THFWS&TTM”s: The (Luckiest) First Day in the Rest of Your Life

The (Luckiest) First Day in the Rest of Your Life

It was about that time that Frederick walked up to the two of them and signed “You can take me home now” to Stan, who pretended not to know its meaning, while still contemplating Anastasia as a lioness giving herself a cat-bath.

With that, Frederick slapped his forehead and wiped downward as he rolled his eyes.

“OK…do I have to go over to Darcy or Mark just to pretend you don’t know that I want to go home? Or maybe you haven’t noticed yet that I’m not still signing…that it’s just like I’m right next to you, whispering in your ear?”

Stan visibly stiffened and wheeled around to see who was speaking to him.

“Don’t lose it, old man…you’re fine…it’s me that’s out of the ordinary…I hope the James Jones vocal impression wasn’t too far over the top…I have different voices I like to project to humans…ones that are more likely to garner respect…can’t go off on some Jerry Lewis cartoon voice…you’d never take me seriously, right?

Stan shook his head in disbelief, frowning, his mouth slightly agape, which was not a good look for him. It completely blew his MIB/Intimidator demeanor, even if it was only for a second.

“Hey look, Stan…this may be a little too much for you to digest all at once, so I’m going to go over and tug on Darcy’s dress, or Mark coat tail, and sign for you to take me home…we’ve got plenty of time to let you get used to the new, improved me from now on.”

“Don’t stress out…we know who you are and what you’re doing here, and it’s OK, because we don’t have anything to hide…and neither do you…at least not from us…that prick Sebastian Galbraith Lodge may be another matter…but we are your friends…you’ll learn that soon enough.”

Stan stood completely still, then turned to Anastasia for support, or acknowledgement, or anything that might help him to feel like he wasn’t going crazy, but she simply smiled benignly and asked “Is everything OK?” even though she knew exactly what was happening.

The Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was like that…Anastasia could no more read American Sign Language than she could Sanskrit…and it wasn’t so much a matter of reading Frederick’s mind per se as it was one of learning how to listen to the thoughts he was projecting, which admittedly he was very adept at doing, since most animals have some degree of telepathic abilities, and the great apes had by far the greatest and most well-developed skills in that area already, and whenever she took The Knowledge her telepathic abilities got a little better.

Although most chimps and bonobos do not possess the speech centers in Broca’s area to vocalize incessantly as humans do, their lack of dependence on spoken words allowed and even encouraged them to find other modes of expression previously undocumented scientifically.

Also, the hybridization of his chimpanzee and bonobo parents had resulted in an unusual restructuring of Frederick’s genetic map. As a result, his chromosomal structure very nearly replicated that of the first known hominids to branch off from the primates, known as Homo habilis.

This was before he had ever ingested The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which mimics the doubling of the human SRGAP2 gene thought to be responsible for the process of encephalization in Man’s genetic evolution due to accelerated improvements in the neuron pathways of the frontal cortex.

And what it did for primates, it also did for humans, producing yet another Quantum Leap in Man’s evolution, both forward and backward, no longer requiring him to choose between Instinct and Reason.

Intelligence and Sentience are in many ways related, albeit independent of each other. Wisdom, and Insight, as well as Epiphanies or Instincts are not necessarily guaranteed by a high IQ.

At the Home for Wayward Souls, as well as during the occult studies that were conducted at the Habitat, it was found that as clearly and precisely as certain concepts were very effectively communicated by Frederick, from one human to another among the other test subjects charged with interpreting the meanings, it was found that there was a certain degree of variation in the perceived messages, depending upon certain personal biases and the emotional make-up of whoever was receiving Frederick’s communications.

In much the same way, the test subjects, including Mark and Darcy often described Frederick’s perceived voice differently. They almost always described it as deep and sonorous and very somber sounding, especially if he was trying to impress them, although he had seen a number of Jerry Lewis comedies from the fifties and sixties which he found to be hilarious, which he would occasionally mimic if he was feeling silly or playful.

Mark and Darcy had arranged to have cable TV installed in Frederick’s room, which had the effect of giving him a window to the world of human thought as well as behaviors.

He clearly lacked the ability to concentrate much effort on reading, since it was too time-consuming and labor-intensive to suit his disposition. In that respect, they sometimes wondered if he might have been better disposed to learn to read if they hadn’t introduced him to television first.

Often they would describe his voice as sounding like James Jones or Graham Green…(sometimes either the sagacious elder English author or the Native Oneida actor of the same name)…he liked the sounds of the voices of both, but had something of a preference for the throaty Indian sound of the latter’s voice.

He once told Merle that he felt a kinship for the Indian Peoples, who knew all too well what it was like to be treated as an animal, somehow inferior to White Men, unlike the indigenous aboriginal peoples of his continent, who admired and respected their animal cousins.

Merle suggested he not over-generalize about Indians too much, as it had been his finding that although some still followed the ancient ways and beliefs, far too many had fallen victim to materialism, racism, drunkenness, and despair, incapable of seeing Frederick as anything but a “monkey”.

