All beings within our galaxy have this energetic force that is known as Kundalini.

The term Kundalini comes from a Sanskrit word ‘Kundal’ meaning “coiled up”. Kundalini is often called the “serpent power” and is the energy that nourishes the Tree of Life within us. It is the primordial female energy that lives at the base of the spine inside the triangular bone known as the Sacrum.

We are born with Kundalini although this energy remains dormant throughout most mankind until it is ready to be awakened. A kundalini awakening can be achieved through initiative ritual or can happen spontaneously due to the individual soul.

In truth, we are Awakening since birth, it is not a light switch you turn on automatically or one you can turn off once it happens because it is happening to all of us. It all amounts to different levels of awareness that all mold together in the end. We are each various parts of the same ONE experience that is endless life.

Spiritual Awakening can happen to anyone at any age. There are many methods of awakening the kundalini fire such as yoga, meditation, near-death experience, mind-substances, sex, out-of-body experience, pro-longed stress, initiation by a guru, shamanic ritual and even crocheting.

              It has happened to many gurus, spiritual practitioners, shamans and various others throughout history. Gopi Krishna, one of the founders of Kundalini research experienced kundalini awakening due to a sacred meditation known as the Golden Flower method. It is said the Golden Flower method takes over 100 days of practice to start forming the built up energy of kundalini which leads into the understanding of self-realization.

There are numerous methods of initiation where the kundalini is achieved through the help of a master teacher or guru when they take special preparations to direct the flow of kundalini through the awakening of consciousness. While there are others who have experienced Awakening at a faster rate in time such as Terence McKenna, philosopher and psychonaut.

He discovered the miraculous secrets of the universe by eating psilocybin magic mushrooms in the Amazon. It lead into his extensive research on psychedelics which McKenna believed are the key to “trans-dimensional travel” of the human psyche.

• Ramana Maharshi, a famous Hindu guru born in 1870 experienced when he was only sixteen a Kundalini awakening by a sudden annihilating fear of death that overtook his body. It was through the realization of looking inward by contemplating about death he was able to experience a spontaneous awakening through Ego death.
• Philip St. Romain, a Christian Minister experienced his own shocking awakening through the simple method of prayer to God.

• Aleister Crowley, famous occultist and founder of the religion Thelema in the late 1800s, had various methods of his own pertaining to Magick including alchemy, sex, hashish and Mescaline.
• Aldous Huxley, the English writer of Brave New World went through an awakening experience through Peyote[mescaline] where he relived his experiences within his life-altering book of the 1950s, The Doors of Perception. The Doors of Perception created absolute outrage over the open vulnerable experience of psychedelics which was barely even acknowledged in the 1950s. The discovery of the beauty of the universe lead him into researching psychedelic and Psychiatric studies.

The presence of Kundalini has even intrigued the intellectual mind of Carl Jung, Alan Watts, Timothy Leary, Daniel Pinchbeck, Maynard Keenan, Joe Rogan, Russell Brand, and various iconic intellectuals.

The Kundalini Shakti has ignited the fire within many individuals throughout the entire world from the Shaman to the psychiatrist to the average adult to the psychonauts. The point is Awakening is not a special elite, it can and will happen to everyone at some point in their existence.

SHAKTIPAT – THE ENERGY OF THE ALL

At the heart of the Kundalini experience is something known as the initiation of Shaktipat. Shaktipat is the transfer of spiritual energy from the teacher to the student in order to initiate the kundalini Shakti. It can happen in person or at a distance. In truth we are all accessing this Shaktipat energy because our reality is made from electromagnetic fields of energy currents.

The initiation of Shaktipat is merely another symbol into the different levels of Awakening. This Spiritual energy is composed from the oscillation of given frequency waves that connect together through the collective consciousness.

Kundalini is naturally a creative energy it is the same feeling that Einstein encountered when he discovered the theory of Relativity. Likewise it the same current you feel when struck with inspiration for composing a song, painting a picture or writing a novel.

