Psychonaut: Sailor of the Mind

Psychonautics from the Greek psychē "soul", "spirit" or "mind" and naútēs "sailor" or "navigator" — "a sailor of the soul/mind"

Psychonautics is the exploration of the psyche. A person who uses altered states for such exploration is known as a psychonaut.

A psychonaut seeks to investigate their mind using intentionally induced altered states of consciousness" for spiritual, scientific, or research purposes.

A psychonaut often embarks on inner voyages with the aid of psychedelic substances such as psilocybin, LSD, MDMA (ecstasy), peyote, or mescalin.

This is why the term is often associated with drug use. Psychonautics need not be synonymous with psychedelics or new age metaphysics. The psychonaut is merely an explorer of the mind and there are multiple approaches to this end like techniques such as meditation, fasting, rituals, praying, hypnosis, lucid dreaming, sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation, oxygen deprivation, breath work, brainwave entrainment (by means of light, sound, or electrical impulses, including: mind machines, dreamachines, binaural beats, and cranial electrotherapy stimulation), trance inducing dance (like Sufi whirling can also be used to induce altered state of consciousness), and other mind-altering practices.

These may be used in combination; for example, traditions such as shamanism may combine ritual, fasting, and hallucinogenic substances.

The German chemist, Arthur Heffter, was the first to gain the title of psychonaut, a name given to him by Ernst Jünger in his logbook of personal drug experimentation Annaherungen: Drogen und Rausch (Drugs and Inebriation). Heffter was defined in this way as a result of his self-experimentation with the four pure alkaloids that he had isolated from peyotl in the late 1890s. His ingestion of these alkaloids revealed mescaline hydrochloride to be the active entheogenic principle of Lophora williamsii (peyotl/peyote), and his experience marked the world’s first ‘trip’ with a purified chemical compound. As a result of this, the Heffter Technique now refers to human self-experimentation with psychoactive compounds otherwise known as the psychonautic bioassay.

The American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, philosopher, writer and inventor John C. Lilly is another well-known psychonaut. Lilly was interested in the nature of consciousness and, amongst other techniques, he used isolation tanks in his research.

Philosophical- and Science-fiction author Philip K. Dick has also been described as a psychonaut for several of his works such as The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

Another influential psychonaut is the psychologist and writer Timothy Leary. Leary is known for controversial talks and research on the subject; he wrote several books including The Psychedelic Experience.

Another widely known psychonaut is the American philosopher, ethnobotanist, lecturer, and author Terence McKenna. McKenna spoke and wrote about subjects including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, culture, technology, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness.

Book recommendation: 

LSD My Problem Child: Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism and Science by Albert Hofmann - a must read by the father of LSD

The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley (1956) - probably THE psychedelic classic

The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary

True Hallucinations by Terence McKenna (1993)

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda (1985)

The Joyous Cosmology: Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness by Alan W. Watts

Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You & Your World by Robert Anton Wilson

Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson.

Liber Null & Psychonaut: An Introduction to Chaos Magic by Peter J. Carroll.

You can find some of these book on the right bar of our site.


Also read:

• What is Gnosis?
• Sufi Dancing and Islamic Mysticism
• Staring into someone’s eyes for 10 minutes induces an altered state of consciousness
• Chaos Magick: Unlocking the Power of the Subconscious Mind
• Binaural Beats: how these otherworldly sounds can alleviate stress and improve overall health

White Tigress Sexual Teachings

The origin of the White Tigress teachings appear to have been derived from instructions given to the Yellow Emperor (Huang Ti, circa 2500 B.C.E.) through three female attendants of the Western Royal Mother, who in Chinese mythical history is supposedly the matriarch of Chinese civilization. Her three female attendants—Plain Girl, Multihued Girl, and Mysterious Girl—each provided sexual instructions to the Yellow Emperor so that he might regain his health and attain immortality. The Western Royal Mother herself reportedly attained immortality through gathering and absorbing the sexual essences of twelve hundred males. From the White Tigress Manual there is the following descriptive quote of the Western Royal Mother as given by Mysterious Girl to the Yellow Emperor: 

Western Royal Mother obtained immortality through restoring her feminine energy. Her energy became so strong that when she lured a man’s Jade Stem [penis] near her mouth, with even one union he would fall exhausted, while her face glowed radiantly with his essence upon it. She no longer had need for any type of cosmetics. She could absorb the essence of a hundred men without causing herself any exhaustion, as her body was like that of a young girl full of vitality and stamina. Loving men the way they wished to be loved and knowing the secret of yin convergence [the secret of immortality] made her an immortals.

