulphur than had been in the seeds originally.C. Louis Kervran, the Conferences Director at the University of Paris, published in La Revue Generale Des Sciences in July 1960, and then published further details of his work in a book, Transmutations Biologiques, Maloine, Paris 1962.As Kervran pointed out, the ground in Brittany contained no calcium; however, every day a hen would lay a perfectly normal egg, with a perfectly normal shell containing calcium. The hens do eagerly peck mica from the soil, and mica contains potassium - a single step below calcium in the standard hens denied calcium but not potassium, stay perfectly healthy and lay perfectly normal eggs. Hens denied both potassium and calcium will be sickly and lay only soft-shelled eggs. If these sick chickens are allowed to peck only mica - which they will frantically do - everything returns to normal again. Kervran published the findings in his book "Biological Transmutations" (Kervran, L.C. (1966) "La Transmutation Biologique", Le Courier du Livre, Paris). He believed that biological transmutations were best attained by maximizing the "vital forces". Thus natural rainwater should be used rather than distilled tap water; the growth medium should be natural in origin rather than inorganic chemicals; lighting should be natural daylight, or direct sunlight rather than artificial, electric lighting; also the phases of the moon were implicated in the chances of a transmutation occurring. Kervran found that in nuclido-biological reactions, oxygen is always in the form of O, never O2; reactions with nitrogen occur only with N2, insofar as is known. The following reactions (shown in simplistic form) have been observed:

Na23 + H1 Mg24 Na23 + O16 K39  Na23 - O16 Li7

Na23 Li7 + O16 K39 + H1 Ca40 Mg24 + Li7 P31

Mg24 + O16 Ca40

 F19 + O16 Cl35  C12 + Li7 F19

Cl35 C12 + Na23 Fe56 - H1 Mn55 2 O16 - H1 P31

O16 + O16 S32 2 N14 C12 + O16 N14 + Mg12 K19

Si28 + C12 Ca40 Si28 + C12 Ca40 P31 + H1 S32

No reasonable answer was available until... a bold theoretical assumption, due to Weinberg in 1967, turned out as experimentally true. Due to this 'neutral current hypothesis' we are allowed to write such nuclear reactions as:

p + v p' + v' ;

 or: p + v p' + v' ;

 or: p p' + v + v

where p denotes a proton, v a neutrino, and v the anti-neutrino. We even have two sorts of neutrinos to play with: the electronic and the muonic one.

J.E. Zundel, head of a paper company with a chemical analysis laboratory, and later a chemical engineer of the Polytechicum School of Zurich, Switzerland, utilized the mass spectrometer at the Microanalysis Laboratory of the French National Scientific Research Center, and neutron activation mass analysis at the Swiss Institute for Nuclear Research in Villigen to positively confirm, in the output of the hens, an increase in calcium of 61% to an accuracy of 2%. Such results and instrumentation, of course, removed any doubt that the effect could be due to statistical variation. In the same experiments, the plants increased their phosphorus 29% and their sulphur 36%.In 1965, Hisatoki Komaki, professor of applied microbiology at Mukogawa University, Japan, reported the formation of phosphorous in a wide range of microorganisms grown in a medium deficient in phosphorous. He suggested that nuclear reactions were taking place in the cells of the microorganisms.When he became the head of a research laboratory at Matsushita Electric Company, Komaki conducted research conclusively proving that microorganisms (including some bacteria and two kinds each of molds and yeast) could transmute sodium into potassium. In fact, he placed a brewer's yeast product on the market that, when applied to composts, increases their potassium content. The Japanese researchers, having replicated Kervran's astounding results, recommended him to the Nobel Committee for a Nobel Prize for such epochal work. Thus Kervran became a Nobel nominee, though he was not granted the prize.

In a letter (7 January 1974), Kervran attributed the transmutations in plants in part to the power of enzymes:

In a Petri dish 9 cm. in diameter I started germinating 50 oat seeds. The culture continued for 6 weeks or 3.6 million seconds give or take a few ten thousands of seconds... The area of 'cosmic interaction' was 63 cm3... During this time on this surface 3.9 mg of K were transmuted into Ca; this must be ~ 6 x 1019 atoms of K transmuted in 3.6 x 106 seconds or 1.8 x 1013 atoms per second or 2.6 x 1011 per cm2/second. The proportion of K transmuted was ~ 46% in 6 weeks. This integration of results for the phenomenon is not constant: it is imperceptible during the first days when one witnesses the synthesis of enzymes which will provoke the transmutations; even at the end of a week the effect is hardly to be noticed. It develops rapidly during the 2nd and 3rd weeks, then slows down during the 4th week... The phenomenon seems to be asymptotic and at the end of the 6th week transmutation progresses only very slowly.. Which demonstrates yet once again that the action of the ambient is insufficient, that there is an energy regulated by the metabolism of the germination and growth which is at the origin of these transmutations... Obviously this calculation was one for a macro-section and not for the effective section... Moreover, there is in biology an important phenomenon which must not be overlooked: some molecules assemble in helix shapes (DNA and RNA for example). There are also some oriented assemblages which polarize light, most often to the left. These oriented constructions have an oriented electromagnetic field, and a molecule such as DNA can be compared to a solenoid in which charged particles (mu- for example) are somehow partly channeled in the interior, and thus concentrated... 

French physicist Oliver Costa de Beauregard, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Institut de Physique Theorique Henri Poincare (Faculty of Sciences, Paris) who is also Director of the Centre National de la Reserche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.) suggests that such transmutations neither takes place through strong interactions, nor through electromagnetic forces, but through the weak interaction. This takes place through the neutral current of the intermediate vector boson, the so called Zo particle recently discovered by particle physicists. Kervran's reaction for a biological transmutation from Potassium (K) to Calcium (Ca) in germinating oats is thus explained as being initiated by neutrino capture (from cosmic rays) and the weak interaction follows mediated by the Zo neutral current (the Z° probably existing as a virtual particle):neutrino + Hydrogen ion + Potassium ion -- Zo/enzyme--> Calcium ion + antineutrino

In 1978 Solomon Goldfein of the US Army's Material Laboratory at Fort Belvoir suggested a possible mechanism for biological transmutations. He suggests that such transmutations would most likely involve an organic molecule with a central metal atom: Magnesium Adenosine Triphosphate (or Mg-ATP). Goldfein says that a stack of these molecule could form a helical chain. The Mg-ATP could also produce oscillating electric currents which act as a microminiaturized cyclotron, accelerating hydrogen ions to speeds near that of light and giving them enough potential to transmute an element to the next higher number in the table of elements.  Goldfein, the principal investigator of an US Army study, quotes from the Report 2247, Energy Development from Elemental Transmutations in Biological Systems, U .S. Army Mobility Equipment Research and Development Command, May 1978. DDC No. AD AO56906 which suggests that cold fusion is taking place in biological entities: "The purpose of the study was to determine whether recent disclosures of elemental transmutations occurring in biological entities have revealed new possible sources of energy. The works of Kervran, Komaki, and others were surveyed, and it was concluded that, granted the existence of such transmutations (Na to Mg, K to Ca, and Mn to Fe), then a net surplus of energy was also produced. A proposed mechanism was described in which Mg adenosine triphosphate, located in the mitochondrion of the cell, played a double role as an energy producer. In addition to the widely accepted biochemical role of MgATP in which it produces energy as it disintegrates part by part, MgATP can also be considered to be a cyclotron on a molecular scale. The MgATP when placed in layers one atop the other has all the attributes of a cyclotron in accordance with the requirements set forth by E.O. Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron. " "It was concluded that elemental transmutations were indeed occurring in life organisms and were probably accompanied by a net energy gain." (lieutenant colonel Thomas E. Bearden, PhD, AIDS Biological Warfare, 1988, Chapter 5 Extraordinary Biology)

POLARIZED LIGHT IN NATURE

Light becomes polarized as it enters the atmosphere at low angles. Moonlight and skylight are polarized, as is  reflected light. Birds can detect polarized light from sunlight's penetration through the atmosphere, and it has been hypothesized that the pattern of polarized light in the evening sky is the primary cue that provides a reference for their orientation. Experiments with caged homing pigeons have demonstrated that they will alter their behavior when, with the Sun in the same position, the location of artificially polarized light is changed. Horizontally polarized ultraviolet light reflected from the surface of water is the main optical cue for habitat finding by insects living in, on, or near water.The adaptations of the visual system of insects living in, on, or near water to reflection-polarization patterns at water surfaces are briefly reviewed and discussed by means of three representative species, viz. the waterstrider (Gerris lacustris), the backswimmer (Notonecta glauca), and the dragonfly (Hemicordulia tau).Dung beetles active during the day depend on sunlight polarization patterns. On moonlit nights, one twilight-active species worked particularly late. At sunset the African dung beetles (Scarabaeus zambesianus) is able to orientate itself using the polarization pattern formed around the setting sun, but when the sun is 18 degrees beyond the horizon, known as astronomical twilight, the pattern is lost. But the

moon will create a new polarized path in the sky. It lasts for as long as the moon is in the sky. Polarized moonlight allows the dung beetle to find its burrow after gathering dung food.

The shorter the wavelength, the greater the proportion of celestial polarization that can be used by animals under cloudy-sky conditions. This phenomenon may solve the ultraviolet paradox of polarization vision in insects such as hymenopterans and dipterans. In bees and ants only detectors of ultraviolet are sensitive to polarization, changes in hue do not affect the polarization-detection system. Ultraviolet gets through clouds better than the visible wavelengths.

The scales on butterfly wings were known reflect light waves in only one plane. The latest experiments on the butterfly Heliconius cydno, which is common in tropical rainforests in Central and South America, "put a whole new perspective on butterfly-wing evolution", says team member Alison Sweeney of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. They pinned female butterfly wings to a board, in front of which they placed neutral or depolarizing filters. They then released five male butterflies nearby and counted how many times these flew towards the female wings. The males approached more often when the female wings were under the neutral filter, which let their natural effect on light waves shine through. A display viewed through a depolarizing filter seemed to leave the males cold. (Sweeney, A., Jiggins, C. & Johnsen, S Insect communication: Polarized light as a butterfly mating signal. Nature, 423, 31, (2003).) 

At high altitudes (8,000+ feet) light is naturally polarized. The polarization of the sky (and the fact that it's blue) do come from Rayleigh scattering in the upper atmosphere. The degree of polarization usually reaches about 75% at maximum and the peak is at around 550nm wavelength. The fact that it isn't 100% is due to a number of factors including multiple scattering, ground reflections and aerosols. The more additional scattering (Mie or Rayleigh) that occurs in the lower atmosphere, the lower the degree of polarization. So the more junk you have to look through, the less polarized the sky tends to be.

