Ancestral Memories
Did we inherit memories from our ancestors?
For thousands of years, the greatest minds have pondered this. Why and how is it that we are we innately wired to know, value or fear certain aspects of our world?
In general, as a species…
We love sitting by the fire, the scent of the sea, a lover, a newborn baby’s head.
We fear spiders, snakes, heights…clowns…disapproval, rejection, failure, the unknown.
2500 years ago, Plato suggested that the souls of living humans reside in a Platonic heaven — along with the deceased — where we pick up universal concepts of moral goodness, justice, etc., from our place behind the veil of physical reality. Interesting, but some deceased ancestors are clearly asleep at the wheel. Let’s look at other theories.
100 years ago, legendary psychologist Carl Jung suggested that we’re born with ancestral memories and experiences imprinted on our DNA. To Jung, a key here is our pineal gland — so called 3rd eye — a small pine cone-shaped organ in the center of the brain. It produces the melatonin and serotonin needed for a healthy state of mind and is thought by some to activate instinct and provide a gateway to self-knowledge, linking physical and spiritual worlds.
In Jung’s view, the pineal gland offered a connection to ancient wisdom and intuition, carrying the mythical, tribal memory of the human race — something he called the collective unconscious.
Intriguing. But how does this inherited memory work? The short answer is that we really don’t know (and we love that). To add to the mystery, the scientists who sequenced human DNA made a surprising discovery: humans have just 20,000 and 25,000 genes, about 80,000 less than they expected to find!
By comparison, the little worm C. elegans, which only has about 1000 cells, was found to have 19,000 genes. No, this doesn’t mean you are a slimy creature who eats rotten food (only you can answer that). What it does mean is that we have other things going on besides genes…at least the way we used to think about them. We have lots of little bits of DNA that code for RNAs that never code for proteins but instead control the RNAs that do.
A fascinating study found that unborn crickets whose mothers were stalked by wolf spiders showed more fear of spiders after they were born than control crickets — not to mention a higher survival rate. This shows little doubt that fear gets passed down through the generations — for the entire animal kingdom.
What does this all mean? The universe is sending you messages. Listen. Follow a spiritual practice; be grateful. Take up meditation. We like both Calm and Headspace. It is harder to meditate than you may think, and these tools make it easier. Write down your dreams. Spend more time outdoors. Your ancestors worked hard for you to get here. Get to know them by getting to know yourself. Use that great big curious brain…we’re here to help kick start it.
Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201302/remembering-things-you-were-born
http://reset.me/story/science-proving-memories-passed-ancestors
https://genetics.thetech.org/original_news/news14
Originally published at 500bcfoundry.com by Team 500 BC Foundry.