The White Tigress would orally seduce men of her choosing wherever and whenever possible in order to ensure her acquiring large quantities of semen, increase her production of saliva, make the oral activity more intense and passionate, and enhance her experiences for absorption of male sexual energy.

Within the White Tigress Manual, and in Japanese Geisha documents as well, it says:

With each act of intensely performing oral sex and congealing of semen she increases her life span by seven days. With those experiences where she enters deep contemplation of absorbing male sexual energy, she increases her life span by twenty-eight days. With each act of engaging in sexual intercourse her life span is decreased by seven days.

From the teachings of the Western Royal Mother there then developed numerous sexual arts that found their way into the culture of consorts, concubines, and Taoism. Many of these original teachings, however, came to just pay attention on the male achievement of immortality, per the instructions given to the Yellow Emperor. As China developed into a very patriarchal society, men attempted to shield the practices of the Western Royal Mother from falling into women’s hands.

Master Ch’ung Ho said: “It’s not only male sexual energy that can be cultivated, the female can cultivate hers as well. Western Royal Mother is a female who obtained immortality by replenishing her yin forces with the yang. Every time she engaged in sex with a man, he fell ill [the scare tactic], but her own face would be so smooth and glowing that she had no use for facial powders or rouge. She nourished herself on milk and played the five-stringed lute [allusions to semen and the five parts of the penis], and while she did so her heart was harmonious, her thoughts composed, and she was without extraneous desires. Western Royal Mother enjoyed having sex with men of all ages. Her secrets, however, must not be revealed, lest other women want to imitate her methods."

Because of this male perspective, the teachings of the Western Royal Mother were never popularly disseminated in China, especially during the Chou dynasty (1122 B.C.E—255 B.C.E)

There is a very well balanced protocol and demeanor within a White Tigress’s life. Great attention is paid not only to sexuality, but dietary, herbal usage, hygiene, exercise, appearance, and behavior. Outwardly, she may appear submissive, but inwardly she is focused and self- controlled. Interestingly enough, White Tigresses learned long ago to use their full femininity to empower themselves, rather than attempting to discard it. Curiously, it is odd that in such male dominated societies of China and Japan it was the consorts and geishas who held such incredible power and influence over men. Indeed, for men to even climb the social and power ladders of those societies they relied heavily upon the expert advice of these women, for they knew men better than men knew themselves.

As the moralist Confucians dominated social culture and philosophy. The teachings given to the Yellow Emperor from the Plain Girl were, however, widespread as they contained arts that enhanced a man’s health and progress toward immortality. The teachings that benefited women were maintained and transmitted primarily in secrecy through small clusters of consorts and female Taoists who maintained the sexual practices for purposes of achieving restoration of youthfulness and immortality.

The most popular Taoist sect that helped preserve the teachings of the White Tigress is credited to the Cheng-I Chen Jen (Right Unity of Realized Persons), formed (Yuan dynasty, circa 1200 C.E.) from the resurgence of the older Celestial Masters of Dragon and Tiger Mountain sect created by the earlier Han dynasty Taoist priest Chang Tao Ling (died 178 C.E., considered the first Taoist pope of sorts). From records within the White Tigress lineage, there appears to have been a great deal of support of their practices from the Cheng-I Chen Jen sect headquartered at the Heavenly Vault Monastery near Taihu Lake and Soochow Province, especially during the Ch’ing dynasty (1644 C.E. up to the time of Mao Tse Tung’s communist takeover of China).


Also read:

• The Three Treasures and Sexual Energy Cultivation

Everything is Energy

Nobel Prize winning physicists have proven beyond doubt that the physical world is one large sea of energy that flashes into and out of being in milliseconds, over and over again.

Nothing is solid.

Thoughts are what put together and hold together this ever-changing energy field into the ‘objects’ that we see.

So why do we see a person instead of a flashing cluster of energy?

Think of a movie reel.

A movie is a collection of about 24 frames a second. Each frame is separated by a gap. However, because of the speed at which one frame replaces another, our eyes get cheated into thinking that we see a continuous and moving picture.

Think of television.

A TV tube is simply a tube with heaps of electrons hitting the screen in a certain way, creating the illusion of form and motion.

