For the Birds….

Birds migrate by way of Earth’s Magnetic Field.
What other senses might humans be lacking?

At Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri every autumn, there are Pelicans. Pelicans in Missouri? Not only that, but Bald Eagles nest here, and dozens of varieties of birds from Snow Geese to Mergansers and other names I’ve never heard. Loess Bluffs is a waylay for literally millions of birds during their annual migrations.

I’m fascinated by how birds migrate. Science tells us birds use Earth’s magnetic field to find their way. Researchers have found specialized cells in their eyes that help them see magnetic fields. It’s believed birds also use magnetite in their beaks to travel long distances over areas that do not have many landmarks. Imagine, a sixth sense for Earth’s magnetic field. It makes me wonder what other senses there are that we humans lack?

Synchronicity ~ I think that’s a sense.

My partner & I made a point to drive to Loess Bluffs to see the migration. We hadn’t been there before, and didn’t have a clear idea of when we should arrive, or what day to go. We just trusted our “instincts.”

What’s the definition of “instincts” anyway? I believe it’s a catch-all phrase for all the senses beyond the First Five that we don’t fully understand. And I think there are far more of them than we realize.

Synchronicity. Like I said, we didn’t know what day to go or when to go, but we got there at just the right time!

It was sunset. It was moonrise. Hundreds of thousands of birds were flocking, flying, dancing through the sky. I’m sure the sight was just as breathtaking in the afternoon, or the next day, or the day before.

And yet, the time of our arrival wasn’t just “coincidence.”

This photo I captured could have been a scene from the novel I was writing. The novel prominently featured a flock of birds in twilight flocking in front of a full moon.

And there they were, in front of us.

Was the writing of that scene in my novel some kind of “precognition?” Was the timing of us arriving to see this site known to my subconscious mind on some level? Or was something else at play that we don’t have awareness of?

Such synchronicities like these are common in my life. Truth be told, they are far more common since I had a concussion a few years ago.

I truly believe humans have more senses than our First Five.

I think the fact that birds navigate by perception of the Earth’s Magnetic field is proof that such a thing is possible, and should not be confined to the realm of the “metaphysical.”

What are some other senses you have experienced, that, maybe, a fear of being called crazy keeps us from talking about openly?

There are researchers in the scientific community, most notably the British Biologist Rupert Sheldrake, who study perception beyond the first five senses.

Sheldrake has coined the term “Biomorphic Resonance” for a particular kind of sense, which I think was at play helping my partner and I arrive just at the right time, one that was aligned with the state of mind I was in from all those past weeks of novel-writing.

Biomorphic Resonance says that there is a field that allows for communication between individuals irrespective of distance. Twin studies seem to validate this. In some cases, a person has reported feeling pain when his brother breaks his leg, or other such occurrences that Sheldrake has studied. Dogs seem to know when their owners are coming home, and Mothers seem to have a sense when their children are in danger.

Most scientists don’t take this too seriously yet. Metaphysical phenomena have been, Sheldrake’s term, a “taboo” for Science dating back to Cartesian Dualism. For readers intersted in delving deeper into this subject, I highly recommend his book “Science Set Free.”

Physicists know that quantum entanglement occurs ~ which is non-local interaction between subatomic particles. So why isn’t it obvious that non-local communication between life forms can occur?

Behind light pollution, we cannot see starlight or the Milky Way. But we know the stars are still there. And yet, if a caveman visited a modern-day city, wouldn’t he look up and say, “What on Earth happened to all the stars?”

Similarly, I think the man-made world overexposes us to many sensory inputs that keep us from perceiving far more.

But I do know one thing: like ancient Polynesian sailors navigating to distant islands across the ocean by means modern science doesn’t understand, since my concussion, I’ve been a lot more in tune with, well, let’s just call it Earth’s Magnetic Field.

Then again, that theory is probably just … for the birds.