Note: Most of the endocrine organs are mentioned, at least in passing, during the Template presentations. This page is intended to be an introduction to the physical system and to its role within the model of transcendence presented by the Template. It is (mercifully!) not necessary to understand this magical & complex system in order to participate in the Template ceremonies or the accompanying workshops.
The foundation ceremony of the Template, the Ceremony of Original Innocence, is concerned with 12 circuits of electromagnetic energy that connect us directly with the elemental resonances at the heart of our being. Each of these circuits is associated with one of the classical elements; earth, air, fire, water or ether. The ceremony is in five parts each of which addresses an element and a circuit, or group of circuits, affected by this element. It is at this electromagnetic and elemental level that the Template ceremonies & workshops engage with the endocrine organs whose true form and function is yet to become fully apparent.
The endocrine system is a series of glands that secrete specific chemicals, known as hormones, directly into the blood streams of humans and animals. These secretions are vital to the maintenance of a stable equilibrium between the various physiological processes that enable and define life. On an energetic level each of the endocrine organs is associated with one of 7 chakras that receive incoming energy or life force - sometimes known as chi or prana. This energy is then distributed to the endocrine glands and translated into hormones which travel through the bloodstream. There are an enormous number of these chemical messengers many of which, even in microscopic quantities, have several different effects depending on the organ that is the target of their message.
In relation to the Template it is helpful to understand that, whilst life and energy exist in many forms and on many scales, the difference between one thing and another is simply a matter of frequency. So it is that all the oceans, filling the deepest caverns and fissures over the surface of the Earth, are similar in kind and combination, to a human tear: that tear in turn is attuned to the unimaginably tiny bath of salt water in which resides each single strand of dna. Simultaneously, the tear is a reflection of and a mirror to both DNA and the oceans. This whole salt and fluid flow is of a resonant kind with blood. The endocrine organs supply many examples of this holographic theme as they digest gross food gathered from the environment, refine it to carbohydrates & sugars to build & fuel the physical body, whilst simultaneously metabolising the higher frequencies associated with light, prana & breath. The word 'holographic' is used, in this context, to suggest that every piece of the system is an exact representation of the whole and can be used to reconstruct the entire system.
The endocrine organs can be understood metaphorically as a series of lenses through which the projected energy of the cosmos is focused by consciousness to construe matter from light.
"As the energetic nature of consciousness begins its journey through the Human biocircuitry, it triggers signals that stimulate the endocrine system to function according to the degree of 'intelligence' being integrated. This degree of dataflow is reliant upon the number of circuits connected and upon the endocrine system's ability to decipher & utilise its signals, in order to deliver this intelligence code. This is a vital symbiotic relationship as the endocrine organs are a stepping-stone between Source Intelligence and the Human ability to translate that data into life experience and to know itself as eternal. The endocrine system is the sacred interface between the life directive transmitted from Source and the Human manifestation of that directive on all levels."
- from The Template; A Holonomic Model of Transcendence (p.21)
The pineal body is a small structure situated between the two hemispheres of the brain and has a profound influence on sexual cycles & reproductive development through the secretion of melatonin. The pineal is sensitive to light received by the eyes and melatonin secretion is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light. Sometimes referred to as the third eye (due to its ability to transduce light), the pineal was thought by Descartes to be the seat of the soul. There is a complex connection between the pineal, the pituitary and the hypothalamus and this set of organs is thought to govern circadian rhythms - a function managed in some birds and reptiles by a photoreceptor situated below the skin of the crown. The pineal is large in children, shrinks at puberty and calcification of this organ is typical in adults.
The pituitary is a small gland at the base of the brain just above the back of the nose and it secretes hormones that maintain homeostasis largely by influencing other components of the endocrine system. The pituitary is sometimes known as the "master gland" because of the control it exercises over other endocrine organs.The hormonal influence of this gland includes, but is not limited to:
The release of hormones from the pituitary is inhibited by increasing levels of hormones from the target glands on which they act. The evolutionary importance of the pituitary is reflected in the anatomical arrangement whereby it has its own well protected bony cavity in the centre of the skull.
The thyroid is a large gland situated in front of the windpipe at the base of the neck and its main function is to regulate growth and development through the production of thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine. The secretion of these hormones increases the rate at which the metabolism operates. Without a proper supply of thyroid hormones, animals & humans cannot grow, bones do not reach maturity and the brain does not develop properly.
The Template model proposes that part of the energetic function of the endocrine system is to transduce information, gathered by the pineal in the form of light, and to distribute this data-energy throughout the entire cellular network. Some of the cells that make up the pineal gland are sensitive to light and, in lower vertebrates, this organ is physically very much like a literal 'third eye'. Human sensitivity to light is well attested and, without access to full-spectrum light, people sicken and their physiology begins to weaken and collapse. On a more subtle level, at the moment of our first breath, we embody the influences recognised as our astrology through the instantaneous assimilation of starlight. Trees manufacture a large majority of the energy substances on which they feed directly from sunlight.