This is what all objects are anyway. You have 5 physical senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste).

Each of these senses has a specific spectrum (for example, a dog hears a different range of sound than you do; a snake sees a different spectrum of light than you do; and so on).

In other words, your set of senses perceives the sea of energy from a certain limited standpoint and makes up an image from that.

It is not complete, nor is it accurate. It is just an interpretation.

All of our interpretations are solely based on the ‘internal map’ of reality that we have, and not the real truth. Our ‘map’ is a result of our personal life’s collective experiences.

Our thoughts are linked to this invisible energy and they determine what the energy forms. Your thoughts literally shift the universe on a particle-by-particle basis to create your physical life.

Look around you.

Everything you see in our physical world started as an idea, an idea that grew as it was shared and expressed, until it grew enough into a physical object through a  number of steps.

You literally become what you think about most.

Your life becomes what you have imagined and believed in most.

The world is literally your mirror, enabling you to experience in the physical plane what you hold as your truth … until you change it.

The world is not the hard and unchangeable thing it may appear to be. Instead, it is a very fluid place continuously built up using our individual and collective thoughts.

What we think is true is really an illusion, almost like a magic trick.

Fortunately we have begun to uncover the illusion and most importantly, how to change it.

What is your body made of?

Nine systems comprise the human body including Circulatory, Digestive, Endocrine, Muscular, Nervous, Reproductive, Respiratory, Skeletal, and Urinary.

What are those made up of?

Tissues and organs.

What are tissues and organs made of?

Cells.

What are cells made of?

Molecules.

What are molecules made of?

Atoms.

What are atoms made of?

Sub-atomic particles.

What are subatomic particles made of?

Energy!

You and I are pure energy-light in its most beautiful and intelligent configuration. Energy that is constantly changing beneath the surface and you control it all with your powerful mind.

You are one big stellar and powerful Human Being.

If you could see yourself under a powerful electron microscope and conduct other experiments on yourself, you would see that you are made up of a cluster of ever-changing energy in the form of electrons, neutrons, photons and so on.

So is everything else around you. 

Your world is made of spirit, mind and body.

Each of those three, spirit, mind and body, has a function that is unique to it and not shared with the other. What you see with your eyes and experience with your body is the physical world, which we shall call Body. Body is an effect, created by a cause.

This cause is Thought.

Body cannot create. It can only experience and be experienced … that is its unique function.

Thought cannot experience … it can only make up, create and interpret. It needs a world of relativity (the physical world, Body) to experience itself.

Spirit is All That Is, that which gives Life to Thought and Body.

Body has no power to create, although it gives the illusion of power to do so. This illusion is the cause of much frustration. Body is purely an effect and has no power to cause or create.

The key with all of this information is how do you learn to see the universe differently than you do now so that you can manifest everything you truly desire.


Also read:

• The Protective Aura
• Your words have power
• The Science of Healing Thoughts

Science finally proves meridians exist

What the merging of Spirituality and Science means for you

“In every culture and in every medical tradition before ours, healing was accomplished by moving energy.” – Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Biochemist and Nobel Prize Winner.

For centuries the ancient wisdom keepers and healers in several traditions had a keen understanding of the energetic body. The healing traditions from China, India, Japan and Tibet, as well as other countries all spoke of energy channels, meridians or nadis along which the vital energy flowed.

Life was considered to be a bio-electrical and vibrational energy phenomenon and so health revolved around balancing energy through various means. Life existed because of life force and energy running through and animating the body, ensuring we can move, breathe, digest food, think and even feel.

Energy channels

This vital life force or chi, is composed of two kinds of forces, yin and yang, and flows along a sophisticated network of energy pathways, or highways, circuiting the body. Over 2000 years ago ancient cultures knew of the existence of these energy channels. They were called ‘sen’ in Thailand, ‘nadis’ in India, ‘meridians’, ‘channels’ or ‘vessels’ in China and Japan, and ‘channels’ in Tibet. In India, where many eastern healing arts developed, there were said to be 72 000 nadis or energy pathways. Disease is believed to be a blockage in the energy flow of these channels. A range of healing traditions, including acupuncture, acupressure, massage and yoga, are founded on the principle of the existence of energy channels or pathways, known as meridians, or nadis, running around the body in an expansive network.