The polarization of the rainbow is caused by the internal reflection into the water particles. The first refraction (A) separates the sunlight into its component colors, the reflection from the inner surface (C) polarizes the light and the second refraction (B) increases the separation. The rays strike the back surface of the drop (C) close to the Brewster angle, so almost all the light reflected is polarized. The drops of water refract and reflect the rays from the sun backwards, at 42 degrees to the incoming rays. Thus, the rainbow is seen in a direction opposite to the sun. The primary rainbow is 96% polarized while the secondary is 90% polarized. The extra brightness of the

sky inside the primary rainbow (and outside the secondary rainbow) is also polarized tangentially.The most common halos are the Sun Dogs (also called mock suns or false suns): bright multi-colored patches of light on both sides of the sun (to find them extend from the sun one hand at arm length). Colored halos are formed by refraction in the crystals and are generally just slightly polarized. White halos are produced mainly by reflection and they can show stronger polarization, generally tangential to the sun.

VISION OF THE POLARIZED LIGHT

The eye displays birefringence, a property which enables it to identify the polarized light. The minimal value of the birefringence always appears in the corneal centre and varies from 9 to 43° for different corneas. Birefringence of the cornea increases monotonically more than one order in the direction of the corneal periphery. A small hour glass shaped patch at the side of our retinas is polarized and can see the plane of polarization of light. On this this patch are appearing "Haidinger's fringes" and as it is at the side of the eye, you have to learn to see out of the corner of your eye to see the plane of polarization. 

Molecules of air in our atmosphere act to polarize sunlight. By this, it is meant that when photons come in contact with a molecule of air, they'll vibrate more in one direction than another. To an observer on the surface extremely sensitive to polarized light, some path angles through the air transmit light more readily than do others. Light is most polarized 90 degrees away from the Sun. For example, at sunset the light is most polarized directly overhead. You may be able to see this without having to use a polarizing filter. As the Sun is setting, look overhead and you may notice a faint, violet, bow tie-shaped area above you that points north and south. This is called Haidinger's Brush.

In 1846 Haidinger was studying minerals under polarized light, carefully trying to discern any special pattern in the refracted light. He then perceived a faint yellowish stain or brush that remained when he looked directly at the light without interposing the crystal. The brush rotated together with the polarizer proving that he was "seeing" the polarization state. That stain is now known as the Haidinger's brush, and he can be credited with the unique discovery of an extra "sense". However, more that a century and a half later, this phenomenon remains little known (even by scientists working in optics!).

Haidinger's brushes are a faint blue and yellow dumbbell-shaped image that is produced in the human eye by the selective absorption of polarized light by the yellow macular pigment of the fovea, Lutein, and can be used to detect polarized light without special equipment. Lutein is a long chain molecule that absorbs more for light polarized with the electric vector parallel to the molecular axis than for the perpendicular polarization. (THE ROLE OF THE MACULAR PIGMENT IN THE DETECTION OF POLARIZED LIGHT. Bone, R.A., Vision Research 20:213, 1980) Lutein is a yellow lipid and its name comes from the Latin word luteus, "saffron-yellow." It is an antioxidant that is found throughout the body, but is concentrated in the macula. Lutein protects the eyes from free radical damage caused by the sun's harmful rays. Lutein absorbs near-to-UV blue light. Lutein from food is deposited in the macula lutea, or "yellow spot", in the retina. Several studies have shown a positive relationship between consumption of lutein and a lower incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts.  Researchers at the University of Utah recently conducted a study that showed that lutein may offer protection to cone cells in the retina. Lutein works extremely well in protecting the retina against sunlight damage. "I now take 20 mg Lutein each morning and in one month have noticed a tremendous change in the sun. I almost gave up daytime driving a month ago as the sun was bothering me so much. The lutein has made a huge difference in my life."

Into a study, 34 smokers and 34 nonsmokers were compared. The smoking group had a mean Macular pigment optical density, MP, of 0.16 (SD = 0.12) compared to a mean MP of 0.34 (SD = 0.15) for nonsmokers.Another study regarding the sex differences in macular pigment (MP) optical density showed that males had 38% higher MP density than females despite similar plasma carotenoid concentrations and similar dietary intake.

Lutein levels in the eye are unaffected by light and oxidation throughout the day. Lutein is found in many foods including corn, dark leafy greens, collard greens, kale, leeks, peas, spinach, romaine lettuce, peppers, squash, red grapes and eggs.

In 1954, William Shurcliff (then employed by Polaroid) pointed out that the Haidinger's brush can also detect circular polarized light and distinguish the sense of rotation.How to see polarization with the naked eye: "I can see it particularly clearly in the twilight when I stare at the zenith; the whole sky seems to be covered by a network, as it were, and everywhere I look I see this characteristic pattern. It is very pleasing to be able to determine the direction of polarization without an instrument in this way, an even obtain an estimate of its degree" Minnaert, Light and Color in the Outdoors

Analyzing the change in appearance of the Haidinger brushes when the incoming polarization state was varied, van Blokland and Verhelst concluded that the cornea behaved as a biaxial crystal with its fastest principal axis normal to the corneal surface and its slowest principal axis 20 to 30 degrees down towards the nose. (Van Blokland, GJ, Verhelst, SC. (1987) Corneal polarization in the living human eye explained with a biaxial model J Opt Soc Am A 4,82-90) 

POLARIZED LIGHT AND LIFE

In 1848, Louis Pasteur, found that a beam of polarized light passing through a pure solution of naturally produced organic nutrients, would rotate the plane of polarization both right and left but would not rotate through artificially synthesized organic nutrients. The amino acids, with the exception of glycine, exhibit optical activity (rotation of the plane of polarized light). Proteins are usually levorotatory ( L- form, they rotate the plane of polarization to the left) when polarized light of wavelengths in the visible range is used. Nearly all amino acids in biological systems are levorotatory, while all sugars, including deoxyribose an important component of DNA, are always right handed or dextrorotatory (they rotate the plane of polarization to the right) . 

Circularly polarized light is produced as the sum of two perpendicular plane-polarized components that are /4 (or 90°) out of phase. In laboratory experiments aimed at simulating conditions on a lifeless Earth, a mixture of amino acids can be formed, consisting of mostly glycine and d/l-alanine. If the mixture is irradiated by circularly polarized ultraviolet light, mostly the levo-alanine, the form existing in living beings, will remain. This could account for the excess of L-amino acids found in the Murchison meteorite and could explain the origin of the homochirality of biological molecules. (Circular polarization in star-formation regions: implications for biomolecular homochirality. Bailey J, Chrysostomou A, Hough JH, Gledhill TM, McCall A, Clark S, Menard F, Tamura M.) Reflection Nebulae are identified as a possible source of circularly polarized light in the infrared. It is assumed that the circular polarization extends to the ultraviolet. Only 17% of observed light is circularly polarized in these systems. This mechanism produces polarized light exactly when and where it is needed in regions where star formation is occurring and organic molecules are known to be present. (Astronomical Sources of Circularized Polarization and the Origin of Homochirality. J. Bailey (c2.4), See: Nature 389, p. 804 (1997))

Bruce Garetz and colleagues at Polytechnic University in New York and the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago illuminated an aqueous solution of glycine with either linearly-polarized or circularly-polarized light from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser.Not only does the laser dramatically speed up the nucleation of glycine crystals, but the polarization determines which of three polymorphs (crystal structures) of glycine, called alpha, beta and gamma, forms. The alpha structure is made up of stacked planes, while the gamma structure consists of many parallel, twisting strands."Using circularly polarized light the alpha-polymorph is always produced," claim the researchers. On the other hand, linearly-polarized light from the laser promoted exclusive formation of the gamma structure.Previous work by the group had suggested that polarized light accelerated crystal formation by helping to align the dissolved molecules in clusters. 

Professor EIKE G. HENSCH from the Institute of Biocybernetics in Nienburg said: "Incident frequencies falling in a left-handed circular direction have degenerative properties and are from the latest point of view responsible for chronic ailments. Incident vibrations falling in a right-handed circular direction with low intensities have euphoric and positive properties which can be found in good foodstuffs and in nature." A macroscopic chiral factor (vortex motion) selects the chirality of a supramolecular structure, with the chirality detected at the molecular level. Vortex motion during key aggregation processes at some stage of chemical evolution may have led to biomolecular homochirality. (J.M.

Ribo et al: Chiral sign induction by vortices during the formation of mesophases in stirred solutions. (SCI 2001 292:2063))

The polarized light has shown the following effects: • The activation of ATP production (ATP is an important storage and energy transfer mechanism in the human body);• Increased support for the multiplication of collagen fibres;• The enhancement of important specific enzymes involved in cell regeneration;• Support for the lymphatic system for cellular regeneration;• Support for the development of new blood vessels;• Creation of a significant increase of DNA and protein synthesis within the cells of the body. Exposure of a small skin area (400 cm2) of healthy volunteers to visible (400 - 2000 nm) incoherent polarized (VIP) light (degree of polarization > 95%) in therapeutic doses (4.8 - 9.6 J/cm2) induces a rapid structural-functional modification of erythrocytes, leukocytes, and some plasma components in the whole circulating volume of blood. "We have recorded changes in: lipid peroxidation (LPO) produce content in erythrocyte membranes, deformability and viscosity of erythrocytes, phagocytotic activity of monocytes, cytotoxic activity of natural killer cells against target malignant cells, release of bactericidal proteins by granulocytes, plasma content of LPO-produces and pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukine-1 beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, total anti-oxidant activity of plasma. Most of these effects were of regulative character, as their direction and extent depended on the initial level of the studied parameters: the initially low indices increased, while the initially high ones decreased or remained unaffected. In 24 h the changes were still detectable in 33 - 62% of volunteers. We have shown a great similarity of the blood changes induced by the skin exposure and by the direct irradiation of blood in vitro. Moreover, we obtained an evidence that the light-induced rapid modification of the entire circulating blood resulted from the direct effect upon it of transcutaneously irradiated blood, rather than of other systems of organism." (K A Samoilova, K D Obolenskaya, A V Vologdina, S A Snopov and E V Shevchenko, "Single Skin Exposure to VisiblePolarized Light Induces Rapid Modification of Entire Circulating Blood: Improvement of Rheologic and ImmuneParameters", Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences: St Petersburg, Russia.)

VISION OF THE MAGNETIC FIELDS

In birds, detecting magnetic fields depends on the visual system. The retina may contain both visible light sensors and magnetic field sensors. Both kinds of sensors activate neurons within the visual signaling pathway. 

