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by L. Rae Lake

(Please note: this article concerns hormonal, not genetic factors in childbirth. Visualization may have a hormonal effect on a pregnancy but in no way affects a genetically troubled pregnancy. Ideas in this article are experimental and under no circumstances should they replace conventional birth control methods, or normal medical advice. rl).

The Spiritual (not Religious) Nature of Sexual Decisions

Sex isn't personal, squeamishness is personal. Intimate feelings and inhibitions are personal--even our choice of birth control is personal--but the human sexual impulse is not. For people with bodies, pregnancy is the ordained consequence of unprotected heterosexual intercourse. Even babies are sexual beings, for both sexual impulse and sexual predisposition are present at birth.

When the occasion arises, 'just say no' only works with a degree of physical control rarely found in teenagers. Even subteens experiment. Sooner or later, nice kids, our kids, need adult help to avoid the consequences of their experimentations. Cynicism about lack of adult support is apparent in the saying 'you play, you pay'. We help our children scholastically, financially, medically, so why not sexually?

The real moral issue in sex isn't youthful promiscuity, it is parents shrinking away in distaste from practical, timely sexual responsibilities to their ten-year olds. It is children begetting children.

The most serious issue for the future of humanity is neither sex nor pregnancy, it's fear. We're raising a generation of fearful youngsters. Fear of sex, fear of pregnancy, fear of AIDS, fear of exposure, fear of commitment, fear of failure. Conflict is fragmenting our communities and our families. This stupefying shame is nothing more than self-conscious, false embarrassment, or 'the last vestige of Victorian reticence'. To succeed, young people need to be fearless, confident. The fearful don't do well in school, in life, or in business. And even if teens are frightened into abstinence, what will fear of sex do to future generations? It's a pity we don't have parenting contracts for dating teens, something economically enforceable when any girl gets pregnant. If a boyfriend won't sign a parenting contract before sex, a girl knows precisely where she stands.

Instructed by movies and television, young people tend to view sex as a romantic form of entertainment with lurking, hidden dangers--or a means to alleviate boredom. How then can sex be restored to reproductive respectability in the mass consciousness? One way is better instruction on our role in making reproductive choices, and the clear detailing of those choices.

If, or perhaps I should say as women become able by the innate will of their own integrated intelligence to negate conception hormonally, what might be the ramifications for humanity? How might things change for women? If women become able--at will--to start their period through hormonal self-control, could unwanted pregnancies be avoided or voided, eliminating the need for abortion?

On reproductive issues, these are historical times when even the possibility of a new human talent or skill or realization can have a profoundly uplifting effect on the situation. By examining the subjective significance of the process of human birth, new ideas emerge which might in time alter our understanding of human reproduction. These ideas include hormonal self-control and hormonal decision-making.

Reflecting on the variety of related scientific data, it seems entirely plausible that from prior to conception (whether mundane, accidental or divine), during the brief eight weeks of the embryonic phase of pregnancy, an intuitive choice is subjectively perceivable--will you accept this pregnancy? yes or no?

Reproductive choice or decision is perceivable and can be exercised on two distinct levels, hormonal choice and physical choice.   Descriptive terms are not adequately formulated for the distinctions here, but using the ageless wisdom, hormonal choice would operate under the subjective Principle of Decision, while physical choice operates under the objective Principle of Conflict.   The vast majority of women (and men for that matter!) are only aware of their physical reproductive choices, in spite of the fact that there is another level of choice available.  Together, these two levels essentially describe the inner and outer nature of all human choice.  Our awareness of having two options depends for the most part on three critical factors: mental skills, sensitivity, and not merely control of the physical body but personality self-control.

We are each composed of body, mind and abstract spirit or intelligence. It is important to grasp that these two distinct levels of reproductive choice (overlapping and interdependent) are both psychological choices--choices made by the psyche, the soul. Both hormonal and physical choices (either conscious or by default) are made by each of us, all the time, from preconception through the embryonic and fetal stages, and from birth to death, at each and every stage of human life.