While it may seem a little airy fairy to some to consider the energy body while we have flesh and bone, at source we are an energy field, embedded into another energy field. Our bodies are electromagnetic in nature and science has measured these frequencies with advanced machines, like EKG’s and MRI scanning, for many years. Numerous studies demonstrate these energy pathways and points conduct electricity even when needles aren’t used. And the massage technique of Shiatsu have been found to stimulate the same energetic effects. Similarly, Qigong,Tai Chi and the postures of yoga, have been found to increase electrical conductance at acupoints, yet science never believed in the existence of meridians until now.

Scientific research

Recently scientists at Seoul National University confirmed the existence of meridians, which they refer to as the “primo-vascular system.” They say that this system is a crucial part of the cardiovascular system.

Previously, North Korean scientist Kim Bong-Han proposed that he had found meridians in the early 1960’s.  Dr Kim Bong-Han showed over 50 years ago that new tubular structures exist inside and outside of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, as well as on the surface of internal organs and under the dermis. He believed they were the traditional meridian lines. The meridians were called Bonghan ducts or channels, after his research, but now the existence of this system in various organs has been corroborated by further research.

The current Korean researchers now believe the primo-vascular system is in fact the physical component of the Acupuncture Meridian System. And it has also been suggested that this system is involved in channelling the flow of energy and information relayed by biophotons (electromagnetic waves of light) and DNA.

The Korean scientists studying oriental medicine with biophysical methods injected a special staining dye which coloured the meridians. By injecting the dye onto acupuncture points, they were able to see thin lines. These did not show up at non-acupuncture point sites where there are no meridians. The researchers discovered that the meridian lines are not confined to the skin, but are in fact a concrete duct system through which liquid flows, and that this liquid aggregates to form stem cells.

Previously, scientists used a combination of imaging techniques and CT scans to observe concentrated points of microvascular structures that clearly correspond to the map of acupuncture points created by Chinese energy practitioners in ancient times. In a study published in the Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, researchers used contrast CT imaging with radiation on both non-acupuncture points and acupuncture points. The CT scans revealed clear distinctions between the non-acupuncture point and acupuncture point anatomical structures.

Scientists injected a special staining dye which coloured the meridians.

The meridian system

There are 12 primary paired meridians and two single mid meridians, six yang and six yin. The yang meridians run down the body and the yin meridians flow up the body. Each meridian is also related to an element. Each meridian is most active at a certain time of the day or night and each meridian is influenced by an element or season.

The nature of meridians, in their elemental structure, and as vessels for the life force, show the intricacy and profound connection of our body at a cellular level, to the universe. We are intimately connected by the elements, energetic structure and flow of energy, to all life, at a cellular, physical level. Our earth is also said to have energetic pathways or ley lines, akin to meridians.

How are meridians related to health?

Our bodies need balance. A balanced flow or energy, not too much or too little, is conducive to good health. This is the same in the way we live our lives. Balance is paramount. Just enough food, water and a healthy balanced lifestyle. As the Buddha said: “middle way” or moderation in all things.

We can see this harmony and balance in life, as the balance between the energies of yin and yang – or more simplistically, masculine and feminine – the two opposing and catalyzing energies of the universe.

Our health is vibrant if there is harmony and balance between these two forces in the body. If the balance is disturbed, and the flow of one of these forces becomes greater than the other then illness arises. These forces or energies flow through very definite channels in the body, or meridians, and these are the body’s healing energy pathways.

In traditional Indian medicine, the meridians are expanded upon.There are nadis found within the physical body and these nadis make up the nervous system, the circulatory system, the digestive system, the respiratory system, the lymphatic systems, etc. Any blockages in these nadis can result in physical health conditions. Nadis can also be found in the subtle body where they carry thoughts, feelings, and nerve impulses. When these nadis are blocked, we lose our ability to feel, and connect deeply with others, the environment and ourselves. In the same way that veins and arteries are important for the body to function, nadis weave through our physical nerves and the matrix of consciousness that circuits the mind and self, supporting our physical expression from the otherworldly dimensions of existence.

When the flow of energy is blocked, it causes low energy and illness. Practices like yoga and meditation work on these subtle energy channels, supporting the flow of energy through the body. According to some ancient indian texts there are 350 000 nadis or energy pathways in the body. In traditional Indian medicine and spiritual science, the energies of the physical body, the subtle body and the causal body are said to flow through the nadis. Within this framework, the nadis are said to connect at special points of intensity called nadichakras.