The very aspect of creativity is linked towards Kundalini energy, this is why creative means are linked towards our right-hemisphere because they directly connect to the spirit world and it’s Queen, Kundalini Shakti. Also Kundalini is highly acknowledged as a sexual energy. It is literally the same energy you feel when having an orgasm, the kundalini fire. It is through channeling this energy from the sex organs up through the spine into the master glands of the brain stem that creates the Kundalini Flow. This is why Awakening can happen on accident through sexual intimacy if not careful. While Kundalini is rooted in the sex glands, it is not the sole cause of Kundalini. The sexual energy of Kundalini is merely one part of the experience, it has been said that in truth Kundalini is about the opening or awakening of the Heart Center. Jana Dixon emphasizes this in her own very intensively researched book on the Biology of Kundalini. She states,

“It’s not sex per se that helps to trigger kundalini, it’s the vasodilation of the cardiovascular system, and the associated introduction of new parasympathetic levels of “relaxation” in the body-mind….Normally chaotic electrocardiogram spectrum patterns become coherent during positive states like falling in love. What initiates kundalini is therefore the opening of the heart, coupled with the positive state of the mind and increased prana flow that comes with being in love. Love in whatever form is transformational, for love is source energy”

It is the Heart opening that creates the bridge between the lower and higher chakras, causing Kundalini Shakti to travel to the crown, awakening the mind to higher intelligence. The heart is vastly important towards Awakening because it is the connection piece that enables the kundalini to flow properly. According to the latest research in neurocardiology “the heart is a sensory organ and a sophisticated center for receiving and processing information.[ref] The Heart has it’s Own Brain and Consciousness[/ref] The heart is actually quite stronger than the brain. For instance in the article on The Energetic Heart is Unfolding, it states: “The heart generates the largest electromagnetic field in the body. The electrical field as measured in an electrocardiogram (ECG) is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the brain waves recorded in an electroencephalogram (EEG).” [ref]www.heartmath.org[/ref] “The magnetic component is approximately 5000 times stronger than the brain’s magnetic field and can be detected several feet away from the body with sensitive magnetometers.”[ref] The Heart has it’s Own Brain and Consciousness[/ref] This means that not only is the heart stronger than the mind, it is also able to perceive information through electromagnetic currents in the very same way as the brain can. That being said The heart center is a huge component to Awakening because it is the opening of the heart center where we begin to develop empathy, unconditional love and compassion towards others on our own journey.

The Myth of Kundalini

It is symbolically an art form based in Tantric philosophy.

In Tantra[ref]Tantra-kundalini.com[/ref], the story starts with the entire universe seen as a manifestation of Consciousness. When manifesting this Universe, the consciousness became divided into two regions neither of which can exist without the other. In order to enable the totality of Manifestation each requires the other.

The first region, Shiva is a masculine force that remains identified with the unmanifest consciousness. where he has the power to be at rest rather than change. While Shakti, the feminine force is flexible, dynamic and creative seen as the Great Mother of the universe where all form is born.

Within Tantra, the human being is personified as a miniature universe or the microcosm of the macrocosm. “All that is found in the cosmos can be found within each individual, and the same principles that apply to the universe applys in the case of the individual being.” [ref]Tantra-kundalini.com[/ref]

In the human body lives Shakti, the feminine aspect called Kundalini. This energetic force rests at the base of the spine in the sacrum. The Tantric practice of Kundalini yoga is about igniting this powerful cosmic energy to ascend through the chakras that live along the axis of the spine where conscious thought is born. Shakti dances her way through the ascension of the Chakra system above the crown to unite with Shiva, pure consciousness. This is the basis of Kundalini where we merge duality into unity, shiva-shakti, uniting our conscious perception into ascending into a higher intelligence of human awareness. There is also the descent of Kundalini which few talk about where once the Kundalini reaches sushumna it still has to travel back down to the Material Plane. This is where you take everything that you have learned from the Kundalini awakening and start applying it to your own life. The descent of kundalini transforms our physical reality, instead of feeling your life is mundane and trivial you surrender to life and the universal flow of existence. You become the observer of reality and co-creator of your own subjective experience.