The calcification of the pineal after puberty is preventing the human entity from receiving or fully metabolising the light energy which is critical to its proper function.
The network of connections between the pituitary and the hypothalamus enable communication between this central gland and co-responding organs as each registers the hormonal feedback of the other. In this way the endocrine system can monitor itself and modify overall output through the mutual exchange of information. This network is also the point at which signals from the central nervous system can exert a direct influence on the endocrine organs. This network is the communication link that balances the input of light & subtle energies from the endocrine system with energy sources from the physical body and beyond. The pituitary/hypothalamus/pineal complex is the connection between the psychic body and the physical world, it is responsible for our experience of altered states and for our chemical responses to, and attitudes regarding, the shared consensual world.
The pituitary, the pineal and the thyroid are directly affected by the reconnection of the Air Circuits. The pituitary and the pineal are both associated with the function of the 3rd Eye Circuit and the body's ability to assimilate & distribute light. The thyroid is associated with the Throat Circuit and our ability to make full use of breath, the fuel of consciousness.
The thymus is one of the organs that is central to the proper function of the human immune system by the secretion of a hormone, in the developing organism, upon which the production of T-lymphocytes depends. The main part of the thymus' work is done between the later stages of gestation and puberty during which time it will produce most of the T-cells that will be carried during the lifetime of an individual. At puberty the thymus atrophies largely due to the increased production of sex hormones in the gonads.
The Thymus Circuit is among the first to be reconnected and is one of the Water Circuits. The t-cells manufactured and secreted by the thymus are a significant constituent of our body's immune defences. At the current functional level, our ability to manifest this class of immuno-defence is being compromised by the gonads, whose main functions centre on reproduction. This is the most fundamental point at which the human biocircuitry has become manifestly disfunctional. Here, as the body approaches and experiences puberty, the thymus slowly becomes less able to defend its host entity. At the same time, the ability to procreate comes to the fore and, at this most fundamental moment, there arises an awareness of a tension between death and procreation, the gift of life. Although our mortality is seen to be embedded deeply into the very core of our biochemistry, the Template Model is far from the first in proposing that mortality is not a limitation engraved in stone: It is, like all else in this living, breathing universe, negotiable. The reconnection of the Thymus Circuit begins to reinstate the whole human unit of circuitry as it is simultaneously an individual part, and a fractal counterpart, of the whole system.
The adrenal (or suprarenal) glands are situated one atop each kidney and their main function is to orchestrate response to stress through the secretion of corticosteroids and adrenalin. The adrenal medulla is the main source of adrenalin and noradrenalin. These hormones are secreted as a response to exciting, threatening or environmentally stressful conditions. The presence of adrenalin in the blood stream increases the rate and volume of heart beats, dilates the pupils and constricts arteries in the gut whilst dilating muscular arteries in preparation for running or fighting. This signal from the adrenal medulla also raises the level of glucose available in the blood by stimulating the transformation of glycogen and by breaking into energy stored in fat. The release of adrenalin also has a suppressant effect on the immune system.
The centre of each adrenal gland - the adrenal cortex - is connected, via the pituitary, with the hypothalamus. These cortical cells secrete steroid hormones such as cortisol, largely to elevate blood glucose levels, and aldosterone, to help maintain fluid balance & blood pressure through the metabolisation of sodium and potassium. The adrenal cortex also secretes many sex hormones including testosterone and oestrogens.
The adrenal glands have been associated traditionally with the spine, the root chakra and the maintenance of sexual potency. In the Template model these glands are aligned by functional resonance with the Fire Circuit whose connection point is, like the root chakra, in the perineum. These organs are associated also with the ability continually to rejuvenate the human physical structure.
"Taoists have long believed that physical immortality can be attained through continuous physical rejuvenation. Their system sees this rejuvenation occurring through the activation of the life-giving properties of hormones through sexual stimulation. Many Schools of Buddhism teach the practise of 'mindful breathing' that can lead to liberation from disease and death. Both continual rejuvenation and mindful breathing are components of the Template system of transcendence. The kidneys and the adrenal glands, especially the adrenal cortex, are cited as the regulators of the sexual potency that leads to the physical rejuvenation required for immortality. The reconnection of Circuitry throughout the Template leads to the rejuvenation of not only these glands but the entire endocrine system."
- from The Template; A Holonomic Model of Transcendence (p.39-40)
The pancreas is a large gland which lies on the back wall of the abdominal cavity. This organ has two complementary roles. The first is an exocrine function that secretes enzymes to break down foods as fuel for the biosystem, and the second is an endocrine function that distributes energy by secreting hormones to control glucose levels. Insulin is secreted to reduce bloodsugar levels and glucagon to raise them. In this way the pancreas transforms food from the environment into energy and manages the distribution of that energy through the entire system by means of sugars in our blood.
