Session Details

Melatonin as a Molecule of Consciousness: Tapping Into Spirituality Through Darkness

Feb 20 2025

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM EDT

Murray Hill

The neurohormone, melatonin, is an ancestral molecule found ubiquitously in nature and widespread throughout the body, particularly in the pineal gland and gut, where it is synthesized from the aromatic amino acid, tryptophan. It has a range of functions beyond sleep that would include circadian rhythm and hormone regulation to its action as a neurotrophic factor, protecting the neurons in a variety of mechanisms, including through its pivotal role as a conduit in the neuroglymphatic fluid. The melatonin produced from the pineal gland (referred to by mathematician-philosopher Rene Descartes in the 17th century as the “seat of the soul”) is made in darkness, and its production is inhibited by retinal exposure to artificial blue light. The rise in light pollution and disruption in planetary ecosystems has become a point of increasing concern. In some ways, this “artificial” endocrine-disrupting light might be reflective of the societal distraction away from centering within the self: the constant bombardment with blue-lit devices, phones, and screens, all of which remove one from the inner quest and journey to higher states of consciousness. Symbolically, it may suggest an avoidance of darkness or what lies therein.

In medical-spiritual traditions, there is the discussion of light and darkness within religious texts, reference to yin-yang and chakras, and even within quantum physics and biophoton emissions from biological systems, thought to be associated with oxidative bursts from mitochondria. In archetypal references by Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell, the light of the Sun is often aligned with the yang or the masculine principle, while darkness is associated with the yin or feminine energy of the Moon and emotions. Along these lines of thinking, it might be that modern society’s chronic “darkness deficiency” is a lack or imbalance of the feminine aspect or the energies of reflection, solitude, receptivity, and nourishment. Lacking the darkness would translate into less endogenous melatonin from the pineal gland, with greater incidence of sleep, hormone, and health disruption. Low melatonin may also have implications on deeper, spiritual levels. Without adequate melatonin, there may be a gap to attaining higher states of consciousness. The precursors to melatonin, tryptophan and serotonin have been posited as molecules of consciousness [PMID: 26227538]. Serum levels of melatonin and serotonin were higher in meditators than non-meditating controls [PMID: 37061347]. Based on its connection to the darkness and depth of sleep, meditative states, and bodily restoration, melatonin has a pivotal role in the science of consciousness, and perhaps even altered states of awareness through dream states. In this presentation, melatonin, its biology, physics, and spirituality will be delineated through ancient wisdom and modern science.

Session Learning Objectives:

1.) To understand the role of melatonin in relationship to glymphatic flux, darkness, consciousness states, dreams, and circadian regulation.
2.) To apply the clinical concept of “darkness deficiency” in physiological and psychological aspects relating to endocrine and archetypal associations.
3.) To understand clinical applications of melatonin through a circadian lifestyle “prescription,” which includes light/dark exposure, meditation, music, and an exploration of the feminine/yin qualities.

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