Llewellyn Worldwide: The ancient "doctrine of correspondences," which is common to many systems of folk magic, can be applied to the amygdala, which is a critical component in the brain's stress circuitry. The doctrine of correspondences holds that things that are connected with each other, or resemble each other, or are similar in some other way are able to act upon each other through a vibrational resonance or "secret sympathies." They also act upon our spirits. We have all recognized things that affect us psychologically, so we can see how—by conjoining objects or symbols of objects that have correspondences—we can provide the mind with striking images for effecting changes in consciousness. There are many ways that those of us with stress and anxiety can use creative visualizations to influence the amygdala (which is so named because it is almond-shaped, the Greek root of the name referring to an almond). Actually, although it is common practice to use the singular term, there are two amygdalae, one in each hemisphere, in the anterior extremity of the temporal lobes. These neurostructures are part of the limbic system, the emotionally reactive section of the brain
...read more>>>...
