Pine-Cone and Third Eye Symbolism

Many different cultures, through out the ages, reference the third eye and pine cone. Modern theories suggest that this is most likely a reference to the pineal gland. Symbology of the pineal gland can be traced to many civilizations such as the Romans, Meso-Americans, Egyptians, Babylonians and the Greeks. Even the Catholic Church displays imagery of the pineal gland, Vatican Square houses the largest pineal like statue in the world. The ancient cult of Dionysus and the Masons of modern times, both have third eye symbolism in their imagery.

Is there ancient knowledge of this gland that previous cultures had access to, somehow becoming lost through the ages? What role does the pineal gland play in our spiritual experiences? If the sole function of the pineal gland is to secrete the hormone melatonin, which regulates the sleep/wake cycle, (modern scientists are still debating over the complete function of this gland) then why did the ancients seem to place so much importance on Third Eye representation?

Our pine(al) gland is shaped like and named after the pinecone. It is located in the hypothalamus, near the center of the brain and is about the size of a grain of rice. Nearly all vertebrate species have a pineal gland, with a few exceptions. The main function of the pineal gland is to regulate the sleep/wake cycle (secretes the hormone melatonin and amino acid tryptophan) and influence sexual development.



The pineal gland has been called “the seat to the soul” and “epicenter of enlightenment” and is a sacred symbol to many different cultures, throughout history. In addition to spiritual consciousness and enlightenment, pinecones have also been used as symbols depicting everlasting or eternal life.

Plato from Republic:
“..en every man there is an Eye of the soul which..it is far more precious than ten thousand bodily eyes, for by it alone truth is seen..”

Even the Bible seems to hint that our third eye is important.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy your whole body will be full of light.”
Matthew 6:22

The following are a few of the depictions of pinecone and third eye references:

The Eye of Horus, also known as The Eye of Ra, is one of the most familiar symbols from ancient Egypt. The similarities between a cross section of the pineal gland and the Eye of Horus/Ra are very clear.




The Egyptian Staff of Osiris(1224 BC) depicts two intertwined serpents rising up and meeting with pine cone.


In King Tut's burial mask a kundalini like serpent is emerging from the area of the pineal gland.


The Meso-American god, Quetsacoatl is often depicted wearing a necklace made out of pine cones.



The ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia are filled with pinecone imagery and symbolism.




Another Cambodian reference, a Shiva head with third eye symboism.


The Sumerian god, Marduk with a pine cone in hand


As previously mentioned, the largest sculpture of a pinecone is in Vatican Square, along with other pinecone imagery seen on the popes staff.



The Greek god, Dionysus also carries a staff with a pine cone. A statue from the cult of Dionysus (late Roman Empire) has a pinecone on the thumb.


images courtesy of...

There are many other cultures not mentioned here that have pine cone and third eye imagery in their artwork. I believe there is so much we have yet to uncover about our pineal glands and that is the seat of the soul. It would seem the ancients placed some importance on the third eye. What did they know they we don't?

reply to post by Jennyfrenzy


Awesome thread.

I am a true believer that there is something wrong with what they taught us and are still teaching in school. Just because technology was less advanced didn't mean humans were blithering idiots way back then.
I think as time goes on all these pieces will slowly start to all fit together.

Thanx for the read! S&F

AB

reply to post by Jennyfrenzy


Excellent thread marking for participation tomorrow thx
2nd

Thanks for the read, S&F!

I think the sleep/wake function of the pineal gland is a good place to start on why it has been symbolized within so many cultures throughout history. If it regulates when we are awake and when we are asleep, it regulates consciousness. It turns the "lights", or third eye, on/off.

When we wake up we are flooded with information contained within the light we see. The light we see is the image that we are created in, meaning we are literally created in God's image, our own. Look in a mirror, you are created in God's image when you look at yourself. Put your hand in front of your face, your hand is then created in God's image.

The third eye is where your two physical eyes create one image, it is your spiritual image, it is the image and light that you see every waking moment of your life. Since the pineal gland regulates your wake cycle it is no wonder it has been symbolized throughout history. It is what regulates the light of life, without it there would be no waking and hence no light as well.

I am getting confused when I read about third eye and pineal gland on the internet. If the link below is correct then we are mixing the crown and "third eye" up. The difference between a person using "the minds internal eye" or using the third eye external sensors on the forehead and the top of the nose.

www.healingfromtheheart.co.uk...

BROW OR THIRD EYE CHAKRA, (Between both eyes, Dark blue/Indigo colour) POSSIBLE PHYSICAL AREAS AFFECTED BY AN OUT OF BALANCE CHAKRA: Glaucoma, Headaches, Neurological problems, Cerebellum, Nose, Pituitary, Central Nervous System, Left Eye. Issues are - clairvoyance.

