Part of the Casswiki article series Natural science
The pineal gland is a reddish colored cone-shaped mass of about 8 mm in diameter, located deep inside the brain. The pineal gland’s clinical term is epiphysis, from the IE root bheu- (to be, exist, grow), forming the Greek word epiphusis meaning “an excrescence” (an outgrowth, usually an abnormal, unwanted or unnecessary one). Indeed, as the name suggests, this gland was somewhat of a mystery and one of the last glands in the brain to have its purpose and function discovered.
It is now known to be responsible for regulating the production of melatonin, which in turn regulates the body’s sleep-wake cycles. There is also evidence that the pineal gland produces the psychedelic substance DMT, and it is this chemical that is thought to play a part in dreams, hallucinations and other psychic and mystical experiences.
The pineal gland has been very popular topic of discussion in occult and New Age circles. Already in the 1600’s, Rene Descartes referred to the pineal gland as “the seat of the soul”. This notion was later picked up by H.P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement, and has since been reintroduced into New Age thought. In New Age circles, the pineal gland is considered the physical equivalent of the ‘third eye’, and believed to be the uplink to psychic sight and higher realms of thought.
In the Cassiopaean material, it is not the pineal, but the pituitary gland which is said to have the function often attributed to the pineal gland. The two following sections of the transcripts mention the pituitary gland in this context:
Q: (A) Which part of a human extends into 4th density?
A: That which is effected by pituitary gland.
Q: (L) And what is that?
A: Psychic.
[…]
Q: (J) What exactly is the function of the pituitary gland in your references to Stonehenge?
A: This gland is your uplink.
Both the pituitary and the pineal glands are part of the endocrine system. The pituitary gland is sometimes referred to as the ‘master gland’ of the body because it makes the hormones the other glands depend on. It is these secretions from the pituitary that stimulates the other endocrine glands in the system.