Epilepsy, the Origin of Islam
Has a major branch of history been determined by one man's bout with epilepsy? I think so!
Epilepsy Toronto has, on its web page, a list of famous people who have had epilepsy. The idea of the list is that epilepsy doesn't need to stand in the way of achievement. On that list - along with such luminaries as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Joan of Arc, Napoleon and Newton - was Muhammad. Well, you guessed it . . . the incendiary email this organization received from indignant Muslims, prompted them to quickly remove Muhammad from its on-line list. By now, we all know that nothing gets results like Muslim threats.
This article reminded me of the connection between epilepsy and the "God Module". If you're not familiar with the God Module or "God Spot", here's a quick summary . . . It was discovered when scientists explored the association between epilepsy and intense spiritual experiences. It seems that some forms of epilepsy create electrical storms in the brain that stimulates an adjacent area (now identified as the God Module). Many of these epileptics are hyper-religious.
Anyway, I did a Google search for "Muhammad and epilepsy" and hit pay-dirt. There appears to be a strong correlation between the symptoms of epilepsy and the witness descriptions of Muhammad's condition while in his "trances". Epilepsy (the "sacred disease", also known as the "falling sickness") is what the ancients thought were demon possessions. Muhammad was known to have had epileptic symptoms from at least the age of 5. His guardians were (allegedly) afraid he was demon possessed and pawned him off on other relatives.
Epilepsy would explain Muhammad's visions and preoccupation with spirituality and his solitary retreats to the mountains for contemplative meditation. Many epileptics describe the spiritual sensations surrounding seizures as so exquisite that they actually look forward to these fits. Fyodor Dostoevsky claimed that he would not trade 10 years of life for a single epilepsy-induced spiritual experience.
Ignorant and superstitious people, especially in Muhammad's day, were easily impressed by these seizures. They seemed real, because they were. However, they weren't demon possessions or contact with God; they were epileptic fits. These fits are reported to have scared Muhammad until his wife (the first, ever, Muslim) convinced him that they were divine communiqués. That's right . . . Muhammad's wife was the first Muslim - Muhammad was the second to believe.
There is only anecdotal evidence that Muhammad was an epileptic. It's just a theory. But, due to the preponderance of evidence, many historians and researchers believe it. The first to suggest it was the Greek monk, Theophanes. Theophanes (752-817) wrote, in his "Chronography", that Muhammad suffered from epilepsy. In 1869, Sir William Muir, made the same connection in his book, "The Life of Mahomet". More recently, Clifford Pickover writes:
Epilepsy Toronto has, on its web page, a list of famous people who have had epilepsy. The idea of the list is that epilepsy doesn't need to stand in the way of achievement. On that list - along with such luminaries as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Joan of Arc, Napoleon and Newton - was Muhammad. Well, you guessed it . . . the incendiary email this organization received from indignant Muslims, prompted them to quickly remove Muhammad from its on-line list. By now, we all know that nothing gets results like Muslim threats.
This article reminded me of the connection between epilepsy and the "God Module". If you're not familiar with the God Module or "God Spot", here's a quick summary . . . It was discovered when scientists explored the association between epilepsy and intense spiritual experiences. It seems that some forms of epilepsy create electrical storms in the brain that stimulates an adjacent area (now identified as the God Module). Many of these epileptics are hyper-religious.
Anyway, I did a Google search for "Muhammad and epilepsy" and hit pay-dirt. There appears to be a strong correlation between the symptoms of epilepsy and the witness descriptions of Muhammad's condition while in his "trances". Epilepsy (the "sacred disease", also known as the "falling sickness") is what the ancients thought were demon possessions. Muhammad was known to have had epileptic symptoms from at least the age of 5. His guardians were (allegedly) afraid he was demon possessed and pawned him off on other relatives.
Epilepsy would explain Muhammad's visions and preoccupation with spirituality and his solitary retreats to the mountains for contemplative meditation. Many epileptics describe the spiritual sensations surrounding seizures as so exquisite that they actually look forward to these fits. Fyodor Dostoevsky claimed that he would not trade 10 years of life for a single epilepsy-induced spiritual experience.
Ignorant and superstitious people, especially in Muhammad's day, were easily impressed by these seizures. They seemed real, because they were. However, they weren't demon possessions or contact with God; they were epileptic fits. These fits are reported to have scared Muhammad until his wife (the first, ever, Muslim) convinced him that they were divine communiqués. That's right . . . Muhammad's wife was the first Muslim - Muhammad was the second to believe.