Robins are small birds with a body length of 14cm. They have a distinctive red face and breast, and brown wings and back.For the monocular tests, one eye of the robin was covered with a cap so that light could reach the other eye only.Wolfgang Wiltschko at Goethe-Universit-t and and his colleagues at RuhrنUniversitنt, Germany, tested each eye of the European robins and found that magnetoreception is dependent on right eye input. The right eye sends its

information to the left hemisphere of the brain. Seeing the magnetic map is a left brain function. Lateralization of brain functions, once believed to be a human characteristic, has now been found to be widespread among vertebrates.  "We found that captive migrants tested in cages with the magnetic field as the only available orientation cue were well oriented in their appropriate migratory direction when using their right eye only, but failed to show a significant directional preference when using their left eye. This implies that magnetoreception for

compass orientation, assumed to take place in the eyes alongside the visual processes, is strongly lateralized, with a marked dominance of the right eye/left brain hemisphere." (Lateralization of magnetic compass orientation in a migratory bird, WOLFGANG WILTSCHKO, JOACHIM TRAUDT, ONUR G ـ NT ـ RK ـ N, HELMUT PRIOR & ROSWITHA WILTSCHKO, Nature 419, 467 - 470 (03 October 2002)) Unlike robins, pigeons have shown that even when they're blindfolded they can find their way home, but when small magnets were attached to them, they became disoriented.

VISION OF UV LIGHT

Cornea absorbs essentially all UVC and 40% of 320 nm radiation and longer wavelength radiation. Lens of a young eye will absorb most ultraviolet below 370 nm. As the lens yellows with age, it absorbs more ultraviolet, as much as 99% radiation between 320 nm to 340 nm and 98% of 360 nm and 90% of 400 nm. A child’s lens absorbs only a of fraction UV compared to an adult's lens. About 50% of your cumulative, lifetime sun exposure occurred by age 16. (link: photos of fresh lenses from the eye bank are from 79 year old (top) and 39 year old (bottom) donors).  Age-related mechanisms of repair of UV damage are postulated that may diminish or be overwhelmed with age or cumulative UV exposure.When the lens becomes opaque due to cataracts, it may be surgically removed, and can be replaced with an artificial lens. Even with the lens removed (a condition known as aphakia) the patient can still see, as the lens is only responsible for about 30% of the eyes' focusing power. However, aphakic patients report that the process has an unusual side effect: they can see ultraviolet light. It is not normally visible because the lens blocks it. Some artificial lenses are also transparent to UV with the same effect. The receptors in the eye for blue light can actually see ultraviolet better than blue. Military intelligence is said to have used this talent in the second world war, recruiting aphakic observers to watch the coastline for German U-boats signaling to agents on the shore with UV lamps. It has been suggested that without a UV-absorbing lens, there would be cumulative damage to the retina, but aphakic patients do not seem to suffer seriously even after many years. However cutting out UV gives us sharper vision. This is because a lens can only focus a limited range of colours at the same time. Increasing the range of wavelengths leads to a distortion called chromatic aberration, which will be familiar to people with cheap camera lenses. The eye represents a compromise between clear focus and breadth of spectrum. An illustration of how ultraviolet appears is provided by the Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Following cataract surgery in 1923, his colour palette changed significantly; after the operation he painted water lilies with more blue than before. This may be because after lens removal he could see ultraviolet light, which would have given a blue cast to the world.

Prof Stark possesses UV vision because he is aphakic in one eye and, with Professor Karel Tan, has published research on the nearest visible equivalent. His conclusion is that it looks whitish blue or, for some wavelengths, a whitish violet. This appears to be because the three types of colour receptor (red, green and blue) have similar sensitivity to ultraviolet, so it comes

out as a mixture of all three - basically white, but slightly blue because the blue sensors are somewhat better at picking up UV. Prof Stark says on his website: "individual cone types were more sensitive to UV light than expected on the basis of their resident rhodopsins. What does UV light look like? Actually, it looks a desaturated (whiteish) blue. I speculate that UV looks whitish blue because all three cones are sensitive to UV light but that the blue cone is especially UV sensitive. The graph is showing the scotopic sensitivities from aphakic and normal observers. The difference in the UV is due to the lens. Is interesting to note that normal observers have an increasing UV sensitivity for wavelengths lower than 350 nm.

VISION AND BRAIN

The energy output of the Sun has its peak at a wavelength of 470 nanometers, but the ozone and the atmosphere are absorbing in different amounts the visible wavelengths, so that the peak luminance on the earth's surface results at 540 nm. 

The The left diagram shows our overall light sensitivity in daylight vision, for a 5° visual area (red dot line). This is quite close to the peak sunlight luminance (in terms of number of photons at the earth's surface) around 540 nm. You can directly see the color of this peak sensitivity after briefly looking at the sun. It produces a brilliant and beautiful yellow green positive afterimage. The explanation for this peak sensitivity is that vision is tuned to the wavelengths where sunlight is brightest (most abundant) at the surface of the earth. The diagram shows that the eye is more sensitive to the ultraviolet than to infrared radiation. The explanation is found into the right diagram, which shows that dark adapted or scotopic (rod) vision extends into ultraviolet. Thus, compared to a yellow

green light, a scarlet light must emit 2 times as many photons, and a blue violet light 20 times as many, to appear equally bright.  The visible spectrum represents the range of electromagnetic radiation that interacts with matter in the most complex and varied ways (at least 14 ways, to be exact). This in turn causes changes in light that are most informative about the chemical or molecular structure of surfaces and objects. In short, vision is tuned to the wavelengths that tell us the most about the world.

The retina has roughly 100 million rods adapted for dim light and night vision and the 6 million cones that give us daylight contrast and color. The distribution of photoreceptor cells varies considerably across different parts of the retina (diagram at right). The fovea contains a "central bouquet" of only two types of cones (R and G); the B cones and rods are entirely excluded. This allows a tight packing of anywhere from 160,000 to 250,000 cones per square millimeter — an average cell spacing (about 2.5 to 2 microns) that equals the eye's maximum possible optical resolution. Occasionally the R and G photopigments become chemically almost or exactly identical, making the relatively small wavelength separation between the R and G cones disappear. This results in a male color anomaly called dichromacy (or "red-green colorblindness"). About 6% of healthy males have this restricted discrimination on the r/g opponent contrast; they have particular trouble distinguishing among warm colors and bluish greens. More than one type of R cone can be found in about 50% of normal women and 10% of normal men (about 32% of all people), which

increases long wavelength sensitivity even more. The research on cone responses to light show very large variations across individuals in color vision. The rods, that are absent from the fovea but form a dense, diffuse ring of cells at about 20° around it,  are providing dim light vision that is very poor at resolving visual detail or texture. The density of rods remains relatively high over more than half the eye's interior surface, and is higher on the nasal side of each eye, where the rods provide enhanced peripheral vision in dim light.  There are only about 1 million separate nerve pathways from each eye to the brain. This means that the average pathway must carry information from 6 cones and 100 rods! This pooling of so many rod outputs in a single signal considerably reduces scotopic visual resolution: even under optimal circumstances, rod visual acuity is only about 1/20th that of the cones, which is why it's impossible to read a book by moonlight. The retina includes several types of cells, such as midget ganglion and parasol cell, which group neighboring cones and rods into center/surround receptive fields. These transform the individual photoreceptor outputs into contrasting channels of color information, and sharpen the image edge and contrast resolution based on the relative proportions of stimulation received by adjacent cones. So the retina does not merely respond to light, but it also transforms and sharpens the image before it sends the information to the brain for more complex interpretation. 

When the photopigment is struck by a photon it instantly snaps or uncoils. As the number of snapping photopigments within the inner segment increases, the intensity of the nerve output from the cell also increases. The rods and cones are fitted with a small ionic "pump" that continuously expels ions of sodium (Na+) inside the cell as it brings ions of potassium (K+) from outside. The

resulting imbalance produces a small, steady electric current across the cell body. The action of light can increase or decrease this baseline electric potential. In other words, the rods and cones produce a continuous visual signal, unlike other sensors which are active only when stimulated.

The iris acts like a shutter to expand or contract the pupil opening from a minimum of 2mm up to a maximum of 5mm (in the elderly) to 8mm (in young adults). This can reduce the amount of light entering the eye by up to 95%. However, this represents a tiny fraction of the total range of illumination the eye can handle. The major changes in luminosity adaptation occur in the retina and brain; the iris makes prompt adjustments to relatively small changes in light intensity.  A piece of white paper viewed in direct noon sunlight is roughly 6.3 million times brighter than the same paper viewed under starlight! In fact, the eye is capable of making lightness discriminations across a 10 billion fold change in light levels. This vastly exceeds the range possible with any film or photosensitive material, and leads to the phenomenon of luminosity adaptation. Lightness contrast discrimination peaks for surface areas about 1/3d the apparent diameter of the full moon.

All primates — monkeys, apes and humans — acquired a second set of contrasting receptor cells: the R and G cones. This r/g contrast evolved from a genetic alteration in the mammalian Y cones, which divided into two receptors that differ only slightly in the chemistry of the photoreceptor molecule. The primate brain is enlarged in the specific areas concerned with vision (occipital lobes).The occipital lobes are almost exclusively concerned with the reception of visual impulses. Damage to one side leads to homonymous hemianopia, loss of all sight in the field of vision on the other side. This deficit applies to either eye: with a lesion of the right occipital lobe, for example, a patient is blind to any visual stimulus presented from the left side,whether to the right or to the left eye.A sleep research by Neils Rattenborg, reported in the February 4, 1999 issue of Nature, showed that when ducks sleep in the water in a row, the outer ducks on the row actually sleep less and keep an eye open facing the outside of the group, presumably to check for danger while sleeping.Rattenborg said: "The EEG recordings confirmed that when one eye was open, the corresponding hemisphere was in a quiet waking state, while the opposite hemisphere was experiencing slow wave sleep. [When faced with a video of a predator'sapproach,] . . . the wakeful hemisphere was capable of predator detection: the ducks initiated escape behaviour. The ducks would also make sure to alternate which of their halves was getting shut-eye -- and shutdown brain activity -- by rotating their bodies to switch the side that was facing outwards."

SURYA VIGYAN

Surya Vigyan is an alchemy employing solar energy. This solar science is one of the most significant sciences of ancient India. This science has been known only to the Indian Yogis and using it, one substance can be transformed into another through the medium of sun rays.  Surya Vigyan involves the following practices: 1. Daily purification through Arghyam By this process, the element of Aditya (Sun) within us can be cultured and acquires the qualities of Aditya - namely lustrous and health preserving quality of the body and mind., light body, high intellect with grasping power, high intuition, memory and

many other qualities.By offering "Arghya", water thrown up from the palms of both hands. Arghya must be offered at sunrise at noon and at sunset, while seeing the sun and meditating on Aditya (Sun). By this means, there are destroyed the demons attacking the sun, known as Mantehars . The Arghyams offered as worship to Sun or Aditya will help free the sun element in us. The word Manteha also means body, therefore the word mantehars refers to the devils in our body.In Atharvanam 1-22 is written: "Anu Surya mudayatam hrudhyo harimacate goro hitasya Varnena tenatva paridadhmasi" which means that leucoderma and heart diseases when are attacked by exposure to the red rays of Sun, the health will be resorted.