A range of healing traditions are founded on the principle of the meridians.

The three most important nadis are those running along the spine: ida, pingala and sushumna. The Sushumna is the central channel of energy in the human body and it runs from the base of the spine to the crown of the head and carries kundalini energy, which is the primal evolutionary force. Kundalini is awakened through yoga and meditation and is said to lie dormant at the base of the spine. Activation of the kundalini leads to higher consciousness states. The aim of yoga is to broaden the sushumna and to unite the pathways. Purifying all three nadis leads to overall health, and wellness of body and mind, as well as spiritual growth. Various Pranayama techniques aid in helping to keep these nadi channels open.

If you are sensitive to energy and have had energy treatments, such as acupuncture, you may have felt streams of energy or a flow of cold or heat, for example, up the legs or arms. This is a freeing up of energy in the meridians and the flow of energy that is released when a blockage is removed.

There are many wonderful healing modalities based on the meridian system that support radiant health. By enhancing the flow of energy through the body, balance and health is achieved and we come in touch with our true selves. Acupuncture is a therapeutic modality used in China as early as the late stone age. It was used to treat all ailments affecting people. Acupuncture did not enter modern Western consciousness until the 1970’s when China ended a period of isolation and resumed foreign political and cultural contacts.

The range of applications for acupuncture has grown slowly in the West, possibly because of the belief that it has no scientific basis.  Perhaps now with the scientific proof of meridians, acupuncture will become more widespread for all ailments, along with other great healing modalities based on the energetics of the body, supporting more people to have vibrant health and wellbeing.


Also read: Humans glow in the dark

Source: uplift

Is meditation key to a youthful mind? Meditation could help brain become 7 years younger

Meditation doesn’t just free the mind, it could also keep it young. Regular meditation knocks seven and a half years off the middle-aged brain, a study found.

The researchers said that the combination of intense concentration and relaxation may trigger the growth of new brain cells. And while they didn’t look at whether the meditators were also smarter, brain shrinkage is linked to Alzheimer’s and other memory-robbing diseases.

The scientists scanned the brains of 50 American men and women who regularly meditated and 50 non-meditators. The scans were fed into a computer program that analysed the images and provided an age for each brain based on its physical condition. The results were striking.

In general, the non-meditators’ brain age and actual age were the same, so a 55 year old’s brain looked like it was 55.

However, the meditators’ brains were younger than their years, with the average 50-year-old having a brain that belonged in a 42 or 43 year-old’s body.

The benefits were particularly great for the older meditators, for every extra year past 50, a youth spent mediating knocked an extra year off brain age, the journal NeuroImage reports.

Researcher Christian Gaser, of Jena University Hospital in Germany, said: ‘These findings seem to suggest that meditation is beneficial for brain preservation, with a slower rate of brain ageing throughout life.’

Dr Gaser, who collaborated with US And Australian scientists on the study, said it isn’t clear how meditation protects the brain but that it is possible that the ‘intense mental processes’ trigger the growth of new cells and connection.

The chemicals behind the feel-good feeling produced by meditation may also provide a boost.

However, he cautioned that those who mediate may lead healthier lifestyles in general. It is also possible that some inherent difference in brain structure makes particular people more likely to take up meditating.

Those studied had practised various types of traditional mediation for average of 20 years – and some did seven sessions a week or had more than 40 years’ experience under their belt.

It isn’t clear from the results if shorter bursts are also beneficial or if mindfulness, the ‘meditation-lite’ technique that is becoming increasing popular, would have the same effect.

Interestingly, the scans revealed that meditation isn’t the only way to keep the mind youthful – being female also helps. The women’s brains were, on average, three years younger than the men’s, whether they meditated or not.

Meditation is credited with boosting health in numerous ways, from boosting creativity to improving the immune system.

The list of reasons why you might want to consider meditating was already long. Besides its much-touted benefits as a stress reducer, meditation has been credited from boosting creativity to improving the immune system. Plus, getting started with mindfulness is probably easier than you think.

So why not give it a try?

Also read:
Harvard study shows meditation rebuilds brain's gray matter in 8 weeks

What is Gnosis?

Gnosis (Greek γνώσις) Knowledge.

The word Gnosis refers to the knowledge we acquire through our own experience, as opposed to knowledge that we are told or believe in. Gnosis - by whatever name in history or culture - is conscious, experiential knowledge, not merely intellectual or conceptual knowledge, belief, or theory. This term is synonymous with the Sanskrit "Jna."