All the same, some said he sounded like a minister or priest they knew as a child, or a teacher or principal from school, or even Moses, (whatever that meant).

Charles had even stated that he had been having an on-going dream for several years now where he found himself standing before some great judge; although he admitted he always awoke before the verdict and did not know who was being judged for what, Frederick’s voice often sounded like the voice in his dream.

Anastasia said he sounded like her grandfather’s voice, which she only barely remembered from her early childhood, but of whom she was very fond.

Frederick finally came back hand in hand between Mark and Darcy.

“He said he’s ready to go home…meaning The Habitat…he knows he can’t stay, even though it’s one of those nights you just don’t want to end….” said Darcy.

“You can say that again…hell it’s just getting started, if I have my way…” thought Anastasia, and at that moment, Mark, Darcy, Frederick and Stan all “heard” her thoughts, which caused Stan to blush despite a very large grin that he was unable to suppress.

“I guess there’s no hiding anything amongst us tonight…just as well…we can cut to the chase and get moving or try to ignore the elephant in the room, but I vote we get this fellow to his bed” added Mark.

“…and I get you to mine, my dear lady…” which Stan may have thought for a minute was private until he suddenly realized everyone else was just as aware of as if he had said it out loud, causing a muffled chuckle by the others.

“Did I just say that, or only think it? What the fuck is going on?!? And am I really hearing their thoughts? Why do I think they already know what I am thinking?” Stan pondered, as his mind raced.

“Because we do know…and now you know that we know…because your brain just took a quantum leap across the abyss…you’re not losing your mind…far from it…you just discovered a whole new wing in your brain that you never knew existed…in a place before spoken words, where thoughts have wings.”

“Don’t try too hard to intellectualize about it right now. Everything will become apparent in its own good time, so just relax and enjoy the company of friends.”

Stan found himself staring into Frederick’s eyes, convinced that the words he was hearing were coming from the primate despite his rational, logical mind’s best efforts to convince him otherwise…to cause him to doubt what he knew in his heart (or soul, or wherever it is where beliefs and wisdom live independently of facts and logic).

“Did you give me drugs?” asked Stan, imploring both Anastasia and Frederick.

“Don’t think of it as a drug…think of it as the gift of sentience, more like a vitamin for your mind” replied Frederick. “The same awareness that allowed Man to make that quantum leap from his primate ancestry…the awareness that now allows me to communicate with you, as well as the others…the awareness that also gives you back the instincts you once traded for Reason.”

“For the first time in your life, your Intuition will be as strong as your Logic. You can straddle the Abyss with ease…and conviction. This is true Knowledge and Insight the likes of which you have never known before. It will take time for you to adjust to it, but it is not something that will leave you in the morning either…it will grow with you, and only those who possess this same Knowledge will even notice any difference, although others may sense the understanding and wisdom that you now possess, even if they don’t quite know what it is.”

“Some people regard the process as more like a form of post-hypnotic suggestion, facilitated by a molecule so powerful it does not even show up on a drug screen, because so little of it is required to achieve the effects.” Ash spoke the words to Stan softly, and with great compassion as he walked up to Stan.

Merle was now standing on Stan’s other side, the only person in the room tall enough to look down upon Stan, he laid his hand on Stan’s shoulder as he added “In fact, it does not even act as a drug per se, in that it does not combine specifically with anything in your body; instead, it acts as a catalyst that unlocks the release of chemicals already present in your brain while triggering the production of more of those neurotransmitter chemicals to an abundance far higher than what is considered normal, but which may well be present in higher quantities in people labeled as gifted or even as geniuses.”

“The more often you take it, the less you need to reach a threshold effect, and then it passes unchanged from your body in your breath along with nitrogen and carbon dioxide.”

“We would have never have encouraged Frederick to share this gift with you…not because we don’t like you, but because we don’t have the instincts quite yet that Frederick already has. It won’t affect your ability to drive or anything like that…it’s just this….”

“If you can relax long enough to feel the love and sense the beauty all around you will know everything you need to know…to look into the heart of those around you, both your friends as well as those who are not…. Frederick wanted to share the most precious gift he knows. We took a long time to decide to share it with him, and he has been studying you as a candidate since the first day he met you.”

“Now can we please take me home so those two can get about their own monkey business and the honeymoon can get rolling for everyone else?” Frederick outstretched his arms imploringly to the group who heartily agreed.

 

 

 

 

Sentience: Emotions and Senses: THFWS &TTM’s

Sentience: Emotions and Senses

As anyone who has ever used psychedelic, hallucinogenic, or psychoactive drugs can tell you, there is a real potential for a roller-coaster ride of emotions unlike that which any hormonal teenager has even experienced.

Sometimes the subtlest of images or thoughts can provoke seemingly boundless joy, sadness, fear, or even rage. It is a matter of interpretation of previous experiences and the imprints they leave in your memory banks.

