Zoomed Vinay Special · First-person editorial
The "Third Eye Is the Pineal Gland" Claim Everyone Treats as Ancient Wisdom Is Actually 137 Years Old
A French philosopher called a real gland in your brain "the seat of the soul" in 1649. A 19th-century occultist then welded that idea onto a rough version of Hindu chakra theory in 1888. Modern spiritual culture now treats the resulting mashup as if it's what ancient Indian tantra always said. Here's what the actual, separate pieces are — and what real neuroscience has and hasn't found.
The point of view
A French philosopher called a real gland in your brain "the seat of the soul" in 1649. A 19th-century occultist then welded that idea onto a rough version of Hindu chakra theory in 1888. Modern spiritual culture now treats the resulting mashup as if it's what ancient Indian tantra always said. Here's what the actual, separate pieces are — and what real neuroscience has and hasn't found.
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The Pineal Gland as the Seat of the Soul (René Descartes): History of Reception, Enlightenment, and Consequences of a Famous Error
PubMed
Original citation linked to this published story. Its downloadable Source record is still completing editorial publication.
Descartes Thought the Pineal Gland Was 'The Seat of the Soul' — And Some People Still Do
IFLScience
Original citation linked to this published story. Its downloadable Source record is still completing editorial publication.
The Pineal: Seat of the Soul
Hektoen International
Original citation linked to this published story. Its downloadable Source record is still completing editorial publication.
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine and the Pineal Gland: Separating Fact From Myth
PubMed
Original citation linked to this published story. Its downloadable Source record is still completing editorial publication.
Biosynthesis and Extracellular Concentrations of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in Mammalian Brain
PMC / Scientific Reports
Original citation linked to this published story. Its downloadable Source record is still completing editorial publication.