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Michel Odent, M.D.
I. The Primal Period of Spiritual Heroes
INTRODUCTION
The definition of "Primal Health Research" is simple and straightforward. It is a framework that includes any study exploring the links between the primal period (from conception until the first birthday) and health and behavior later on in life. Despite an apparently precise definition, the limits of the framework are vague, as vague as the words "study" and "research".
Those who have subscribed to our newsletter since its beginning in 1993 and those who use our data bank probably associate "Primal Health Research" with epidemiological or experimental studies published in scientific or medical journals. In this issue, I'll try to enlarge the concept and analyze the teachings of well-known legends. Legends are like living organisms: they are transmitted through a process of natural selection. When they carry valuable messages about human nature, they are more likely to disseminate and to survive over the milleniums. Today, many legends seem to be a way that human groups have kept old messages alive through the centuries, although they did not have all the keys to decode them.
It is significant that, in the biography of ordinary people, details about their primal period are not usually mentioned. Most biographies only indicate their subject's date of birth, and then jump from social background to childhood and education. In the case of spiritual heroes, the primal period is also a part of the legend. Let's comment on the word "legend". When considering the lives of legendary people, we place ourselves outside the fields of history, of religion, or of theology. Our subject is the vision of our heroes as it has been passed down over the centuries, not only by the scriptures and the various churches, but also by painters, poets, musicians and other media. Let me now illustrate the primal periods and childhood environments of several legendary characters.
Aphrodite was miraculously conceived when Cronus severed the testicles of his father Uranus and threw them into the sea. Aphrodite was born from the foam of the waves-outside of the human community.
The conception of Buddha was also miraculous and unreal. After 20 years of sterility, Maya had a strange dream in which she saw a white elephant entering into...