CROWN CHAKRA, (Top of head, Purple / violet energy colour) POSSIBLE PHYSICAL AREAS AFFECTED BY AN OUT OF BALANCE CHAKRA: Exhaustion, Epilepsy, Cerebrum, Pineal Gland, Right Eye. Issues are - Spiritual Wisdom.

@littlebylittle, i think this is pretty much well known;
they call a chakra a wheel (sanskrit: divine wheel?), but i describe it like a kitchen sink full of water, and then pulling the plug out, we can see the water start to spiral down the drain, this is what the chakra does (pulls in this invisible water from.. another dimension)
the series of major chakras up the spine, apparently have to be, uhh, 'kicked over' properly, lined-up properly, pulling from the base up to the crown, i've heard people describe the crown 'descends' down into the third-eye one, the more advanced you get (the better you get at making that kundalini rise) but i can't see all that, they (the wags) seem to indicate that when the crown has been merged with the brow, it activates this third eye..


kudo's on gathering the intel, this is where it all leads to
..now, to more serious matters, "there's an eye in my brain!?!?! aaargh!! gross!!"
i'm so grossed out by that pic

Welp. This is why I come to ATS.
Threads like this.

*APPLAUSE*

This thread, in it's entirety, is an excellent addition to the works here at this site and I am glad you took the time out to publish a nicely laid out, and chock-full-of-pictures, thread. I admire work like this here, and am glad to see there are still great minds here to continually learn something from.

As for the subject matter, the pineal gland and Eye of Horus always struck me as similar in design. How or why the ancient cultures depicted this gland with such accuracy, we may never know, but it seems to be quite relevant to their entire belief system. So apparently they knew more about unlocking it's potentials than modern times...

I have read about theories that claim the pre-Atlantean race of people actually had a true "third eye" and after time and human development(or lack thereof), which lead to less use of the organ as an "eye" because it's power was hidden from the public, the organ slowly collapsed deeper into the brain and remained there with much less use that it was originally intended for. These theories claim that the people who had this real third eye were much smarter, more powerful and overall super-human in every aspect. Just a strange theory, is all.

To me, every organ has it's intended use and we haven't begun to understand how much the ancients revered the Pineal gland's power. We just know what pictures have been found and stories that have been told. One begins to think how much has been hidden from us from those in power? A.k.a. the elite.


Excellent thread!

*S&F*

reply to post by Jennyfrenzy


Absolutely awesome.

I love threads like this. And overlapping the Eye of Ra over the brain is something that I would have never thought to do, and they match up fairly well.

Now to dig into some of these comments to see if anyone elaborates. Nicely done. S&F.

since we're here anyway..

i called this pic 'skara brae' (scarab brain)


thought i'd toss this in also..

(the universe -TOTALLY LOOKS LIKE- brain cell under magnification)

..time for a cup of mugwort

this is going to be an interesting thread

reply to post by havok


Thank you

I've often wondered if prior to industrialization and all the chemicals we are inundated with on a daily basis, were people more intuitive? Did they have a higher rate of lucid dreaming and OBE?

The power of the human mind is fascinating and there is so much left to discover.

reply to post by AnteBellum


We are so much more advanced than any technology. Well that's my opinion anyway.
Technology is basically blanketing what ee are capable of.

read that again.

Think about what we are, who we are, how we are made, all the way back to the spark.
Then tell me you aren't all amazing.

The thing is, I believe that we are taught to forget that and sacrifice that for other things (tech)

I mean look at it this way technology now does our mathematics, spell checking, problem solving and even replacing manual work in favour of computers robots and machines.

Remember and not forget our foundations.
(Freemasons) builders and creators. Forget not what we learned unless all may be lost.

I will leave it there to save straying way off topic.
I may indeed have been wrong when I wrote a thread regarding wifi and technology interfering with our health. Maybe its just interfering creating interference and chatter stopping us from tuning in

reply to post by UNIT76


I had wrote a thread here on ATS regarding MRI scan image of the brain, the image of the universe and physcedelic substance and it was removed but anyway. I see what you are on about.

sandf
www.abovetopsecret.com...
on this thread i tie some of the cultures mentioned in the op together at about 7000 years ago
there are a couple of common symbols that tie these cultures together
i cover the cross and the halo of rays among others on that thread

the pine cone is one symbol that hadn't popped into focus for me
but you're right; there it is...
im pretty sure these types of clues do hold the answers to the riddles of the past

thanks OP good catch

how would they even know what it does?

if they did, didn't it take 1000's of years for us to re-figure it out?

wouldn't it take them about the same time to figure it out?

WoW,

I just looove the comparison to the pineal glad and the eye of Horos. Simply Amazing.
Had to respond.