The associations we make between an image of a baby and our own emotional or “gut reactions” to that image can be associated with one’s own childhood, or an unplanned pregnancy that ended in abortion or adoption, our own children, or the desire to bear or raise children yet to be born, for instance.

The image of an elderly person could be associatively interpreted as a grandparent, a parent long gone, a hospital patient, or our own fear of the aging process as well as our impending date with our own mortality.

A dog or cat could trigger either loving memories of childhood pets, or a fear of animals with images of unprovoked attacks, fleas, ticks, parasites and allergic reactions.

A flower can represent love, nature, fertility, or even Peace.

To some, a picture of some natural environment or landscape could be associated with tranquility, beauty, serenity and sanctuary, or to another, it may cause anxiety, or trigger feelings of loneliness and disorientation, or a fear of uncivilized and wild environments, or threatening preoccupations with danger, hardship, and deprivation.

For some, life is a picnic replete with sunshine, laughter, friendship and the Movable Feast of our youthful experiences and associations, while for others it is spoiled by ants, rain, mosquitos, sunburn, Labor Day gridlock and disappointment. At least half of this picnic is determined by what we bring to it.

Animals are also imprinted by the associations of memories and emotions built upon repetitions of stimulus-response mediated experiences, but to suddenly be given access to interpretations or meanings or insight as a conscious understanding of Why or How all these elements fit together is more than even most humans can divine.

This perception of the connectivity of ourselves, our actions, and our relationship to the universe and whatever purpose or meanings that we associate with our existence as a form of insight or enlightenment can be either a marvelous gift or an ominous and overwhelming preoccupation depending upon the associations and interpretations we conjure within our minds.

The Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil works like a hybrid of psychedelic, and empathogen/entactogen psychoactive drugs that have been known to suddenly thrust their users into a state of mind and being that mimics the effects of years of meditation and devout study in a matter of minutes. What may have seemed fixed and immutable may now appear ambiguous or deceptive as easily as the Unknowable or Occult may appear to be clear and even obvious.

This is potentially dangerous for some. Many mystics and savants believe this is too sudden and easy as well as a quick shortcut to intoxicating madness not unlike putting a teenager behind the wheel of a powerful racing automobile.

With effort, practice and dedication comes the maturity and emotional strength necessary to control almost limitless power no matter what the source.

This quantum leap across the abyss of consciousness and perception was becoming emotionally overwhelming to Frederick.

Darcy had anticipated this eventuality, which she had discussed with Kali, and with Merle’s assistance had prepared a combination of concentrated and refined THC, as well as several other botanicals and herbs that Merle had often used before in his Shamanistic practices that he believed had the potential to help tranquilize and calm Frederick.

The vaporizer was already up to temperature and Frederick quickly signed “Monkey see, monkey do” about the same time that they perceived his voice in their heads laughing and repeating the phrase several times as he began to inhale the mixture, following the lead set by their example as he alternately laughed hysterically, wept, gasped, screamed and hyperventilated while experiencing the rush of emotions and insights that threatened to overwhelm him.

In a matter of minutes he was giggling and benignly shaking his head in awe, absent-mindedly touching himself as he began to settle into a calm acceptance of the simple beauty of his existence in a way that most humans might not be so easily disposed to accomplish, and suddenly decided he wanted to eat some fruit, so he got up and helped himself. It did not go unnoticed that he did not summarily ask permission to do so, as would have been his usual modus.

When he returned, he sat down and then signed “It’s as simple and obvious as the nose on my face.” although neither his attempts to sign the exact words nor the others’ telepathic perception of his intended meaning was immediately clear to the rest of the group.

But the moment that they did comprehend it, they realized that they too had suddenly taken a similar but different leap across the abyss from their side to his. Meanings and intentions of complex and abstract thought do not have to be spelled out letter by letter in the meager linear definitions of Words that have so limited Man’s comprehensive and communicative methods for the last fifty thousand years.

Thanks to The Knowledge of Good and Evil, Feelings, Emotions and all Transcendental thoughts and concepts did not require to be translated into a codified set of symbols, words and definitions that are so self-limiting as to be stultifying and arbitrary by comparison to anyone who acquires the ability to transmit or interpret them in their actual form as ideas, thoughts, images and feelings.

This meant that they could not only communicate fluently with each other, but it also proved to be a valuable aid in reading the minds and intents of less evolved humans quite transparently, as all the skill-sets of the group increased geometrically in the days that followed, which were verified by the members of the group in countless double-blind studies and tests during weeks of verification.

But right now, this minute that seemed to hang suspended in air like a giant dirigible even more volatile than the Hindenburg, the others…the humans were still taking baby-steps interpreting Fredericks thoughts and their meanings.

Darcy then asked and signed “What is?”

“Happiness, Understanding, Fearlessness…and Love” was his answer.

As he communicated his thoughts to the group, they each noticed that he did indeed wear a reflection of that understanding like a countenance upon his face that shone like golden sunlight at dawn.