The Man Who Tried to Weigh the Soul!
In 1907, a Massachusetts doctor named Duncan Macdougall performed an unusual series of experiments. Intrigued by the idea that the human soul had mass, and could therefore be weighed, Dr. MacDougall put together a bed fitted with a sensitive set of beam scales, and convinced a series of terminally ill patients to lie on it during the final moments of their lives.
MacDougall was nothing if not detail-oriented: He recorded not only each patient’s exact time of death, but also his or her total time on the bed, as well as any changes in weight that occurred around the moment of expiration. He even factored losses of bodily fluids like sweat and urine, and gases like oxygen and nitrogen, into his calculations. His conclusion was that the human soul weighed three-fourths of an ounce, or 21 grams.
It’s hard to imagine these experiments getting any serious attention from the scientific community today. But the lines of thinking that led to them — and the reactions they generated — remain with us to this day.
A Year in the Spotlight
The results of MacDougall’s study appeared in The New York Times in
March 1907. The article set off a debate between MacDougall and the
physician Augustus P. Clarke, who “had a field day” with MacDougall’s minuscule measurement techniques.
Clarke pointed out that at the moment of death, the lungs stop cooling the blood, causing the body’s temperature to rise slightly, which makes the skin sweat — accounting for Dr. MacDougall’s missing 21 grams. MacDougall fired back in the next issue, arguing that circulation ceases at the moment of death, so the skin wouldn’t be heated by the rise in temperature. The debate ran all the way to the end of 1907, picking up supporters on both sides along the way.
For four years, all was quiet on the MacDougall front, but in 1911 he graced
The New York Time’s front page with an announcement that he’d upped the ante. This time, he wouldn’t be weighing the human soul — he’d be photographing it at the moment it left the body.
Although he expressed concern that “the soul substance might become
[too] agitated” to be photographed at the moment of death, he did manage to perform a dozen experiments in which he photographed “a light resembling that of the interstellar ether” in or around patients’ skulls at the moments they died.
MacDougall himself passed away into the interstellar ether in 1920, leaving behind a small band of ardent supporters, along with a far larger group of physicians who seemed incredulous that this farce had gone on so long. Members of the public settled down on one side or the other, and the discussion fell off the radar.
Except that it never really did — at least not completely.
A Legacy of Oddity.
References to MacDougall’s experiments continue to spring forth in pop culture every few years, from the Victorian era right up to today.
The idea that the soul weighs 21 grams has appeared in novels, songs, and movies — it’s even been the title of a film. Dan Brown described MacDougall’s experiments in some detail in his adventure yarn The Lost Symbol.
Mention the soul-weighing experiments to a person who’s into parapsychology, and you’ll likely hear a murmur of approval; after all, the idea of scientific proof for the soul offers comfort in much the same way that tarot readings & hotline spiritualists do. Even among more skeptical folks, it’s a topic that comes up now and then in late-night discussions: “Wasn’t there once a guy who tried to weigh the soul…?”
The experiments’ actual results, and their failure to achieve acceptance as scientific canon, are entirely beside the point. Science has gone one way, and pop culture another. Functional neuroimaging has tied every conceivable function once associated with the soul to specific regions and structures of the brain. Physics has mapped the linkages between subatomic particles so thoroughly that there’s simply no space left for spiritual forces.
And yet…
The idea of weighing the soul remains with us. It’s romantic. It’s relatable.
It speaks to some of our deepest longings and fears that gripped MacDougall’s readers back in 1907 and still captivate us today.
A Different Kind of Eeriness
To understand why MacDougall wanted to weigh the soul — and why he thought he could — it helps to understand the environment in which he operated. His work is rife with terms and ideas recognizable from early psychological theorists Freud and Jung. There’s a lot of talk about “psychic functions” and “animating principles” — a grasp for the precise scientific language to describe consciousness, and life itself, in a world still ignorant of
MRI and DNA.
We’re still profoundly ignorant today, as any honest scientist will tell you. Certain behaviors of quantum particles still baffle the brightest minds; and we’re still a long way from understanding exactly how our brains do most of what they do. We keep looking for the dark matter that constitutes more than 80 percent of the universe’s mass, but we haven’t actually seen a single atom of it or know where, exactly, it is.
Dark matter cannot be photographed, but researchers can detect it and map it by measuring gravitational lensing. Its distribution is shown here in the blue overlay of the inner region of Abell 1689, a cluster of galaxies 2.2 billion light-years away. And in all these dark corners, we still find people looking for the soul. Some claim we’ll eventually discover it among quantum particles.
Others insist it’s got something to do with the electromagnetic waves our brains generate. Most scientists reject these claims. But these researchers and theorists soldier on, unwilling to give up hope that one day we’ll be able to weigh, measure and quantify the hereafter.
MacDougall’s work resonated, and continues to resonate, not because of what he found (or failed to find) but because of what he suggested. The simple idea behind the experiments was appealing, and for many who followed the debate in The New York Times, that idea alone was enough to make MacDougall’s work worthy of discussion.
But in 1907, as today, the real, testable, verifiable universe continually proves to be much stranger than anything parapsychology can dream up. How are photons both particles and waves and yet somehow neither? How can there be so many planets in our galaxy, yet so few that harbor life — we think — as we know it? The universe is full of real unsolved mysteries, whose real answers are out there somewhere.
We don’t need the souls of the dead to craft a haunting series of experiments. The measurable, physical universe is more than eerie enough.
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The toughest sacrifices are the ones we don’t see coming.