The complexion of Sun god is red. When worshipping Surya Deva in the form of Surya yantra, it proceeds from the circumference to the centre. The first group are the 10 dikpalas, or guardians of the directions. In some tantras, the Sun receives worship as Martanda Bhairava, and is pictured in an Ardhanareshvari form, half of his body being male, the other being female. His shakti is Prakasha Shakti, that is his energy of Light. 2. Pranayama (breathing techniques) Prana is said to be the Sun that imparts life and light to all and dwells within the heart as the Self of all creatures. Prana in us makes us live and allows us to act. Alternate

nostril breathing is the most important method for keeping our masculine and feminine energies in balance. Another practice is Svara Sadhana: "If the breath flows through Ida (left nostril) from sunrise and throughout the day, though Pingala (right nostril) from sunset and throughout the night it confers considerable good results." (Swami Shivananda, Kundalini Yoga) 3. Trataka on the sun (Sungazing) "Very few Yogins do Trataka on the sun (sungazing). It requires the help of an experienced man by their side. They begin to gaze on the rising sun and after gradual practice they do Trataka on the sun even in the midday. They get some special Siddhis (psychic powers) by this practice." (Swami Shivananda, Kundalini Yoga) In the Ramayana, we read how Vibhisana worships the sun with raised arms (Uttarakanda, canto 10, verses 6-9). In the Egyptian “Papyrus of Ani”, there is a hymn to Ra, in which we find the line “I lift my hands to thee in adoration when thou the living One dost set” 4. Mudras (Gestures)

4.1 Surya mudra: The yogis associate Surya Mudra with the Sun and the planet Uranus. It is for invoking health, energy, vitality, intuition and nervous system strength. Practice of this mudra removes lethargy and dullness and, instead, induces alacrity and activity. It eliminates all fatigue, heaviness and laziness in few minutes. The experts of the science of mudras claim that regular and long-term practice of this mudra awakens supernormal powers hidden in the human psyche.The ring finger and the thumb are used in this mudra. The ring finger is folded down to touch the thumb. The other fingers are kept in a comfortably straight position.  Surya mudra has to be done with both the hands.

Interlock the rings made by each hand's fingers as in a chain, without touching each other. Left hand's ring is vertical while right hand's ring is horizontal. Ideally surya mudra has to be done early in the morning. In palmistry, the ring finger is called the finger of Apollo or the finger of the Sun. In Orthodox iconography, Jesus and John the Baptist are represented with the right hand in a blessing gesture, having the ring finger folded to touch the thumb.  On the right, is a detail of a sixth century Byzantine icon showing the gesture of blessing to be identical to Surya mudra. The picture from the left shows an old man representing God-Jesus as he is painted on the ceiling of the church from Sucevita, a 16th century monastery from Romania. The rays from the background are clearly suggesting the solar nature of old man who is doing the gesture of blessing in Russian style, with both ring finger and little finger folded. 4.2 The triangle of the sun  Go outside and raise the palms of your hands to the Sun. Make a triangle with your fingers. Your thumbs for the base of the triangle and your index fingers form the apex. Watch the sun through the triangle. At the beginning you'll see two suns, one with each eye. Try to merge the two suns into one, right in the center of the triangle.

This is the secret behind the Masonic symbol that represents an eye into a triangle. 4.3 Viparitakarani Mudra "The sun dwells at the root of the navel and the moon at the root of the palate. The process by which the sun is brought upward and the moon is carried downward is called Viparitakarani Mudra. The positions of the sun and the moon are reversed. On the first day do it for a minute. Gradually increase the period to three hours. After six months wrinkles on the face and grey hair disappear. The Yogin who practises this for three hours daily conquers death." (Swami Shivananda, Kundalini Yoga)

Swami Vishudhananda had demonstrated the miracles of this science about 50-60 years ago, by transforming a paper into rose and a cotton ball into gold.  In his autobiography, Yogananda describes his meeting with Swami Vishudhananda in Calcutta, and witnessing first hand Vishudhananda's feat of creating any perfume on demand out of thin air. Swami Vishuddhanandji (d. 1937)(sometimes spelled: Vishuddhananda, Vishudhanandaaka; aka: Gandha Baba, Perfume Saint), was well-known for his supernatural powers and said to be an adept associated with the mysterious Gyanganj (Jnanaganj) hermitage somewhere in Tibet, a secret place of great masters. Paul Brunton, in his book A Search in Secret India, wrote that he witnessed how Swami Vishuddhananda created a scent out of the air that Brunton had named, using a hand lens with wire frame and wire handle and the reflected rays of the sun. He used a white handkerchief that the focused rays had touched for several seconds. Brunton saw then Vishudananda breaking the neck of a sparrow and, after an hour of being dead, producing its temporary resurrection using the sunlight reflected by a mirror and the lens, with which focused the light into the bird's eye. Swami Vishuddhananda and Swami Viryananda could revive dead birds by concentrating the Sun's rays on the dead body. Gopinath Kaviraj has recorded that he himself saw Vishuddhananda reviving a dead bird thus.This science has been kept alive by Divyendu Ghosh and some other Yogis, otherwise it has become almost extinct. 

SUN AND SOUL

"Think of it this way," said God. "You are like a candle in the Sun. Oh, you're there all right. Along with million, ka-gillionother candles who make up the Sun. And the sun would not be the Sun without you. Nay, it would be a sun without one of its candles. . .and that would not be the Sun at all; for it would not shine as brightly. Yet, how to know yourself as the Light when you are amidst the Light-that is the question.""Well," the Little Soul perked up, "you're God. Think of something!"Once more God smiled, "I already have," God said. "Since you cannot see yourself as the Light when you are in the Light, we'll surround you with darkness." "What's darkness?" the Little Soul asked.God replied, "It is that which you are not." (Neale Donald Walsch, The Little Soul and the Sun)

"Not only supplies come in these rays, but also beings come to earth to do a certain task and then go back to the sun to be recharged and restored." (Omraam Michael Aivanhov, Light Is A Living Spirit)

After 40 days Maitreya destroyed the body and returned the particles, the tiny Devic lives (Solar Pitris) which made it up, to the sun from which they came. Maitreya mentions "tiny Devic lives (Solar Pitris)" in his discussion of returning the particles making up Jesus' light body to the sun. The Solar Pitris, or Archangels, become the very avatars of the spiritual Sun's power. The Pitris are very sacred among the Brahmins, because they are the Progenitors, or ancestors of men -- the first Manushya on this Earth -- and offerings are made to them by the Brahmin when a son is born unto him. They are more honoured and their ritual is more important than the worship of the gods.There are seven classes of Pitris enumerated in the Purânas -- but only three classes (Solar Pitris or Agnishvattas) are composed of the progenitors (from pitar = father) of primeval man; one class creates the form of man, or rather becomes, that form (or physical man) itself; the other two are the creators of our souls and minds. Nearly all the Purânas agree that three of these Pitris are arupa, formless, while four (Lunar Pitris) are corporeal; the former being intellectual and spiritual, the latter material and devoid of intellect. The masculine creative power of the three solar Pitris, called Agni-dagdha ("Fire-givers") in Rig Veda, fecundates the feminine nature of the four lunar Pitris, an earthly essence, and out of this union are coming the living beings.

According to the Markandeya Puran, the Sun is the embodiment of Brahma, the world originates from the Sun and is established in it.  The passage of Krama-Mukti, the gradual liberation of the soul attained by Saguna-Upasanas, or qualitative meditations, is always traversed through the sun. The sun is regarded as a very important place, a halting point of the soul in the gradual ascent to the Absolute. Of all the deities who are supposed to direct the soul onwards in its passage upwards, the sun is considered the most important. It is a very prominent location where the soul is not only purified in an intensive manner but is landed in the realm of light as it finds itself in the region of the sun. The soul that is to depart the body, after having completed its career of life through meditation in this manner, prays to the sun for opening a passage. The immediate experience after the body is cast off is one of ascent to the sun.  This view is presented into the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, CHAPTER V, Fifteenth Brahmana, where is a PRAYER TO THE SUN BY A DYING PERSON. Into the fourth paragraph it is written:agne naya supatha, raye asman; visvani, deva, vayunani vidvan;yuyodhy asmaj juharanam eno: bhuyistham te nama-uktim vidhema. Agne naya supatha raye asman: O Divine Fire! Lead us along the right path; Visvani deva vayunani vidvan: O Cosmic Fire god, you know everything, you are omniscient; Yuyodhy asmaj juharanam eno: If we have done any mistake, please destroy these errors: Bhuyistham te nama-uktim vidhema: We prostrate ourselves before you, again and again.

A similar view is presented into Chandgogya Upanisad 8.6: 5 But when he is departing from this body, he rises up along those same rays. He goes up with the sound 'OM'. No soonerdoes he think of it, than he reaches the sun. It is the door to the farther world, open to those who have the knowledge but closed to those who do not.  6 In this connection, there is this verse:

One hundred and one, the veins of the heart.One of them runs up to the crown of the head.Going up by it, he reaches the immortal.The rest, in their ascent, spread out in all directions. (Patrick Olivelle, Upanisads: Oxford world's Clasics)

In the sixth chapter (sixth prapatraka) of  MAITRAYANA-BRAHMAYA-UPANISHAD, is described the relationship between the sun and the individual souls. The basic ideas can be presented as follows: At the birth, the self, coming from the sun, enterers the new born baby, through the first breath, and establishes its location in the heart. With each heartbeat, the inner self takes energy from the body and grows stronger. At the death, that inner self leaves the body and returns to the sun. If the sun was not worshipped during the life, the soul will feed the sun with his energy and when it will become depleted, it will reincarnate, to regain its energy. This Upanishad states that a man should worship the sun under the name of time. As we'll see, such practices were also used in the ancient Persia, Babylon, Greece and Rome.  The offering which is offered in the fire, goes to the sun. That is the main reason for the cremation rituals from ancient India. The dead body is offered to the sun, by cremation, facilitating the liberation of the soul and ending the cycle of the reincarnations. The most relevant paragraphs of the sixth chapter (sixth prapatraka) of MAITRAYANA-BRAHMAYA-UPANISHAD are: 1. The Sun is the outer Self, the inner Self is Breath.2. And he who having entered the inner lotus of the heart, devours food, the same, having gone to the sky as the fire of the sun, called Time, and being invisible, devours all beings as his food.16. Brahman is the Self of the sun, and a man should worship the sun under the name of time. 30. Aditya (sun) is the cause of new births (to those who do not worship him), of heaven (to those who worship him as a god), of liberty (to those who worship him as Brahman).34. the adorable splendour of Savitri (sun) is to be meditated on by him who, abiding within his mind, meditates thereon. Here he attains the place of rest for the mind, he holds it within his own Self.37. 'The offering which is offered in the fire, goes to the sun; the sun rains it down by his rays; thus food comes, and from food the birth of living beings.'38. He who offers the Agnihotra breaks through the net of desire. […] meditating on one desire (that of liberty), he breaks through the shrine of Brahman.