There is only anecdotal evidence that Muhammad was an epileptic. It's just a theory. But, due to the preponderance of evidence, many historians and researchers believe it. The first to suggest it was the Greek monk, Theophanes. Theophanes (752-817) wrote, in his "Chronography", that Muhammad suffered from epilepsy. In 1869, Sir William Muir, made the same connection in his book, "The Life of Mahomet". More recently, Clifford Pickover writes:
Dostoevsky, another famous epileptic whose works are filled with ecstatic visions of universal love (and terrible nightmares of uncanny fear and radical evil), thought it was obvious that Mohammad's visions of God were triggered by epilepsy. "Mohammad assures us in this Koran that he had seen Paradise," Dostoevsky notes. "He did not lie. He had indeed been in Paradise - during an attack of epilepsy, from which he suffered, as I do."I guess it takes one to know one.
Tags: dostoevsky, epilepsy, god module, muhammad, pickford, sir william muir, toronto
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sheryl on -
I think so too! I read somewhere that in the bible, Paul may have also described a seizure as his religious transformation.
I had based my religious belief on what I thought were supernatural experiences. I actually described one as feeling like god was hugging me (ha!). It wasn't until later in life that my mother mentioned my childhood febrile seizures which prompted me to consider that those experiences were less likely supernatural and more likely seizures. I had frequent migraines as a teen and into my twenties and now have only recently discovered that migraines and seizures are related. The seizures really were a fantastic feeling but I value the experience more now that I know the real cause.
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Permalink Reply by Free Thinker on -
Hi Sheryl,
Thanks for your reply.
Yes, I've heard about Paul's (alleged) migraine headaches. I've even heard he suffered from epilepsy. The "blinding light" he saw could have been caused by either.
I think the point here is: there are physiological reasons for spiritual experiences (especially if you take drugs). The God module, epilepsy, migraines, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline and peyote . . . even marijuana: all can cause spiritual experiences.
In my youth, I tried many drugs. Some caused profound spiritual experiences. However, I've never had a spiritual experience while "straight". To me, this reinforces the idea of a God module: the drugs must have stimulated it, somehow.
I have to say that the spiritual experiences were so powerful that there is no other experience that comes close to comparing. Despite the decades since those heady days, I'd drop acid again in a flash . . . just to re-experience those spiritual delusions. They truly were transcendent. I attribute, justly or not, my cerebral bent (such as it is) to those mind-altering experiences.
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Permalink Reply by Free Thinker on
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LoL!
Yes, Moses too had a spiritual experience associated with a blinding light. Could it be that Judaism's great leader was an epileptic? Did all the great visionaries suffer from hyper-stimulated God modules?
I'm not sure what psychedelics or hallucinogens they had in that region, in that era. Maybe Moses took some psilocybin mushrooms with him, up the mountain . . .
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Permalink Reply by Ogden Lafaye on -
Me too...my LSD experiences were more of a manifestation trip however, I could call people and they would show up in nothing flat. People catered to me in public places and businesses, I could manifest a taxicab to take me away from a bad scene as well as good. People pushed things on me and handed me things like money, books and the occasional cookie. I never could manifest a hot pastrami on rye however.
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Permalink Reply by Gerald Woerlee on -
Epilepsy induced hyperactivity of temporal lobe structures (otherwise known as a God Module) is a rather simple explanation for the origins of religious belief. It is true that some people with temporal lobe epilepsy due to tumors or abnormal temporal lobe function do sometimes have transcendental hallucinations. But this is not the whole story. Mohammed, Jesus and Moses combined these with a winning paradigm (business plan) ensuring the continuation and an enthusiastic following of their religions.
Mohammed promised his followers paradise, as well as 80% of the loot after 20% had been deducted for costs and support of the Islamic cause - himself (Koran 8:40).
Jesus told his followers they should endure life on earth and obey their oppressors who would receive their "just" punishement in eternal hellfire (Luke 16:22-28). Paul reinforced this by telling people to obey their earthly rulers as they would obey God (Romans 13: 1-7), because they would be rewarded in an afterlife. This was a winner! It meant that Christianity was an ideal slave and woman's religion. After all, slaves and women were oppressed species in the ancient world.
Moses was a nasty piece of works. Mount Sinai is only 7500 feet high - too low for oxygen starvation induced visions. So he probably also had another cause of his transcendental communication with God. After descending from the mountain, he used the incident of the golden calf to institute a progrom killing 3000 people who opposed him (Exodus 32:1-27), so instituting a terror regime perpetuating Judaism that has lasted to this day.
Wherever you look at religious beliefs, succesful religions always combine misitinterpretation of quite mundane illnesses, observations, or facts, together with religious explanations confirming these observations.
God is great! God is omniscient!
Fantastic stuff!
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Permalink Reply by Free Thinker on
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Hi Gerald,
I hope you know I was being facetious about Moses . . .
. . . Per your very interesting points, I've often wondered at what point cynical leaders realized the advantages and benefits of religion as a vehicle of mass control.
In the case of Jesus, his message and (literal) self-sacrifice seem to argue against cynical calculation for personal gain. In the end, he was hell-bent on self-destruction.