By Trace Scorch
When we don’t have time to come up with a strategy or to measure the potential loss. When that happens, when the battle chooses us instead of us choosing it, that’s when the sacrifice can be more than we can bear. I have noticed many rude comments lately, remember, a positive attitude may not solve all the problems, but It will annoy enough haters to make It worth the effort !! Everyone is carrying something. Some carry it better than others.
Before you gossip or hurt someone by your actions please remember that because they don’t show or tell you what they are dealing with doesn’t mean
it’s not heavy for them to carry. The seeds of kindness you plant today will bloom in the hearts of those you touch, forever… May kindness be our mantra! Kindness is one of the greatest gifts you can give to others.
“A kind word always brings cheer,” Proverbs 12:25
May kindness be our mantra!
Kindness is one of the greatest gifts you can give to others. If someone is in need, lend them a helping hand. Do not wait for a thank you. True kindness lies in the act of giving without the expectation of something in return. #Kindnessmatters
Do not forget that you are Light. Divine consciousness is densified in the
body. Light asks no questions. It knows no limits. It crosses or circumvents
all obstacles. Without exception.
Energy vampires are entities native to low frequency worlds of demonic infestations, these beings closed themselves from the source. They exist.
Energy vampires by replenishing themselves like demons do by stealing
energy from those with a better connection to divine/Source.
Higher dimensional people are often attracting these entities and need to be very weary of who is stealing their energy. How is this done on earth?
By replicating the same behaviors the demonic instills within you through
your systems & by remaining at a low level of frequency. Its vamps When you feel your high vibes goes from happy to feeling angry, from positive to feeling guilty, from feeling peaceful to feeling shameful. Energy vampires can come to you and steal your energy once they have your frequency map, this is why cutting external cords daily is a good way of healing
If the face of someone you are not thinking of suddenly pops into your mind’s eye, you may be a victim of energetic theft.. it could be your light body warning you that it’s being tampered with.. Why won’t it warn you when your life energy is being depleted. Death may not be imminent but prolonged theft of your energy by many vamps can & has led to early demise of a life.
All humans are connected. On worlds where the interaction is always loving
& positive, the connection is not a problem, but on a planet where the energy
is low & people need to steal energy just to stay alive, theft is a problem. When you think there’s not enough money to go around you also experience subconsciously that there’s not enough energy to go around.
The reason energy vampires exist is because their demonic attachment is draining them of energy & having them go to hunt for more.. Yes! Demonic.
It’s not pleasant.
They can switch hosts at will; they have no inclination to stay with one person or another, they often stick to certain families who provide them the best feeds for their parasitic endeavors.. Most people are being used to that end. They extract low frequency from you to feed their own parasites
The exceptions are those who have completely freed themselves from attachments, those with a 5th dimension energy unity frequency, who do energetic maintenance & remove themselves from anything trying to control them. People who separate themself from anyone trying to manipulate them, they are protecting their energy from theft
IF SOMEONE IS CONTROLLING YOU & MAKING YOU AFRAID OF THEM, YOU ARE WITH A VAMPIRE. Vampires have attachments & demand it for their food source, so they wont stop it, Hoping that they will just stop some day if you are in denial.. Why keep feeding Energy Vampires?
Most people are unconscious of their behavior enough to allow this to continue. Beware when your own energy is kept low by your own attachments. Clear All Negative Attachments. The deliberateness of a God conscious being is hard to find on earth because your life energy is being zapped from you constantly
Possession is Real. Humans are being possessed by a virulent energetic being who wishes full control over the host Its inhuman cos it’s not Human!
Most people are possessed to a certain extent. From childhood, these vampires seek those incapable of fighting them off in order to infest and manipulate in order to get them their fuel. The more emotional damage the host the better the host for these entities. As the insidious dysfunctionality of matrix life begins to impress upon the soul of the small child. The soul will either split or show signs of dysfunction itself thus weakening the light body to allow parasites to enter.
Shadow work must be done in order to reintegrate the soul The soul can be found in parts of yourself that you cast out to fit into this world. As you see from the state of your world right now, this problem is rampant. We can’t understate the immediate need for the people of earth to take action against the true enemy of life on earth. What’s happening on earth is only a manifestation of their manipulation and your adherence to their pathological belief system. Loosh is being created at a global societal interpersonal & personal level for all of you.
All you need to do is stop feeding the devil by refusing to buy into the idea
that negativity is normal for you. It is not! Negativity can be unlearned, your negative way of interacting, your propensity to attack others, your belief in separation was all taught to you.
Your belief that if you harm another you will not be harmed..
While we’re shamed forcing boys into dresses, girl’s sports & self-hate groups over here, China’s encouraging masculinity
Guess who’s going to win the war China wants?
It won’t be our trans inclusive military with quarterly sensitivity training,
that’s for sure.
Are all incorrect. Humans are an electromagnetic energy that attracts
the same energy it emits, so to harm another is to harm yourself.
“It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest… The species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.” ~Charles Darwin,
This is mostly correct as those who hide well tend to live on… just as well as those who adapt.
I’m always stuck between this and that… for lack of better terms or anything… *luck*…
What is it most people truly fear? The unknown. Not knowing if the other person truly loves them.
Not knowing what’s next in their lives. Not knowing if they’re enough.
Knowing is truly the absence of doubt. It is a feeling of calm, of love,
of pure joy. Loretta Lynn – Lay Me Down ft. Willie Nelson.
All else is fear.
Life seeks balance & it does that within you.
Do you agree?