Your heart opens to the light. It welcomes it in. Around the beautiful light at the centre of your heart (Anahata), are arrayed a series of petals, traditionally described as four layers of three petals. At the base of each petal is a point of light. These twelve points of light arrayed around your heart centre are especially receptive to light. They draw it in like a thirsty person drinking water.In your own heart centre, at the centre of the flower is a pure light sometimes called the sacred flame.

The heart center (Anahata) has 12 petals, similar to the 12 signs of the zodiac, through the sun is passing during the year.Anahata’s symbol (mandala) is made of two overlapping triangles, one pointing upwards and one downwards (the star of David), symbol which means, among other, the communion of the polarities (as in the sun) and the similitude of the “above” with the “bellow” (outer - inner sun).

In the Sephiroth, Anahata corresponds to Tiphareth (= beauty), which is the sixth stage of the Sephiroth (= numbers), the centre and the Sun of the entire Tree. Tiphareth circulates the energy among the upper and lower Sephiroth as indicated by the symbol of the hexagram. Here, the powers to left and the right, the above and the below can enter a stage of balance, beauty and harmony through a mutual process of healing sacrifice. The mystic sacrifices his personality (Netzach through Malkuth) for obtaining contact with the Soul in Tiphareth. This Heart centre (= Anahata) or Higher Self, also called The Holy Guardian Angel, provides us with intuitions that "feel right", instant wisdom without sensory imagery, mystical experiences that end in blinding light. At the same time, Tiphareth is the place where the Divine sacrifices itself (Kether through Geburah) in order to enter into incarnation, the centre of sacrificed gods (Christ) and gods coming within range of human consciousness ("whoso hath seen me hath seen the Father"). Tiphareth is the switching point where divine powers are transmitted into human

existence, and where we become aware of our spiritual mission on earth, the Great Work. Tiphareth illustrates the unique position of the human race as a healing mediator between heaven and earth.

In Scandinavia, they worshiped the sun at the winter solstice, by making huge bonfires. In celebration, a great festival would be held, called the Yuletide, and a special feast would be served around a fire burning with the Yule log. In ancient Europe, the sun was worshipped under names like Cronos, Saturn and Janus. They were all considered as gods of time and their celebrations took place at the end of December, when the old year ended and the new year began. These celebrations were linked to the winter solstice and no mater they were called Saturnalia or the birth of Mithra/Maitreya or Christmas, they were about the time/sun god. As a testimonial of the ancient worship of the time god Cronos, during the period of time corresponding to today’s Christmas, Greek translation of “Merry Christmas” is “Kainourios Chronos”. The ancient Persians and Babylonians celebrated a similar festival which they called the Sacaea. Part of that celebration included the exchanging of places within the community...slaves would become masters and the original masters were obliged to obey the former slaves' commands. Strabo asserts that the most ancient Greek historians knew the Sacaea as a people who lived beyond the Caspian Sea. Diodorus says: "The Sacaea sprung from a people in Media who obtained a vast and glorious empire."The Sacae, a great tribe of Scythians (wanderers) bordering upon them, were so called by a tribal name. Of the fact of the identity of the Sacae and the Scythians there is not the shadow of a doubt, and it is clear that these people called their country Sacasena. Pliny says: "The Sakai were among the most distinguished people of Scythia, who settled in Armenia, and were called Sacae-Sani." The Scythic Sacae worshipped the god "Gaeto Syrus". Thus the Sanskrit term for Sun, Surya, is derived from the Scythic Syrus.The ancient Greeks held ceremonies similar to those of the Zagmuk and Sacaea festivals. The purpose of this feast was to assist their god Kronos, who would battle against the god Zeus. In Attica his festival, the Kronia, celebrated the harvest and resembled the Saturnalia. The Romans called this celebration Saturnalia, in honor of their god Saturn, the equivalent of the Greek god Kronos. The Saturnalia was a fire festival, homes were decorated with evergreens, candles, and especially constructed coloured lanterns. The formal festivities lasted seven days though the whole of the preceding month was dedicated to Saturn. As with Sacaea, the masters and slaves would exchange places. On December 25th, the birthday of the Persian sun god Mithra, "The Birth of the Unconquerable Sun" was celebrated at Rome, as the days gradually lengthened and the Sun began to regain its dominance. The Saturnalia is also known as 'Dies Natalis Invicti Solis', the Day of Birth of the Unconquered Sun. Resulting

from this title, the Saturnalia also became associated with the New Year. Subsequently the Romans created a new god to oversee the transition on the following Kalends, or first month day. He was Janus, the two-headed god who looked back over the past and forward into the future. His name gave rise to the naming of this first month, January. 

TESTIMONIALS

Isaac Newton: "I looked a very little while upon ye sun in a looking-glass with my right eye and then turned my eyes into a dark corner of my chamber and winked to observe the impression made and the circles of colours which encompassed it and how they decayed by degrees and at last vanished. This I repeated a second and a third time. At the third time when the phantasm of light and colours about it were almost vanished, intending my phansy upon them to see their last appearance I found to my amazement that they began to return and by little and little to

become as lively and vivid as when I had newly looked upon the sun. But when I ceased to intend my phansy upon them they vanished again. After this I found that as often as I went into the dark and intended my mind upon them as when a man looks earnestly to see any thing which is difficult to be seen, I could make the phantasm return without looking any more upon the sun. And the oftener I made it return, the more easily I could make it return again. And at length by repeating this without looking any more upon the sun I made such an impression on my eye that if I looked upon the clouds or a book or any bright object I saw upon it a round bright spot of light like the sun. And, which is still stranger, though I looked upon the sun with my right eye only and not with my left, yet my phansy began to make the impression upon my left eye as well as upon my right. For if I shut my right eye and looked upon a book or the clouds with my left eye I could see the spectrum of the sun almost as plain as with my right eye, if I did but intend my phansy a little while upon it. For at first if I shut my right eye and looked with my left, the spectrum of the Sun did not appear till I intended my phansy upon it; but by repeating this, appeared every time more easily. And now in a few hours time I had brought my eyes to such a pass that I could look upon no bright object with either eye but I saw the sun before me, so that I durst neither write nor read but to recover the use of my eyes shut myself up in my chamber made dark for three days together and used all means to divert my imagination from the Sun. For if I thought upon him I presently saw his picture though I was in the dark." [The Correspondence of Isaac Newton, vol. III (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1961) pp. 153-154] 

Giri Bala: "Your nourishment derives from the finer energies of the air and sunlight, and from the cosmic power which recharges your body through the medulla oblongata." When Paramahamsa Yogananda asked her: "what is the use of your having been singled out to live without eating?", she answered: "To prove that man is Spirit." Her face lit with wisdom. "Todemonstrate that by divine advancement he can gradually learn to live by the Eternal Light and not by food." (Paramhansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, CHAPTER 46 The Woman Yogi Who Never Eats)

James Leith Macbeth Bain, 1914, London: "I WRITE this brief treatise for the coming of our race. This race, the first-fruits of our growth, whose rising is even now amid us, will be of a more highly electric nature than we. They will therefore be able to draw more nutriment from the sun than we. They will be children more of the sun than of the earth. With most of us it is still the other way about. As children of the sun they will possess many fine spiritual and psychic powers that are as yet either possessed,

or in embryo, only by the few, or are still unknown to us. They will be at home in the air as on the land, and in the fullness of time they will possess the self-generated power of flight. They will speak to, and commune freely with the other children of the sun in our cosmos by telepathy. Surely this is the dawn of the Great Day of the coming of the Son of Man in new powers, manifesting and borne along the open sky of life in these children of the Sun, the clouds of the new heaven and the new earth wherein dwells the righteousness we yet pant after."

Sunyogi Umasankar: "It all started in 1995. While I was at the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, I spent every morning meditating on a rock looking at the sun’s reflection in the sea water. It gave me pleasure. Slowly I started looking directly at the rising sun and later I began to concentrate more as it rose higher in the sky. It was nevertheless easy. The harsh brightness disappeared gradually after continued meditation and now the sun appears to me as a clear hazy ring with soft blue sky inside." After this experience, adds the Sunyogi, he found even a single chapati hard to digest. His body rejected food, yet he felt fully nourished and energised. "My discovery made me believe that looking directly at the sun is a way of charging one’s body cells with kinetic energy."Umasankar first skipped his breakfast then lunch and later his dinner as well. "From 17th August 1996 to 7th December 1996, I stopped having food altogether, but after continued requests by a relative, I resumed my normal intake." 

Barbara Moore, M.D. of London: "There is much more in sunlight and air than can be seen by the naked eye or with scientific instruments. The secret is to find the way to absorb that extra - that cosmic radiation - and turn it into food" "Winter or Summer, even in Switzerland, I wear only a short sleeved jumper and skirt. In cold weather people stare at me. While they shiver in furs, I am warm. I’m as strong as a man and need only 3 hours sleep for mental relaxation. As my body is free of toxins, I’m never ill. I had to advance slowly from vegetarianism to uncooked fruit and then to liquid. Now I’m working towards Cosmic Food."I’ve passed the eating stage and could not eat if I desired as my alimentary canal has changed considerably. It is no longer a filthy tube and is unable to handle any fibre. Instead of thinking my life will end in ten years, I’m growing younger. Anyone can do the same if they try. The tragedy is that eating is one of the great pleasures of life. To stop eating is to experience discomfort only when the body is adjusting itself to the new course which was the original course. I now find even the odor of food nauseating.". (London Sunday Chronicle, 17 June 1951)

Jasmuheen: "When I have been doing bioenergetics and opening up all the lightbody grid lines, sitting in the sun, breathing deeply and visualizing the energy of Lord Helios fill these grid lines with an amazing blast of RA power, it is exhilarating. It’s like a cosmic petrol pump to recharge my batteries!"