There are also three channels that are vastly important to Kundalini known as the Nadis. Nadi translates to “stream”. These are subtle channels that direct the energy through the body where they circulate and flow. According to the Kundalini Yoga, there are 72,000 nadis in the astral body that all correspond directly with the nerves of the physical human form. [ref]Kundalini yoga[/ref] Of these, Ida, Pingala and Sushumna are considered the most important. Ida is known as the left channel, the feminine force that represents the moon. Then there is Pingala, the right channel, which is the masculine force and symbolizes the Sun. Finally Sushumna, the central channel where Ida and Pingala intertwine.  In the Masculine body Kundalini rests within the perineum between the urinary and excretory organs. While in the feminine body it’s location is the root of the uterus, the center of creation within the cervix. [ref]Satyananda Saraswati. Kundalini Tantra. Yoga Publications Trust. India 2002[/ref] All three meet in Muladhara or the Root Chakra where Shakti, the unconscious kundalini symbolized as a serpent blocks the entrance to Sushumna with its mouth. Therefore the Kundalini Serpent remains coiled at the base of the spine asleep until the Awakening of Kundalini.

The power of the Kundalini fire is a powerful energetic force that can transmogrify any being who undergoes the process of Awakening. It is said that once the Sushumna, the central nervous channel rises to the brain stem further into the crown above the head which causes the blooming of the thousandths petalled lotus known as enlightenment or self-realization . It can awaken us to a higher cognitive intelligence that opens our consciousness to altered states of awareness. In other words, we can awaken our consciousness through the arousal of Kundalini which can induce psychic gifts and brings into our awareness multiple dimensions of the inner workings of the psyche. It also helps us utilize more of our brain capacity than normal cognitive understanding. The Kundalini force is essentially the epitome of the human experience. It is the divine essence of ourselves experienced within the individual. It goes by many names throughout numerous cultures such as nirvana, samadhi, shangri-la, Bliss, ecstasy, communion, Brahman, quintessence of man, liberation, the stairway to heaven, path of the initiates, these all symbolize the same thing which is Kundalini Awakening. In Psychology we label it as the unconscious or subconscious aspect of consciousness. Kundalini can be a powerful force that unleashes the illusions of this world which can bind us and terrify us as our reality starts ripping apart at the seams. However this energy also liberates our soul and starts putting the puzzle pieces of the mystery together that is reality. Once we awaken the sleeping serpent our life is forever changed. We are liberated from the confines of the material form and see beyond the veil of time into the other worlds of reality that is only seen in the conformist’s eye as the world of the “unknown”.

The History and Symbolic Representation of Kundalini

Although the precise origin of Kundalini is unknown it has been acknowledged throughout various cultures originating from the Upanishads around the 5^thcentury. It is described extensively within Tantric and Vedic scriptures as well as Egyptian mythology. The concept of Kundalini is within various religions such as Hinduism, Gnosticism, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Taoism and many more. In fact almost all religions speak of this innate inner power in some form or symbolic context, it even appears within the Holy Bible. The old Testament is filled with many symbolic interpretations that connect directly towards spiritual awakening. For instance, Jesus even mentioned awakening is the true destiny for all Christians:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even as the son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life”.

Another passage that is significant towards Awakening is written in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas where it states:

“The kingdom of God is Within you [Luke 17:21]”

Originally humanity has named this energy by the work of various deities, gods, goddesses, angels and divinities each with a sacred story of creation that all underlines the same thing that is the awakening of Kundalini. The Egyptian Legend of Osiris, The Babylonian Enuma Elish, the Norse’s creation myth,The Korean Legend of Dan Gun, The Tibettan scriptures, the Navajo Story of Emergence, the Maya’s Popol Vuh, Hermes Trismegistus’s Emerald Tablets of Thoth and many other mythologies all underline the same symbolic creation of the Awakening. The symbol of the snake is one that has been known since the beginning of time including the story of Adam and Eve. The serpent is represented as the vital energy of kundalini, it shows sexuality, fertility, transmutation and healing.