Regards,

UNIT76
@littlebylittle, i think this is pretty much well known;
they call a chakra a wheel (sanskrit: divine wheel?), but i describe it like a kitchen sink full of water, and then pulling the plug out, we can see the water start to spiral down the drain, this is what the chakra does (pulls in this invisible water from.. another dimension)
the series of major chakras up the spine, apparently have to be, uhh, 'kicked over' properly, lined-up properly, pulling from the base up to the crown, i've heard people describe the crown 'descends' down into the third-eye one, the more advanced you get (the better you get at making that kundalini rise) but i can't see all that, they (the wags) seem to indicate that when the crown has been merged with the brow, it activates this third eye..

 

kudo's on gathering the intel, this is where it all leads to

..now, to more serious matters, "there's an eye in my brain!?!?! aaargh!! gross!!"
i'm so grossed out by that pic

edit on 2-4-2014 by UNIT76 because: kitchen sink.. hehe.. how flattering..

I do like your description since what I call crown can feel like light pressure on the top of the head and third eye would be connected to the pressure on the forehead and tingling at the top of the nose.

If I understand it there are at least two ways to get the increased flow (of ki/light/spiritual water):
1 Amygdala fear overload that can result in crown and third eye becoming active but the other chakras are unchanged and have to be fixed later on since it can make the seeker feel very disconnected from where they are.
2 The root burn (kundalini rise) that flows up the spine that in the end reaches the crown.

Can you if you have the 2nd version have reached the third eye but still not the crown and not have the pressure on top of the a head?

And am I right in that 1 is an en-light-ment or is it just a level up to reach it even higher level of ki-flow from 2?

When I think now of it, root burn is more like a signal needed to open the valve of flow from crown. Can that be correct?

Crown
I
I
I
O------- Third Eye
I
I
I
Kundalini rise (root burn)

Jennyfrenzy
reply to post by havok

 

Thank you

I've often wondered if prior to industrialization and all the chemicals we are inundated with on a daily basis, were people more intuitive? Did they have a higher rate of lucid dreaming and OBE?

The power of the human mind is fascinating and there is so much left to discover.

My guess is that they where probably very good at intention->manifestation healing that invokes the natural healing/placebo effect in the body by flowing enormous amount of ki into the body. Think Reiki on steroids.

reply to post by jazz10


I completely understand where you are coming from and agree to some degree. Still in the end I think technology is eventually going to move us forward again. Right now as we develop new gear it does interfere with our natural biological functions but I can't help but feel the benefits out weight the dangers in this present time.
Technology to me is an extension of our bodies, whether dwellings are an extension of our skin. Glasses, telescopes, binoculars are extension of our eyes and cell phones an extension of our voices. Everything we create is an extension of ourselves. Yes there are dangers but eventually just like clothing/shoes were the first extensions of our skin, these things get more and more refined to be less problematic.
Lets face it, the modern tech we have now grown to love (and hate) has not been around that long in the field, in time it will get better and safer. The first cell phone was invented around 1908 (think about that) when did we all start to use them! The internet was conceived in the 60's, it was just a novelty to us until early 90's.
This makes me think of the artist H.R.Giger's theories on biomechanics, the dangers they present, the ecstasy hidden within. . .

Love your threads Jenny!

Here is a write up I did on how to empower your pineal gland.



Pineal Awaking/Empowering Meditation




The pineal gland is the psychic center of the brain and would be considered the female aspect.
This meditation will awaking and or empower the Pineal Gland. It is very pleasant and often brings a state of bliss.
It is located behind the 3rd eye and is basically in the center of the brain.

Get into a meditative state. Relax, clear your mind, turn electronics off etc…

Close your eyes and Picture the Sun



Breath in and draw white gold energy into your 6th chakra, which is located at the center of your brow on your forehead and onto your Pineal gland. Visualize the white gold energy in front of you and entering your forehead and into your brain.

Affirm this energy. Affirmations make all the difference. Tell yourself that this White-Gold energy is awaking and stimulating your pineal gland.
“I am breathing in powerful awakening white-gold energy onto my pineal gland and is awakening/stimulating it”
Breath in and affirm the white-gold energy 5-10x times

Visualize a bright ball of light in the center of your brain


Focus and feel upon this energy and the center of your brain. You should feel pleasantness or bliss. And if you do not just keep trying and be patient.


What I did is went outside when the sun was out and did this meditation. The sun is the most powerful source of energy in our Solar System Hence Solar Energy.
“I am breathing in powerful awaking white gold energy from the sun onto my pineal gland and is awakening and stimulating it”

Also the Pineal Gland is photo receptive, just like your eyes.
Only the Pineal Gland and the Eyes have light sensitivity in the human body.

I believe the Pineal Gland is responsible for ASMR as well.

great thread