Jacob Boehme was a twenty-five years old shoemaker when he happened to glance at the reflection of sunlight in a pewter vessel. "Abraham von Franckenberg gave an account that has become legendary. Surprised by a gleam, presumably of sunlight, in a tin or pewter vessel, the shoemaker began to imagine that he was seeing into the secret heart of nature, into a concealed divine world. Intent upon clearing his mind of this "phantasy," perhaps so that he could resume his shoemaking labors, the young man went out-of-doors. Since the city was small, he could easily pass through a nearby gate and into the green countryside. There, according to Franckenberg, the rapt cobbler continued to see all the more powerfully into the secret "center of nature." Forms, lines, and colors now bore some new meaning for him. In his own account, the strongest emotional effect associated with the experience was his

sense of having been embraced by divine love: as if life had been resurrected from death, he recalled twelve years afterward." (Weeks, Andrew, "Boehme" (Albany:State University of New York Press,1991), pp 1,2)

Jean-Joseph Surin: "On a number of occasions my soul was invested with these states of glory, and the sunlight seemed to grow incomparably brighter than usual, and yet was so soft and bearable that it seemed to be of another kind than natural sunlight. Once when I was in this state, I went out into the garden of our college at Bordeaux; and so great was this light that I seemed to myself to be walking in paradise." (Huxley, Aldous "The Devils of Loudun" Chatto & Windus, London 1970 page 353)

Wendell E. Wilkinson: "About twenty-five years ago I had an experience with the Sun of God. For about a week I got up every morning to watch the Sun come up. On that last day I felt a liquid electricity from the Sun enter the top of my head. It was in earth-time about 30 seconds of ecstasy. I have not had that particular experience again, but I feel some of its light has stayed with me." 

Michael H. Brown: "When I first visited the other famous apparition site, Medjugorje, in 1989, I was baffled on returning from the church one early evening (around the time the seers experienced their daily apparition) to see the sun acting in a way that was not remotely similar to anything I had previously seen. As I crossed a vineyard on the west side of St. James Church I looked up to see the sun swathed in huge auras of pink that not only stretched impossibly far from the sun, but also flowed down and encompassed the mountains in a way that went beyond stereoscopic vision. To my endless astonishment the sun pulsed and spun and whirled in hues of blue and purple, hues unlike any form of normal sunset -- green, turquoise, without hurting the eyes, a disc moving to blot out the hot solar center, leaving not a single sunspot even after I stared for five or maybe even ten minutes. The feeling of peace and communication with forces unseen can't be described and left me scurrying toward a man and woman who were walking ahead of me. I wanted to see if they were seeing what I was seeing. It was Don Shula, the devout football couch, and his wife. They too were pilgrims, and she was seeing the same thing. I witnessed the "miracle of the sun" or some variant every day the rest of that trip, and during four subsequent trips to Medjugorje. In August of 1990, I watched one morning as a ray shot clear down to the vineyards and formed a perfect cross.[...] Many have seen the sun spin and move or turn into a column of light recalling the one that led the Israelites out of Egypt"

Ramon (Ray) Sender: "What I realized was that gazing at the sun stopped the thought process, or at least made entry into a mindless state very easy. In one of the references to sun yoga -- Surya Yoga -- that I found in India, the sun is referred to as the place where the rishis and kings of ancient times returned after death."  "One thing I have frequently noticed - and once had confirmed on an EKG monitor - is that my heartbeat immediately quickens when I look at the sun. Basically, the heart seems to 'thrill,' for lack of a better word." 

Bertram W. Salzman: "I leaned back and noticed that rays of the sun were starting to come in through the large windows of the assembly hall. As I continued to watch the light, I began to sense a joyful feeling in my chest that I had never felt before. […] All of a sudden, the entire assembly hall turned bright; everything and everybody was glowing in a golden light. My head filled with a tangible, vibrating feeling that I could actually hear. It sounded like a million fireflies were in my brain. My whole body was shaking and glowing. For the first time in my

life, I was truly happy and completely peaceful. I looked into the bright light and smiled, and something in that golden light knew how I felt and breathed love back into my heart." (from Bertram W. Salzman's "Being a Buddha on Broadway: Accessing the Power of Your Naturally Peaceful Mind")

"Our conversation took place on the roof of the fifth story of the main building [pueblos at Taos]. At frequent intervals figures of other Indians could be seen on the roofs, wrapped in their woolen blankets, sunk in contemplation of the wandering sun that daily rose into a clear sky....As I sat with Ochwiay Biano on the roof, the blazing sun rising higher and higher, he said, pointing to the sun, 'Is not he who moves there our father? How can anyone say differently? How can there be another god? Nothing can be without the sun.' His excitement, which was already perceptible, mounted still higher; he struggled for words, and exclaimed at last, "What would a man do alone in the mountains? He cannot even build his fire without him.' 'After all,' he said, 'we are a people who live on the roof of the world; we are the sons of Father Sun, and with our religion we daily help our father to go across the sky. We do this not only for ourselves, but for the whole world. If we were to cease practicing our religion, in ten years the sun would no longer rise. Then it would be night forever.'" (Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams and Reflections)

"On the 9th of March 2003, I had a dream about the Sun. Gazing at its light with hungry eyes, I had an OBE and was suddenly sucked out of my body towards the Sun. I felt a bliss almost unbearable." (http://forums.lifemysteries.com/index.php?topic=82.0)

"If I wasn't aware about the agitation and left it go without dealing with it, then the sungazing session was difficult. I would be looking at the time and just hoping that it would get over soon, wondering how I could continue because the sun was so bright. Knowing this now, I watch more closely the whole emotional response going on inside of myself, and realize I can just be aware of it and when needed focus on my breath to calm it down. When I'm engaged in this process of active observation and not getting all caught up in the sideshow, then I can easily maintain a calm relaxed state and just gaze at the sun. More and more I am sinking into just looking at the sun and the time goes by quickly." (http://www.falconblanco.com/betsy/sungazing/archive.htm)

"When I have ingested only water for a day or so, I feel as though I could stare at the sun all day with no discomfort. When my GI tract is full the sun becomes quickly bright and intense, as if the light can’t get into me because of too much resistance within my cells. Also a big factor is my emotional state when I sungaze; if I am totally at peace, surrendering myself, the light comes on in without effort. If my mind is going tick tock, or I am stressed or angry about some event, it’s as if the sun fights me…or maybe I’m fighting it. Either way the resistance creates too much light, too much heat, and unless I let peace envelope me I have to stop sungazing because the intensity of the light is too much for my eyes. Standing barefooted on bare earth is very important. There seems to be something magical that occurs energetically; the physical grounding with the earth not only helps drain negative energies from the body, but also I feel as though it helps harness the power of the sun into the body more effectively. As I began increasing the time while gazing at the sun (anything over 20 minutes), the benefits where substantially more dramatic the less food I had in me. Particularly noticeable was whether or not I had anything to eat or drink within two hours of sungazing (either before or after).

Staying away from sugars and keeping my blood sugar level low had a direct relation to how bright the sun was." (http://www.sungazing.com/)

"Because I have Syndrome Marfan the blood pressure of my eyes should be very high, this was in the past, after SG I have now only 12 (I used to have over 18) according to the measurement that I had recently by my eye-surgery doctor." (http://forums.lifemysteries.com/index.php?topic=100.0) (see UV, PROSTAGLANDINS,

GLAUCOMA AND THE IRIS)

The following testimonials, listed in chronological order, are extracted from the messages posted on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sungazing/. "Here in Pondicherry, South India, a few times I squinted my eyes in the direction of the early morning sun without looking directly at it until I could see colors and what I call "prana globules" floating." (25.11.2003) "I always see something in sunlight that I call "squigglies" floating about but I don't talk about them." (25.11.2003) "Many hundreds of times I've noticed that when I gaze into the sun or even into clouds or fog and I relax and don't try to see any specific object, and I don't try to think or remember anything, then I see hundreds of tiny swirling points of white light.  I first noticed these points in 1979 right after I began sungazing every day[...] David Boadella describes this swirling white light phenomenon on page 161(this number might be wrong) of his book "Wilhelm Reich: the evolution of his work"" (25.11.2003) "I am sungazing for two months. I am up to 15-20 minutes. Before I started sungazing I used to take 25 mg Viagara. But after sungazing for a month, it has improved 100 percent. I don't have to take any medicine." (01.01.2004) "After I reached 15 minutes of tratak on the sun (sungazing without blinking) I went through a detailed check-up with an ophthalmologist. Although I've had an occlusion in one of the small veins in my left eye, my current status is perfect. No damage from sungazing at all. This doctor was quite skeptical before I started sungazing but is now asking me for more details because he'd like to give it a try." (13.01.2004) "After a few weeks of sun gazing I found I could drive at night for a considerable time, without feeling the previous eye strain from the glare of oncoming vehicles. I could also drive into the sunrise or sunset without flinching as before. I have discarded my sunglasses completely since last November." (12.02.2004) "In the entire winter I haven't felt the strong effects I used to have in the summer and spring last year, even when I gaze at noon. The tingling in feet and palms is something I feel too, but only when the sun is bright" (12.02.2004) "I have a hard and stressful job and was coming home tired all week long. I forgot about the amazing energy boost you get from SG. It's high grade fuel. What a boost. I won't forget again!" (13.02.2004) "One thing I have frequently noticed - and once had confirmed on an EKG monitor - is that my heartbeat immediately quickens when I look at the sun. Basically, the heart seems to 'thrill,' for lack of a better word." (13.02.2004) "I experience vibrations in my heart almost every time after sungazing." (14.02.2004) "Last June I started sungazing. I am 38, a father, and an overworked, overstressed, overweight professional living in Southern California. (Sound like anyone you know?) Well, not any more. I just can't emphasize enough the changes that have come in my life, physically, mentally and spiritually. The minutiae of personal changes would be far too lengthy to list, but at this point I can't imagine being without sun any more than being without water or air.I completely agree that sungazing should not be approached, or proselytized, but

rather people need to be naturally and effortlessly drawn to it. Of all the folks around me that marvel in the changes that have been evident in me over the past 9 months (not the least of which is looking 15 years younger) only with three have I shared the reason for the changes. Only one of them has made attempts at sun gazing." (28.02.2004)"A friend who has poor vision was not able to correct his vision by sungazing for 10 seconds and covering his eyes till the light went away. He did this repeatedly with no success, and he found sungazing with his poor vision to be unsatisfying until he started using pinhole glasses. Now he gets a sharp view of the sun and it has deeply impacted him spiritually bringing him great bliss." (8.03.2004) "I myself have been sun-gazing for a while and have reached 15 minutes of steady gazing today. I had my eyes examined by a doctor at the end of November 2003. My eyes were healthy at that time. I was at about 8-10 minutes of gazing when I was examined. I have nothing negative to report. The positive things I have to report or the things that are noticeable for me to identify are the following:1. The most apparent thing is that I have a sense of calmness that is new to me. I work in a stressful job where I consistently have computer trouble calls and I find that I am no longer anxious about answering the phone. I have slowed down in my speech and am relaxed. 2. I seem to have more patience at home with my family and am less likely to get aggravated. 3. I seem to be sleeping less at night. 4. My dreams have taken a less phenomenal quality and are more like I am there doing more mundane tasks. It's possible I am just only remembering more of my dreams. 5. Headlights at night while driving have a different color glow around them I used to see mostly blue around them. I am noticing more and more red in the light corona around the light.6. I used drink on the weekends. I have had less and less desire to drink and if I do I keep it very moderate. I hardly drink alcohol at all. Christmas was an exception because it was a celebration.7. I have a renewed interest in my spiritual development." (10.03.2004) "I've had some emotional roller coaster issues happening within the past month and since I've started sungazing again, I feel so centered, already, and I'm only at 45 seconds." (12.03.2004) "As of late (10 months into a conservative HRM protocol) I have been disinterested in food. I still eat, and have no intention of stopping, I'm just not as interested in food as I used to be. That being said, I have also noticed something unexpected. I am also not as enamored in the 'things' that I used to be. Things being material objects i.e. my musical instruments, car, collectibles. (Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away, I haven't gone daft :) Also topics that I used to be interested in don't hold as much interest to me. I don't mean to convey the message that I'm generally disinterested or depressed, the exact opposite. I'm happier and more engaged than I can remember being." (17.03.2004) "I have been sungazing for the last four months. I have reached 22 minutes of sungazing, with 10 minutes of barefoot walking. I had a cute pain in my right leg for the last four years due to some cramps or blockage. As soon as I reached 22 minutes of sungazing with 10 minutes of barefoot walking, Sun God bestowed its blessings and some miracle happened with sungazing, four years of pain has gone away." (19.03.2004) "I have noticed that the whites of my eyes have become a bright arctic white." (24.03.2004) "I noticed the same thing about the whites of my eyes in 1992-1994 -- by then, I had been sungazing extensively for several years. The whites were bright white, with an