Most recognizably, the Serpent can shed it’s skin going through a process of renewal and rebirth. It is a transformation of internal alchemy where it unmasks the illusions and limitations of the soul.

The three and half coils of the Kundalini serpent are also a symbol for the past, present and future experience of self. They represent the mantras of OM[AUM] relating to the three states of consciousness: tamas [sleeping], rajas[dreaming], and sattva[waking]. They also represent the three types of experience: subjective, sensual and absence of experience while the half coil represents the state of transcendence, neither awake, sleeping or dreaming.

The famous sculptures of the Pharaohs in Egypt with the two snakes wrapped around the headdress, this too is also kundalini. The Chinese guardian Lions grasping the sacred sphere of the flower of life is also linked to awakening. The occult symbol of Baphomet often seen as the symbol of the devil is actually the symbol of the pathway of kundalini. It is even depicted within both Greek and Roman mythology where it is symbolized as Hermes[or Mercury] ‘s Caduceus. A symbol of a golden staff with two snakes entwined together wrapped around to the top, surmounted with wings. 
This is represented as the awoken kundalini, the staff represents the spinal cord or the physical vessel while the two snakes represent Ida and Pingala the masculine and feminine energy channels. The Wings are the Awakened one that ascends their consciousness, the symbol of Ascension. We should all be quite familiar with this symbol; it is also misrepresented as the medical symbol we use in modern society often confused with the staff of Asclepius. The Symbolism of the Kundalini serpent has shown its way throughout history in mythology, literature, esoteric, hermetic, alchemical, and even biblical texts. It is undeniable to see the history of Kundalini is not a new concept but one that has evolved over time.

The Process of Kundalini

Awakening is as beautiful as birth and terrifying as death, it’s the ripping and crumbling away of illusions that encase your reality. We cannot perceive Awakening as merely a simple matter one that is shown as a metaphor or symbol, it is a biological process into the neurological changes of our genetic substructure of our DNA strands. When we awaken we are not merely going through a change of awareness we are entering the chemical or alchemical change of our physical body, soul and mind. To understand how this works we have to not only see this from an energetic standpoint but also down to the levels of cellular and molecular biology. If we separate one from the other we are merely labeling only one half of the same Whole experience. When we are able to understand this frequency of existence encompasses everything down to our cellular structures within our body, this changes everything. For some this may seem impossible, although what Neurobiology shows us through extensive study that this can be possible.

The process of Kundalini is a complex mechanism that is fundamentally linked to biological processing and changes within the central nervous system. We must think of our consciousness or human body as a light body made of miraculous energetic form. Imagine yourself like a light bulb beaming with currents of electromagnetic frequency rippling off sound waves that create cellular communication between cell pathways. This is what our body is doing all the time, the average computer seems primitive compared to the systematic functions of the human mind. We are an intricate system tied between billions of interconnected cells organized in an aggregate matter within and without many layers. Each layer connects to a different level of cellular communication that translates into conscious awareness. These layers connect into our biological processing and our energetic processing through the dimensional layers of consciousness known as our subtle body. Everything you do, say, feel, touch, taste, smell and think revolves around the communication between one organism that is your brain. Every organ within your body is a communication device directing signals towards neurons in your mental cavity. Your reality doesn’t exist without your conscious awareness and this is inscrutability linked with how our mind processes reality. Kundalini doesn’t just exist on the energetic level or only the physical level, it is a process between the connection of both through the cognitive understanding of the brain.