The Hebrews describe Gnosis with the Da'at. A Hebrew word for knowledge, that in the Kabbalah describes a mystical state one has as they ascend up the tree of life to then reach the self-giving Divine Light. The ancient Egyptians had described the Gnostic experience in many texts of their proverbs such as; "The body is the house of God," and "Man, know thyself... and thou shalt know the gods.

Gnosis comes from within each one of us through the secret knowledge of all things hidden. Gnosis in its purest form is the intuitive spiritual knowledge that comes with knowing thyself and thyspirit. Plato describes this process when he says "all learning is remembering." He calls this a recollection and restoration of the views a person once had, and original knowledge that was once lost. Today science describes part of this Gnostic experience that Plato had described as intuition.

The Valentinians (Valentinus) taught that gnosis was the privileged Gnosis kardias, "knowledge of the heart" or "insight" about the spiritual nature of the cosmos that brought about salvation to the pneumatics— the name given to those believed to have reached the final goal of sanctity. The Sethians understood themselves to be children of Adam and Eve, through Seth who had walked the Right Hand Path (RHP) which is the path of the heart. The path of water. All desire, learning and the Great Work is done through our hearts, rather than just the mind.

It is self-knowledge through ongoing self-awareness and self-consciousness that can only be reached by quiet contemplation, and deep thought. Self-Awareness Theory states that when we focus our attention on ourselves, we evaluate and compare our current behavior to our internal standards and values. Gnosis is the self-knowledge that each one of us needs to develop in order to evolve our souls to the next level for our next incarnation.

"Gnosis is the flame from which all religions sprouted, because in its depth Gnosis is religion. The word “religion” comes from the Latin word “religare,” which implies “to link the Soul to God”; so Gnosis is the very pure flame from where all religions sprout, because Gnosis is Knowledge, Gnosis is Wisdom."

- Samael Aun Weor, The Esoteric Path

Staring into someone’s eyes for 10 minutes induces an altered state of consciousness

You may have been told you have mesmerizing or hypnotic eyes.

Now a psychologist has found that staring into someone’s eyes for 10 minutes can cause you to hallucinate.

In an experiment, people claimed to have experienced an altered state of consciousness, including seeing distorted faces and even monsters.

Giovanni Caputo of the University of Urbino in Italy conducted the experiment in a dimly-lit room where 20 volunteers were asked to stare into each other’s eyes continuously for 10 minutes, the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest reported. 

They were not told the purpose of the experiment, other than it was a ‘meditative experience with eyes open’.

The volunteers sat in pairs three feet (one metre) away from each other in the room, which was low lit to dampen their colour perception while allowing the participants to easily see their partner’s facial features.

Another control group of 20 were asked to sit in an identically lit room and stare at a blank wall for the same amount of time. 

After 10 minutes, all the participants were asked to complete questionnaires about their experience of the experiment.

One asked them what they saw in their partner’s face, and the other about feelings of dissociation, or detachment from their surroundings.

The volunteers in the eye-staring group reported feeling different to before, including losing their connection with reality.

They also said that sounds seemed quieter or louder than expected, time seemed to drag and they felt spaced out.

A total of 90% of the eye-staring group said they saw deformed facial features, with three quarters of the group claiming to have seen monsters.

Half said they saw some of their own facial features in their partner's face and 15 per cent said they saw a relative's face.

The study found that dissociative symptoms and 'face dysmorphia' were correlated, but strange-face apparitions such as monsters and dissociation were not.

‘These results indicate that dissociative symptoms and hallucinatory phenomena during interpersonal-gazing under low illumination can involve different processes,’ Dr Caputo writes in the paper, published in the journal Psychiatry Research

Dr Caputo believes there is something about staring into another person’s eyes that has a profound effect on people’s perception and mental states.

He writes that 'strange-face apparitions' may occur during the rebound to ‘reality’ from the exercise, which he describes as a ‘dissociative state induced by sensory deprivation’.

The results seem to support the psychologist’s previous study which involved 50 volunteers staring at themselves in a mirror for 10 minutes, Science Alert reported.

The 2010 experiment found that people started seeing ‘strange face illusions’ after just one minute and all of them experienced a feeling of ‘otherness’.

Some saw their own facial feature change or those of other people, ancestors or animals as well as monsters, Scientific American reported.