electric blue sheen to them which was awesome." (24.03.2004) "The only times over the past 17 years that I ever experienced adverse reactions to sungazing was when I wore shoes or stood on a wooden deck or floor while gazing, in other words, not barefoot on bare ground" (25.03.2004) "Before I started sungazing I had trouble sleeping and I'm finding I absolutely have to sleep much earlier and enjoy uninterrupted sleep throughout the night and awaken before sunrise, quite refreshed." (30.03.2004) "My eyes are bluer, the red viens are quite diminished and the whites are an arctic white." (2.04.2004) "I do sleep less and sleep better. Usually on weekends I would need one day to 'crash' and I couldn't get out of bed. Those days are over. I usually run on 6 hours and am ready to go in the morning. I haven't had a nap since I started SG and I've only slept in once (7 am.)" (2.05.2004)"A few months ago I went to a trade show in Atlanta and one evening drank WAY WAY WAY WAY too much.  The following morning I had a massive hangover (of course.)  I did sungazing from the 14th floor of a building and it was still successful in eliminating the hangover." (6.05.2004) "I have fair skin and red hair. I used to get a sunburn with just 45 minutes exposure to the sun. Now, after 9 months of sungazing, I can work in the sun for 6 hours before I start to burn. It is an amazing difference to me." (28.05.2004)

A blood cancer patient, Krishan Pal, started practicing sunyoga in May 2001 after the doctor had told him that he only had two months to live. He practiced everyday, initially for half an hour from 7.30 to 8 am, then gradually extended the practice for one hour daily. After a few months he was gazing at the sun at midday for half an hour. One and a half years later the doctors from Chandigarh PGI hospital in Haryana, North India, discovered that the cancer was gone.In the photograph he is in a state of meditative bliss, not staring at the sun. (7.06.2004) "I've been sungazing for a year now and I have gotten many

inexplicable benefits, but that wasn't the reason I started in the first place.  To list a few from the top of my head: I've lost 45 lbs, my eyes arewhiter, my teeth are whiter, I sleep less, I sleep better, I eat less (and do not have food cravings any more,)  I am no longer allergic to my cat, in fact, I don't think I'm allergic to anything at all anymore.  Age spots have diminished on my skin.  My skin is darker despite lack of sun exposure. I have greater clarity of thought.  I'm more attractive to members of the opposite sex.  I look 15 years younger.  I have had both my eyes and blood checked.  My eyes are 'strong' and 'very healthy' in the opinion of my ophthalmologist.  I have the blood work and vitals of a "16 yr old athlete" (I'm 40.)  I seem to be more 'intuitive' or 'aware' whatever that means." (12.06.2004) "I do not have a good access to a place where I can see the sunrise or the sundown, or see the sun within the safe windows.I had a relatively strong photo phobia until recently. I am near sighted.Given the above conditions, my first priority was to develop the ability to withstand the sun radiation well outside the "safe" window. I started by scanning the sky by picking two reference points on both sides of the sun (a tree, a light pole, a roof of a house), etc, trying to stop momentarily on the sun disc. While at the beginning  I could barely look at the sun, gradually, I was able to stop on the disc for longer times. As the time increased, since this exercise was taken place in theafternoon about 5-6 o'clock, I started to see a yellow or red spot around the sun, as a sign of overloading the retina, which I consider a signal to give a break to the eye

until the spot would disappear. Next step was to look at the sun for one minute, take a few seconds break and restart this gazing for another minute. This pattern would be practiced for about a half an hour.To my surprise, the resistance of the eyes at the sun improved and I could dramatically increase in a few days the gazing time up to 60 minutes, without any reddish or yellow spots to show up.Right now I am gazing for 60 minutes from 4:00 to 5:00 (sundown time in the area at this time of the year is 8:00 pm) While  the eyes and the face are getting pretty hot due to the exposure, and that the neck is a little uncomfortable due to the back tilting position , there are no negative effects I can observe. On the positive side, I think I have a better contrast and better  focus, when I look around, but it is not conclusive." (28.06.2004) "Something I have learned is: the quality of the sungazing experience is based in the attitude, preparation, and meditative spirit one brings to the Sun. At first it is a physical experience as you strengthen your eyes, retinas, and optic pathways.However, once the eyes are strengthened, the spiritual nature in which you approach the Sun, becomes more important. . . and is what will bring you the greatest growth and inner development. [...] I also believe that we create that which we allow our minds to dwell upon. If you worry (mind dwells) about headaches...then you are actually assisting in creating them. So as you begin your sungazing...you must no longer 'worry' about them..because the actual 'worring' creates that which you 'fear.' So do your sungazing in the correct attitude...'never, ever' worry (or have bad thoughts) in front of the sun." (28.06.2004) "I will state that when I began sungazing, I was on natural progesterone and after a couple of near psychotic episodes (in other words, typical PMS ... chuckling ...), I felt a need to go off of it and am doing much better and feel as though the sungazing is gradually balancing out my hormones and I am feeling more stable and grounded this month for sure although I still have a tendency to emotionally react at certain cyclic times, just not nearly to the extent that I have in the past." (09.07.2004) "I have gone as much as  3 or 4 months without eating ...  so I know this is possible. When I was sungazing 3 to 4 hours every day in Arabia ... I lost 60 pounds over a one year period ... down to the weight I was when I was 21 ... there was little or no desire to eat... all energy needs can be met with Sunlight ... and for the most part I have been able to maintain that weight until now at age 58." (15.07.2004) "I have been sungazing since Feb. and now doing 15-20min sessions. For the last two years, I have been experiencing "chronic fatigue" like symptoms, which worsened soon after my first weeks of SG practice. [...] My view is changing and things that irritated me are losing the power to effect my mood. I expect more of these positive changes to take effect and afterhaving a bad tooth  surgically removed recently, I am feeling a huge flow of energy and courage as my fears slip away." (17.07.2004)"As a testimonial from someone who has very light skin (and has had skin cancer twice previously) I can say that SG has made my skin much less sensitive.  I don't tan or burn as easily.  In fact, I don't burn easily at all.  Before I could count on a burn within 15 minutes, now I do all day excursions without sunblock and get just a little tan." (20.07.2004)"I started SG about a year ago, and after a couple months my sleep patern dramatically improved.  No more naps needed ormy every-other-week 'crash' was needed either.  I now sleep less <6 hrs and sleep a lot better." (24.07.2004) "By the time I was able to sungaze for hours at a time, more than two years had lapsed.  At the time I started, there waslittle to no information on SG ( 1988-89) so I had to work it out and determine my own limits. My progression was considerably more rapid than HRM's program. But a

few times I scared myself.  Some times I over did it and would have blind spots in my vision for a few days, this scared me, but they always cleared up, and my eyes came back stronger. I just found that my appetite for food just naturally declined. When I would get up in the morning I didn't feel like eating so I skipped breakfast, and instead of eating at lunch I would sungaze for that hour, so I progressed to eating only one meal a day in the evening. Then as the SG increased, all appetite diminished and I discovered I could go several days without eating... then I noticed the number of days between eating could be increased...until one day I realized I hadn't eaten in a month.I had been sungazing in Saudi Arabia 3 times daily (Dawn, Meridian, and Sunset) anywhere between 20 minutes toone hour at each of those times. For the Dawn hour, I would usually stand only, with palms up (until my arms got tired).  At noon, I would take a chair to the desert behind my office and start standing and sometimes standing.  At Sunset at the Red Sea, I would stand or sit on a large beach rock.I developed a close and personal relationship with the Sun. The Sun became my friend and companion. In my transmissions to the Sun, I called them 'talks' not necessarily a prayer, or a meditation, I like to keep it simple.Much of the time is spent with a clear mind...but listening to the messages and information which is being transmitted directly into you.  I learned to Listen...and lots of good stuff comes... After sungazing for an hour, in noontime sun, the optic chiasma and optic pathways are so energized that when I did (do) close my eyes, even in a dark room, I would (do) see bright white inside my head, not red or darkness for an hour or so afterwards; and in such a state, there is little desire to sleep. After building up tolerance to multiple-hour SGing, I found that I slept much better, went to sleep quicker, and rarely dream...or at least I do not remember them.  During the times of multiple-hour sungazing, I would usually need far less sleep for a few days; however, there would be days when I would need to crash, having great lethargy. I would try to take one full lazy-day about every 10 days. Long SGing periods in very bright sunlight causes my nose to run and tends to expand and clear the sinuses. . . I found it will clear a cold after one session. And I also discovered that I never get colds anymore.  I found that a regular routine of SGing an hour morning, noon, and evening, over a period of about a month, causes my mind and body to crave the light when I miss a session. And then when i go out into the light. . . it's as if my mind and body is saying...."aaahhhh...my sustenance." (27.07.2004)   "I noticed today that when I looked up at the sun (abt 2 hours before sunset) it was much easier to tolerate the sun when one eye was covered with my palm.  I felt totally relaxed.  Then I switched eyes and experienced the same thing with the other eye." (8.08.2004) "I am a diabetic (Type 2, non insulin dependent) who has been sungazing for several months now with all the expected results except recent persistent low blood sugar readings.For the last week, I have been getting very low morning blood sugar readings in the range of 3.6 to 4.1, which is very unusual for me. I am getting up with the trembly feelings associated with hypoglycemia and have to hurriedly eat something sweet to balance my blood sugar.Even after eating, I've noticed the readings are low, recently as low as 4 three hours after eating instead of the normal 8 or 9. I am waking up in the night with signs of low blood sugar and have to eat something sweet to get the system back to normal.I don't know if this is related to my sungazing or is something else.At the moment I am just over 26 minutes of sungazing. My appetite has declined