Muhammad, however, reveals a conspicuous pattern of receiving revelations that were very convenient for contemporaneous problems in his personal life. His wives noticed the pattern and teased him about it. I don't know if Muhammad started off cynical or if he later realized the potential advantages of his "messenger/prophet" status and then became cynical. After he moved from Mecca to Medina, and enjoyed a burgeoning power-base, his revelations definitely turned less tolerant.
Was Moses a real or mythical person? I don't recall ever hearing evidence (from Egyptian sources, for example) for his actual existence. If he really is a historical figure, then your interpretation of him as "a nasty piece of work", seems pretty straight-forward. I'm embarrassed to say I never thought of Moses as a politically-motivated ruler.
I would quibble with you, however, on your assertion that "successful religions always combine misinterpretation of quite mundane illnesses, observations, or facts, together with religious explanations confirming these observations". I believe what you're describing is merely superstition . . . and all ancient men (with or without religion) were thoroughly superstitious. Before the very first religion, people already attributed signs and omens (superstition) to spirits and gods. Successful or not, religions naturally incorporated these pre-existing tendencies.
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Permalink Reply by edwin on -
there's also a GOD HELMET invented by Michael Persinger where he modified a SNOWMOBILE HELMET wired to create a magnetic field that can stimulate the right-hemisphere parietal and temporal lobes of the brain. The effect is similar to a spiritual experience where one can “see” God and some already dead persons (is this place heaven?). Some of those who tried thought they were dead while 1 female participant thought she gave birth to Jesus.
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Permalink Reply by Free Thinker on
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Hi Edwin,
I think I recall something about a guy up in Canada(?) somewhere, who was able to generate transcendent experiences via a helmet designed to electrically stimulate the area associated with the God Module.
That was a few years ago. I guess I'm off to Google "God Moudle" again. It would be interesting to see if anything more has been learned about the God Module.
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Permalink Reply by Gerald Woerlee on
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No, I am not describing superstitions. What I actually mean are experiences such as nocturnal demonic attack, out of body experiences, near death experiences, paranormal experiences, etc. All these are genuine experiences. These experiences all have a sound physiological basis, yet to the uncritical they apparently support, and seem to even prove the reality of an immaterial universe parallel to our physical universe - an immaterial universe populated by throngs of equally immaterial beings and the souls of the dead - some of whom occasionally interact with this physical world. A belief in the reality of the immaterial world revealed by these experiences functions as the basic proof for all religions, although the immaterial pantheons believed to populate this universe do vary from one culture to another.
All this is supplemented by a mindset interpreting the way the world functions according to the dogma of a particular religion or belief system. I have discussed this already on "My Page".
I hope this clarifies what I mean by mundane illnesses, observations, and facts.
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Permalink Reply by Gerald Woerlee on
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Oh no! Not theGOD HELMET! Althpough the legend lives on, the amazing experiences undergone by those exposed to the GOD HELMET have long been proven to be the result of hysteria and imagination than anything else.
There are several lines of research proving this. The first proof, or rather absence of proof, is very telling. Persinger is a professor of Psychology at Laurentian University in Canada. He and his group published quite a number of papers detailing the wonderful, even amazing experiences, undergone by wearers of the god helmet. The first reaction of most scientists to reports like those of Persinger's is: "Wow, that's really wild! Let's see if we can't replicate these experimental results and even improve on them!" But no-one did. There was, and still is, a conspicous dearth of studies from other centers confirming and elaborating on the experimental results of Persinger and his group with the GOD HELMET. Very strange, and suggestive of these other groups finding nothing in preliminary studies. They most likely stopped at this stage and used their hard-won research funds for other studies.
In 2004, a Swedish group of scientists under the guidance of Grankvist, together with the aid of Peringer's equipment, as well as his personal guidance, published a study clearly demonstrating that the results of Persinger were very likely a product of imagination, hallucination, or a desire to please the experimenters. You can download and read the article by Grankvist clicking on the link to the pdf, Granqvist-2004.
Since 2006, Persinger has been requested by his university to refrain from public appearences on the subject of the GOD HELMET. And there it is, a wonderful "urban" pseudoscientific legend based upon faulty reasearch, and wild public expectations. - Attachments:
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Granqvist-2004.pdf, 99 KB
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Permalink Reply by Doug on -
Manic Depression (Bipolar disorder ) and schizophrenia also cause visions and delusions that appear very very real.
It is interesting that most religions probably have origins in what we now would call mental illness !
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Permalink Reply by Free Thinker on
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Hi Doug,
Yes, there appears to be some merit to the idea that most (all?) of the great prophets might have suffered one mental aberration or another.
- Moses and St. Paul both saw blinding lights.
- Jesus and Muhammad both isolated and deprived themselves for prolonged periods to "meditate".
- The "visions" of Ezekiel, Zedikiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Isaiah and St. John.
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