Gonads are the organs that nurture and distribute reproductive cells. The gonads produce ova or sperm that are capable of uniting, one with the other, to form the physical ground of a new being. The female ova and the male sperm become a single new cell. This cell carries all the data and resources needed to translate a series of external environments into physical form.
Like the pancreas, the gonads have both exocrine and endocrine functions. The external function is to ensure that sperm and ova are equipped to survive and unite successfully to form a new being. The internal task is to produce and secrete the hormones that maintain distinct male and female function. Predominantly these hormones are oestrogens & progesterone in women and testosterone in men and this output is supported and informed by similar secretions from the adrenal glands.
The cluster of embryonic cells that will form the foetus is, initially, androgynous. At the moment of differentiation the entire function of a single embryonic organ - its future, means of reproduction and the entire range of hormonal outputs - becomes a choice made between two organs. It is thought that this differentiation, the moment that births man or woman into the third dimension, is informed by a single gene.
The foundation circuit that affects the pancreas is the Solar Circuit which reinstates our physical resonant connection with the Sun, re-membering and synthesising anew the light and shadow of this phenomenal world. The gonads are addressed by the Pubic Circuit whose disconnection made dormant for eons the full promise of our sovereign sentient race. Together with the Heart Circuit, these energy pathways are the Ether Circuits and they connect the human directly with the mind of light beyond the Sun.
Ether informs the light body as surely as glucose informs the physical frame. It is through the action of these circuits and their macrocosmic counterparts that Ether, the 5th element, will soon make Light of the world.
The hypothalamus is a part of the forebrain and, in humans, it is located behind the eyes and above the pineal. Within this small structure are several smaller centres that are each holographically involved in many complex & interdependent processes. The hypothalamus links the endocrine system to the nervous system via the pituitary gland. This chemical link is forged and maintained by the secretion of neurohormones that stimulate or suppress output from the endocrine organs. Through its wealth of connections with major systems, the hypothalamus is sensitive to multiple stimuli, from daylength, pheromones & steroids, through neural transmitters, endocrine hormones, & bloodborne chemicals, to an array of electromagnetic & chemical inputs from the autonomic nervous system. It is clear that the integrity of the hypothalamus is essential to the functioning of all main physiological processes.
The subtle array of chemicals and transmitters that travel through and operate within the hypothalamus are the basis for our interpretation of the manifest world. It is the balance of these chemicals that maintains our belief in a consensus which, in its turn, maintains our world.
"When one ingests a psychedelic substance, its residue is found within the pituitary/hypothalamus/pineal complex. It is here that the ingested substance disturbs the delicate ratios that determine the balance of chemicals resonant with consensus reality. This alters the frequency waves being emitted by the brain and the visual/audible feedback of the environment mirrors this change. We call this hallucinating. Hallucinations are not false realities, they are alternate realities tuned into as a result of a change within the chemical balance of the brain. When we revitalise the pituitary/hypothalamus/pineal complex, returning it to its original function, we will be establishing a new brain chemistry, organically."
- from The Template; A Holonomic Model of Transcendence (p.70)
The foundation ceremony of the Template begins the revitalisation of this magical complex by reconnecting the Earth Circuit. The entry of this Circuit into the biosystem coincides precisely with the medulla oblongata, the point at which the spine enters the brain, where above and below are reconciled, within and without become one. As the hypothalamus gives the appearance of form to consciousness, so the Earth circuit connects our homeostatic systems to the rhythmic pulse of our crystal Earth, the Mother of Consciousness.
All matter, animate and inanimate, is an expression of waves of electromagnetic energy given form by the lenses of gravitational fields and light. The part of this wave that is human expression is at once focused, in-formed and fuelled by endocrine metabolisation of energy on several distinct but interdependent levels. This is the home that consciousness built.
The human entity is a fountain of form and energy, constantly transforming light, frequency & movement into substance and action, infinitely absorbing, transforming and re-transmitting not only matter but photons, light itself. The Template ceremonies engage with the individual at this energetic level. Through communion with sacred geometric form, through ceremonial interaction with crystals, fire and our own internal sun, the spoken code of the foundation ceremony reconnects circuits of electromagnetic integrity. These circuits are energy bearing links that directly affect the level of function in our endocrine glands and their resonant counterparts, the chakras. As these systems are reinstated in individuals, humanity becomes better equipped to metabolise the full spectrum of radiant energies of which it is an expression and for which it is a lense.
transform now - enjoy the rush
This document draws on information gleaned from assorted dictionaries, medical encyclopedias and wikipedia. At http://en.wikipedia.org/ there is much more information on all of these astonishing organs, each of which serve a bewildering array of functions that are beyond the scope of this introduction.
nickm, template ambassador, mid-Wales, November 2015
except where otherwise stated, all material & imagery is copyright © either to Juliet & Jiva Carter or to nickm