8/15/2023 0 Comments Causes entoptic phenomenaLewis-Williams notes that altered states and their resulting impact on human consciousness are often marginalized within state, scientific, and religious realms. Metaphor and simile give way to the belief that objects are exactly what they appear to be "subject losing insight into the differences between literal and analogical meanings" These stages may not always be sequential, and all stages may not be experienced depending on the subject and of course the type of psychotropic being used. Stage 3 images become iconic, relating to themes from the subjects life and become linked to powerful emotional experiences. The relation between the first stage entoptic image and later stage full hallucinations are not mutually exclusive, both may be present. Placing objects in reality from base shapes seen under influence from psychotropics which link to somatic physical responses lead now to full hallucinations. Stage 2 Įntoptic Phenomena are interpreted in ways that can be understood, matched to objects or ideas that may be familiar in day-to-day life and may also be attributed to the individuals state such as hunger, sexual arousal, or anxiety and fear. Entoptic experiences differ from hallucinations in that they are a purely visual phenomenon, while hallucinations represent experience of culturally occurring themes as well as physical coming from the five senses. These patterns and shapes can be seen without aid of psychotropic substances but under their influence the heightened effects precipitate modes of altered consciousness. Lewis-Williams argues that "art and the ability to comprehend it are more dependent on kinds of mental imagery and the ability to manipulate mental images than on intelligence." David Lewis-Williams's system Stage 1 Įxperiences include geometric visual patterns such as dots, zagging lines, as well as grid patterns which are all common shapes which are universally understood by the human condition. The importance of looking outside traditional methods of research for interpreting prehistoric cultures is made more so due to the lack of abundant data which makes current cultural studies viable. The justification of this research is that entoptic phenomena normally occur during states of altered consciousness, the practice of which may affect our views of ancient religious and social practice. There has been a great deal of work trying to find evidence of motifs and compositions derived from entoptic phenomena in prehistoric art, especially rock art and megalithic art. Entoptic was chosen by author David Lewis-Williams due to its origin from Greek meaning "coming from within". To avoid this confusion, the term subjective visual phenomena is sometimes used. In this respect they differ slightly from the medical definition, which defines entoptic phenomena as only applying to sources within the eye, not the brain. In archaeology, the term entoptic phenomena relates to visual experiences derived from within the eye or brain (as opposed to externally, as in normal vision). The four spirals are interpreted as representing Datura buds. Because the perception of the phenomenon is not disturbed by ocular media opacities, this method enables the determination of the ophthalmic artery diastolic pressure in eyes where an ophthalmoscopic examination is not possible.Tony Berlant and coauthors believe that many of the designs on prehistoric Mimbres pottery, such as this one with characteristic zig-zag designs, are entoptic images from ingesting psychoactive Datura plant extracts. These results show that the ophthalmic artery diastolic pressure can be measured accurately with the perception of the PVT phenomenon as an end point. The correlation coefficient between both sets of numbers was r = 0.97 (p less than 0.01). The average IOP at which the entoptic phenomenon was first observed was 51.4 +/- 7.5 mm Hg, and the average ophthalmic artery diastolic pressure was 51.8 +/- 7.5. The PVT entoptic phenomenon consists in perceiving black stripes in the shape of branches of a tree appearing and disappearing synchronously with each heartbeat when the intraocular pressure is increased. The relation between the intraocular pressure (IOP) at which the pulsating vascular tree (PVT) entoptic phenomenon is first observed and the ophthalmic artery diastolic pressure measured by ophthalmoscopic examination of the central retinal artery was determined in 25 normal volunteers.
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