steadily over the last month or so and is now about 20 percent of what it used to be. I am eating less than half of what I did before and for some weeks now have not felt hungry at all. I eat because I feel that my body requires food, and because of the danger of low blood sugar, but not really because I feel hunger. If I eat what used to be the normal amount for me before, I feel overfull and sometimes get a stomach ache.There is another effect I have noticed, and It's sure this is because of the sungazing. If I miss a meal for two or three hours, I no longer get the usual reaction of diabetics which is feeling slightly faint and trembly and then going on an eating rampage. I can go past my meal time for two or three hours without a problem." (10.08.2004) "I stopped my diabetes medication entirely two days ago (Wednesday) and found no special problems for about 36 hours. On Thursday morning my fasting blood sugar was 5.9, which was reasonably good. By Thursday evening, however, I could feel the effects of  diabetes coming back. I resumed medication at half the normal strength on Thursday evening  and this morning ( Friday) my blood sugar reading was 4.4, still on the low side but acceptable. My body feels normal again, and I will continue this way for some time. It seems quite clear that my body has started the process of healing itself because of the sungazing. My  pancreas appears to be functioning better at its job of  regulating blood sugar, but is not completely rejuvenated yet. It still needs some (reduced) help from the diabetes medication." (13.08.2004) "I went out last weekend, and tried sungazing for the first time at sunrise. I was only able to do about 10 seconds at a time, and then my eyes would begin to water, I'd have to cover/rub them for a minute, and then I'd do another 10 seconds. I repeated this for about 10 minutes, and called it a day.I started a fast Sunday evening, and this morning (Thr.) at sunrise (exact same time, place, and sky conditions: no clouds), I was able to sungaze steadily for 14 minutes without any discomfort whatsoever. No negative side-effects (no spots, etc.), and I've been full of energy all day." (12.08.2004) "I am finding that on a empty stomach I can sungaze a long time with no discomfort. Yesterday I ate out at  a chinese resturant and tried sun gazing right ater I ate  and I was having a terrible time keeping my eyes open during sungazing." (14.08.2004) "Last evening I sun gazed for 3m30s. As I watched the sun I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I observed a pink halo develop around the sun. I looked away and blinked and looked back and saw it again. It kept growing and growing. Then the sun turned a brighter white (more white than yellow) and the center started to turn light blue. I felt as if I could gazeforever. My eyes do sometimes tear and I blink them away. I needed to check my timer because of the feeling of gazing forever - I thought I missed the timer sounding. This is beyond words." (15.08.2004) "Today my mother ( 70 years old) sungazed and she was very excited because she saw many colored waves, like rivers,coming from the sun. She said: it took me 70 years to know the sun!" (17.08.2004) "I am currently at 28 minutes of Sungazing following the guidelines of the HRM protocol.  I am a Reiki master and have been initiated into Sahaja yoga.  I can get pretty deep into meditation and slow my breathing to 4 breaths a minute.  I can talk in tounges.  I can pick out clouds in the sky and dissolve them by focusing on them.  I have been a martial artist since I was15 years old and am now 34.  All of this does not come close to the benefits I have receive so far from sungazing.  It carries through to all aspects of my life.  It allows me to maintain the inner calm and peace inside I have always been seeking. About 14 years ago I was kicked in the groin, which cause one of my testicals to swell up about the size of a lemon during kung fu training.  I went to the hospital and was

checked for cancer which turned out negative.  I had what they call a contusion.  The swelling went down but for the rest of my life until maybe last month ( I am currently 34 ) I have been extremely sensitive there to the touch and easy to hurt. Having a 1.5 year old child I get hit or stepped on often.  I have noticed recently that I am no longer sensitive there and now I rarely get hurt if hit in the groin area.  This may seem like a little thing but it has been on going for 14 years and is just one more confirmation that sungazing is very much what it claims to be." (26.08.2004) "I have been into martial arts since age 19, I am now 36, and started meditating with the martial arts training at that time.  I now meditate a little over an hour a day in addition to the sungazing.  I have received many benefits from meditation, some of which people list as benefits to sg.  I think both are in some way similar or interrelated, but the benefits come much quicker with SG. Sungazing quickly puts me into a meditative state." (26.08.2004) "I want to share my experiences so far and address a particular concern I have about  experiencing a spot in the middle of my vision for a good portion of the day after sun gazing. I was very concerned that I would ruin my vision when I started out and experienced this. On one particular occasion, after there had been a couple of overcast days where I didn't have much luck gathering any solar radiance, I gazed at the sun when it came out again and used an extended time as if I hadbeen adding 10 seconds each day since I started. The result was that I had a large spot in the center f my vision that lasted more that 24 hours. I consequently got very concerned. I decided to take a few days off. This was all that was necessary for the spot to go away. I was back gazing shortly thereafter. Even though I'm up to a minute of constant gazing now, that problem has not returned, i.e. the spot afterwards isn't very big and does not last that long. It would be nice if there was no spot at all.I am however, blonde, fair skinned, blue eyed and I think this or other factors in my physiology make me very sensitive to strong exposure to sunlight. I find it very hard to do any amount of gazing without closing my eyes to take a small break. Even so, my eyes water a lot during the process. So what I do is open them for about 5 seconds, close them briefly and then open again for another five seconds or so, until I have reached my current exposure time."  (4.09.2004)"After SG for a year or so (actually earlier) I found that I didn't like the alcohol as I used to.  I would occasionally enjoy a glass of dark microbrew or red wine, but now intuitively it seems that the chemistry from alcohol is incompatible with the sun energies." (4.09.2004) "I am an "anarchic" sungazer gazing without a clock and whenever weather permits, I am very eager to overcome emotional challenges, particularly fear... Today as I did my usual asking for healing on all levels and thanking for it, I added (and it might have been the first time I did this), "please allow me to communicate with you clearly so that I can hear etc. you"... and I immediately "heard" in my head "in reply": "Geliebtes Kind" (Beloved child) to which I spontaneously replied "don't make me cry" (which I proceeded to do ;-) though in a subdued fashion since I was in public.I kind of realized at that moment that at the basis of my emotional problems may be the simple emotion of feeling unloved..." (9.09.2004) "I've noticed that my emotions have settled dramatically. I used to be a constant rollercoaster ride of emotion, was highlyinsecure and needy at certain times, and during the beginning stages of sungazing I had an emotional episode that came out of nowhere. I thought I was going psychotic and I also scared the begeezus out two very close friends who were trying to calm me down and had never seen me like that at all. I was doing some natural progesterone at the time, had been doing it for some months with no problem, but after that episode I cut it out completely and haven't needed it since when I was quite dependent on it before. I wonder if I didn't get rid of some long buried

emotional toxicity because it was intense. I've hardly had a problem since. I was at just over 6 minutes when I had my emotional episode from hell. I tend to agree that the mental issues do make a lot of progress within the first 15 minutes of sungazing, in my experience, and I have followed the HRM method of sungazing within the first hour of sunrise and starting at 10 seconds and moving gradually forward 10 seconds at a time. I could tell a difference even past the 12 minute mark that my emotions were so much more settled." (14.09.2004) "I had photophobia and I was completely cured from it in the first 20 days of SG. (Serious photophobia, I was never going out without black sun glasses, and it was so bad that even I had to reduce the contrast and brightness of my PC screen, as I couldn't stand the light at all).Of course the first days my eyes were watering and flicker all the time, and it was difficult even for a whole second to see the Sun, but, I insist and then I had a daily progress till the problem was gone. The first days, I had to sit down as it was difficult to me to stand due to a spine problem (I had 2 operations in my spine, because of Scoliosis and I was feeling pain if I was standing more than 10 seconds), I couldn't believe that after about 30 days I could stand with no pain and do after that day the SG normally from the standing position and barefoot of course.After, as I got getting energised by the Sun day by day, I didn't need to eat so much as before so I lost 5 kilos fast and easy without starving, I just needed less food and feel no hunger. This happened the first 1 and half month about. I am 1.80cm, and now I am 70 kilos (I was 75 kilos) which now is normal, and I didn't lost more kilos since then. I know that you say that the weight loss happen after 6 months of SG, but with me it happen in that way, it seems for each individual is different. I still eat when I am hungry, I don't press myself to eat when I `m not hungry, I let it happen by itself as I continue with SG.Later, at about 2 months I noticed that I need less sleep, I used to sleep about 10 hours per night, and even that was not enough for me, so, now I am sleeping about 7-8 hours and feel just fine, (I didn't press myself to do that, it just happened by itself as I was doing the SG every day).My mood is in much better condition now, I can woke up with a smile in my face, and that was not the case in the past." (20.09.2004) "I have been depressed a few times in my life and resorted twice to taking prozac. I can say without a doubt that the Sun is for me, better than prozac by far. I feel it gives me a mental stability. One day I was so frustrated by things in my life ( twice it happened this way but once recently) when I started to gaze I just started to cry and I gazed at the sun like that with tears rolling down my cheeks intermittently for the first half of the time ( about45 min thatday), and at the end, I felt renewed.So it goes for me in Albuquerque, New Mexico" (7.01.2005)"I have been taking medicine for my migraine pain for couple of months. I was suffering from migraine for last 3 years. It used to cripple my productivity. However, after started Sungazing it has disappeared" (21.01.2005)

Quotes from the answers of Hira Ratan Manek: 

"I am also follower of Aurobindo and I was hinted at the powers of the sun by mother far back in 1962." (27.11.2003) "I was an vegetarian right from birth and I never stopped eating because  hunger slowly disappeared and so also the food. So non eating stage happened in me because of sungazing" "By sungazing hunger disappears for ever. Even now I am open only to tea coffee buttermilk only for social and hospitality purposes and I have no hunger and I take no food other than those 3 liquids for the reasons stated."

"Even today if I go strictly on water fast from third day my sugar level will be 43 but no adverse effect and I will be energetic always." "It is the power of mother earth that helps us in sungazing." "Slow and steady gazing in safe times helps in activating the circuit inside brain and all important glands"  "Sunlight on closed eyes also helps to correct the [vision] defects." "Reflections from water during low intensity [sunlight & sunset] are good but other times slightly harmful. But reflections from snow and salt or sea water are to be avoided as it is proved from past experiences." "Sungazing leads one to higher levels a devil becomes divine so don't worry and sun will take care of you. Have faith and do sungazing as suggested and success is yours." "It is the faith that matters with SG. The more deeper you love the sun the better and quicker the results." "If mind accepts body adapts. Very little mind is in the body but the whole body is in the mind."