Even prior to conception, Life Itself demands a definite decision, a timely yes or no. The fact that a woman's egg must be made 'hormonally attractive' in order for a sperm to locate it suggests that hormonal decisions are made by each sexually-active female whether she knows it or not. It also appears that the female (on some level) decides which sperm will gain access.  So conscious, active choice is definitely better, and certainly more interesting, than the alternative.  The two alternatives are:

1. Hormonal Choice under the subjective Principle of Decision.

Perhaps birth, like death, is a subtle, intuitive or abstract decision and as such, some few may consciously recognize this opportunity to participate in that decision. Where birth is concerned, those who can successfully choose no in hormonal terms early in the pregnancy may start their period and experience a miscarriage, called spontaneous abortion.

Although most people include under 'mind' our thoughts, emotions, beliefs and fantasies, what we think and what we feel do not constitute effective hormonal decision. Regardless of what we think, an unconscious, hormonal assent-by-default takes precedence over any and all conscious emotional reactions, whether the woman is happy with the pregnancy or was unwillingly impregnated, and this apparent inconsistency has kept the intuitive side of choice obscured.

The abstract aspect of mind capable of triggering hormonal response is essentially, synonymous with spirit.  Only working from the abstract nature of our own intelligence is free will mentally self-directed. Note this well.  This subtle, abstractly intuitive (not emotional) 'level' is accessible to all but used by very few. Failure to exercise an abstractly effective dissent to a pregnancy is taken by the chemical and hormonal elements of the body as an automatic, unconscious assent and, if not aborted, in due course a baby is born whether wanted or unwanted. (Rather like a book club notice, lacking a response, a yes is assumed and a book sent.)

2. Physical Choice under the objective Principle of Conflict.

In addition to whether one will even have sex are further choices about contraception. And when pregnancy occurs, advances in prenatal technology are forcing pregnant women into a virtual maze of decision making. To test or not to test? has become the question. Even those who don't believe in abortion may recognize that physical necessity occasionally demands choice. This type of objective, physical decision is the basis of the movement for reproductive choice.

Upon learning they are pregnant, some women choose to have babies; others choose abortion, both choices in response to physical, psychological or environing circumstances. Inner conflict can result equally from an hormonal yes and a physical no, or an hormonal no and a physical yes, compounded by anger or guilt imposed by the ideas and opinion of others. It is equally possible, because free will is mentally self-directed, that a woman may consciously want a baby (while exercising unconscious hormonal dissent) yet remain unaware of the obstructing conflict.

Every pregnant female of any age is by definition 'a woman'. A woman who is ready to have a baby is making a moral decision and she deserves our support. A woman who is not ready to bear a child and to provide it with the security it deserves is also making a moral decision and deserves our support as well.

When the Decision is Yes

If a pregnancy is planned or intentional, or comes as welcome news for the mother, assent is implicit. It is great for the expected child, for the family, and for society. But even for these fortunate ones, the added benefit of purposeful, knowledgeable, conscious assent based on maternal choice is enormous.

Choices clarify priorities and focus attention. Affirmative decision, based on a previously unnoticed hormonal choice, can be enormously beneficial. If one intends to say yes-without-question, how can the idea of choice in any way be threatening? If this special, subtle moment of choice is recognized, considered, and the conscious decision is a resounding yes, then a purer quality, stress-free maternal attitude (so critical in pregnancy) assures optimum hormonal stability.

When the Decision is No

The human mind knows much of which the physical brain (an element of the body) is unaware and the curious task of the rational individual is to inform the conscious brain of the mind's decision. In turn, the conscious portion of the brain must then instruct the unconscious or autonomic portion of the brain, the hypothalamus. Remember, the brain speaks only in images, not words, so use visualization (meditative mental visualization or correct imagery, not emotional prayer).

Based on the ageless wisdom teachings (yoga sutras) of Patanjali, "Definite visualization of the effect of that which has been thought and imagined, as it will manifest on the physical plane life...will be found to generate energy. This means consequently that the etheric body becomes vitalized or energized by the new thought current and certain transformations and reorganizations take place which eventually cause a complete change in [physical] activities" (The Light of the Soul, Book II, Sutra 33, Alice A. Bailey, p. 192).

Women have an innate ability to affect their own hormones and, through visualization or imagery and with practice, some few may, at will, start the sloughing process of menstruation which negates or leads to termination of pregnancy. (Note that not all bleeding in early pregnancy is menstruation, and therefore, not all bleeding terminates pregnancy.) If one starts a period by any means, including informed imagery, after the first month, it is necessary to seek a simple, medical D & C (dilation and curettage) to prevent infection, because beyond four weeks menstruation might only start the process of miscarriage.

Throughout all stages of pregnancy, maternal attitude is considered a clinical risk factor. No wonder. Even a novice with a stop watch can affect his own pulse rate. Consider for a moment the growing effectiveness of various mental techniques for stress management--biofeedback, meditation, visualization, guided imagery, hypnotherapy and so on. A variety of visualization techniques are also used with notable success to reduce blood pressure, fight cancer, reduce tumors, heal burns, prevent organ transplant rejection, regenerate nerves, enhance self-image and strengthen the immune system. And a recent blind study indicates a lasting, measurable improvement in immune responses in only 20 minutes of visualization.

Never direct the full power of the mind towards the body itself but instead direct it safely towards a creative visualization. An indication of the power of the mind on one's own body (which includes the uterus lining and embryo) shows up in a study in California on how the mother's attitude affects the pregnancy. The participants were women who changed their minds and decided to give birth to their unwanted babies. The death rate of the fetus was twice as high among women who resented their pregnancies. And this study was among women who chose 'to do the right thing and keep the baby'. Infants born to this group had one-and-a-half times more abnormalities, leading to the medical recognition that maternal attitude is a clinical risk factor because so many abnormalities result from 'stress-related changes in hormonal levels'.

Yes, of course, we can adjust to babies born of untimely pregnancies. We certainly can love them. Many of us were once such babies ourselves, were we not?  But because of the potentially damaging clinical risk factor of the maternal attitude, if we can't see our pregnancy as a blessed event, perhaps there shouldn't be one.

Individual women (a precious few, even now) one day will be able to consciously affect, to some degree, heartbeat, blood pressure, respiration, tissue growth and sex.

Whether a woman is sexually active or not, conscious, purposeful hormonal regulation of the menstrual cycle by visual exercise may produce a better alignment and viable hormonal response between mind / conscious brain / unconscious brain.

Exercising occasional self-control to regulate menstruation, using this alignment in visualization, could constitute a ritual no in terms of choice. If such visualization were effective, one would never 'realize' an unwanted pregnancy. Hormonal balancing through correct visualization could also minimize the effects of pre-menstrual stress syndrome (PMS) which has no known medical cause and yet adversely affects millions of women every month for nearly half their lives. For others, it might alleviate the undesirable menopausal side effects.

Statistically, women lose on average two or three 'usually unnoticed' embryos prior to their first viable pregnancy. Such widespread spontaneous abortion has never been satisfactorily explained, except that the woman's body is immature, i.e., unable to produce and control the necessary balance of estrogen and progesterone, such imbalance producing menstruation. The idea of hormonal choice may provide another explanation.

The use of visualization is put forward tentatively as a working hypothesis, and there is evidence to suggest that effective hormonal self-control is already being consciously exercised to handle the effects of PMS, the side effects of menopause, and perhaps by some for alleviating the need for abortion.

When any woman fully realizes or internalizes the implications of profound inner choice, it becomes clear that the ensuing birth is founded on the exclusive hormonal decision of the mother. Such early conscious hormonal awareness could be the subtle idea behind the idea of virgin birth.

The nature of the Immaculate Conception aside, Mary may have been, or may symbolize, the first historical woman to discern the full implications of this 'moment of decision'. With the help of an Angel, a symbol of soul-consciousness, Mary may have been a sufficiently integrated personality to grasp the subjective choice, and to make a conscious hormonal decision to accept the pregnancy and bear the baby, Jesus. Conscious awareness of the choice is the significant point.

Married or not, regardless of conceptual circumstances, on learning one is pregnant, a further conscious decision to give birth can be said to produce a 'virgin birth' because, in hormonal (or spiritual) terms, carrying a child to birth is always based exclusively on that subtle maternal choice (conscious or unconscious, coerced or not)--the deeply spiritual decision of the mother alone.