Everything is connected from your internal mind to your external reality that you manifest with the power of your thoughts. This process lives inside of us through Cosmology due to quantum physics, geometrically through energetic fractal formations by mathematics, systematically through entrainment of synchronization, and mentally through the projection of biologically processing information from our mind. The Universe is a miraculously orchestrated systematic divine order that is created through an intricate design governed by the processing of our own human consciousness. If that doesn’t show you the beauty of existence I’m not sure what could… This system is an intricate design because it is more than just one layer of consciousness, it is a multitude of layers upon endless layers of consciousness that are built around probability wave functions composed of energy. It is through these probability wave functions that matter comes to form which produces the reality you live and breathe in everyday of your life.

Gopi Krishna stated it perfectly, “ The empiricist who would like to explore this territory must experiment in the laboratory of his own self”. It is almost tongue in cheek to realize that what we are endlessly searching for outside of ourselves can only be actualized within ourselves. You come into the world through the spirit world and you thrive in the material world they are inter-connected parts of ourselves. This is the missing key, we are the bridge between worlds. It is not one or the other it is both. It is a two-way street and you aren’t going to get anywhere if you’re still stuck at the crossing light trying to figure out which direction you need to go.

The experience of a Kundalini Awakening can vary greatly but the undercurrents are naturally the same, it’s about finding and uniting with the god source within all of us. The Process of a Kundalini Awakening is not a simple endeavor it can take years perhaps even decades to open your kundalini. It also revolves around conscious choice through the individual soul perhaps through their own soul blueprint. Although for the most part it can happen spontaneously where the ignition of the unconscious begins to take over your life at a lightning fast speed that for many individuals, words don’t do justice to the experience itself. There are various symptoms that happen once the kundalini is awakened which are stated here: Symptoms of Kundalini Awakening.

Kundalini is nothing to do with ethics or religion, it is centered around our experiences and view of the world. The process of kundalini doesn’t just awaken your energy, it transforms your entire life experience. It changes your personal attachments, philosophies, priorities and gives us the challenge of endurance. It expressively opens up our perceptions into various planes of reality, these are known as dimensions of consciousness. The Kundalini serpent creates a look into the other side of human awareness a place where everyone can tap into at will when they are ready to enter. The process itself can bring a quickening of thoughts, an onset of telepathic communication, sensory overload, visions, hallucinations, seeing/feeling energy and startling philosophical revelations that creates pure clarity and vision of conscious awareness.
Although the process of Kundalini does have many aspects of clarity and bliss we must not forget this is the deconstruction and transcendence of our Ego mind. As Carl Jung states, “there is no coming to consciousness without pain”. There are varying degrees of a Kundalini experience that could be expressed as a roller coaster of emotion once you are on the track of awakening. The Awakening of Kundalini brings a shocking transformation towards the individual where their internal and external world is turned upside down.

What Kundalini creates is a catalyst inside of your mind which manifests into your physical reality. This catalyst unleashes the unconscious mind from its slumber where it starts bringing the subconscious to the forefront of your mind. This enables our minds to start accessing our long-term memories. It begins activating through various psychological archetypal triggers within the brain stem that create the given frequency to open doors into various perceptions of reality. When the unconscious is released, we awaken the Kundalini Shakti which isn’t always a pleasant experience in the beginning…

It creates a remote dissociation with the material world as our mind fully disconnects from the old shell of consciousness. It is the Medulla oblongata that helps activate the unconscious brain into a distinct action that creates what is known as the Dark Night of the Soul. The Dark night of the soul puts our consciousness in a pure auto-pilot unconscious fight/flight response of adrenal activity. In energetic terms it is the disconnection of the Root Chakra. This creates a psychosomatic response that is instinctual within our minds. It is a primitive fact we learn through the mirror of others since infancy. It is this mirror reflection that rules our lives but we never seem to question the mirror. When we go through the dark night of the soul everyone becomes our personal mirror.  In the book, Biology of Kundalini Jana Dixon states extensively on the importance of the changes in the Nervous system due to Kundalini Awakening:

“The unconscious nervous system is the autonomic nervous system…which yogis do have some control over. Many of the kundalini symptoms arise from the brainstem, which consists of the medulla, pons, cerebellum and midbrain…that is the majority of kundalini symptoms originate from areas of the brain that are beyond our normal control. Hence many of the symptoms and feelings arise directly from physiological events triggered by specific neural circuits and changes in neurochemistry. Over the period of peak awakening sex hormones and other pituitary hormones are raging; the heart is radically expanded and engorged with blood, and the digestive system venting due to parasympathetic hypertonality; skeletal muscles are ready for action and hypervigilance is up due to the fight-or-flight activation of the sympathetic nervous system.”

The Dark night of the soul is where our mirrors become our antithesis, or as Carl Jung calls it “The shadow self”. The shadow self shows us what we don’t want to see, it digs deep inside of ourselves and presents all of our darkest fears and insecurities. The dark into the unseen is the place where many lose themselves within their own shadows, constantly fighting themselves through others and creating their own projected chaos into the mirrors of others. You begin to retreat inside of yourself where the universe is urging you to look within and question.

This is the catalyst of awakening. The ripple of change that is not always pleasant but needed to see into the inner workings of the mind. The further one travels inside the darkness, the deeper the healing that it creates through the cleansing of the soul’s psyche. It is where we see that our darkness is merely an illusion of our eternal light. Once we are able to confront and face our own internal darkness of reality we are ready to rise up to the truth of this world. It is not a simple process, awakening is the deconstruction of the old karmic self or the old consciousness where it must give birth to the awakening of the evolutionary soul.

When the adrenals are completely healed it enables the kundalini flow to take flight and start the karmic healing process. The ascension through the chakra strands enables our DNA to start operating on our nervous system turning on the functions of various genes to jump-start our consciousness to a higher perception of reality. This activation of the nervous system creates the given thought process to enable healing and open the door of particular structures of different healing modules that manifest into our physical reality. You will notice when awakening you will have particular situations that come to you at synchronized times that completely alter your thought process and your reality involving deep-wounded healing. They can manifest as illness, troubled relationships, death of a loved one, prolonged stress, and various events that alter a person’s life.

Research on Kundalini 

Unfortunately due to Kundalini being a taboo subject there isn’t much scientific research on the biological processing of Kundalini as of today. There is even the absurd notion of “Kundalini Syndrome” which is a completely misunderstood disease directly linking to what is known as Kundalini Awakening. Kundalini is not a psychotic disorder, it is not delusions of your subconscious and it is definitely not insanity. It is ultimately an experience that changes the conditioning of consciousness.

However many people who have researched kundalini believe this is due to cellular regeneration and changes within the nervous system. It is said this activation within your nervous system restructures the cellular bonds to enable the frequency of cellular regeneration. Thus creating the healing module to restructure the brain and awaken signals that were once hidden towards humanity’s capacity of the brain stem. Although there needs to be more scientific documentation on the subject, there are already numerous studies being started on neuroplasticity and how the brain can change itself.  Most famously there is groundbreaking research being done in neuroscience where they have seen changes within the mind through its structure and function by our thoughts and activities. They performed many experiments and cognitive exercises that prove with practice our brain can change due to thoughts alone. This can be further studied within the book, The Brain That Changes itself by Norman Doidge, MD. [ref]Norman Doidge, MD, The Brain That Changes Itself, Penguin Books, 2007[/ref]
Another similar reference to Neuroplasticity and Kundalini is from the author JJ Semple and his book Deciphering the Golden Flower One Secret at a Time. When he was younger he had a childhood accident that robbed him of his memories and talents as he grew up and discovered the golden flower method which ignited his own kundalini awakening. Due to changes within his Nervous system, he was able to revitalize his cognitive development, personality and even restore brain cells that he had lost since he was the age of seven. You can read more on his story here: Neuroplasticity and Kundalini

There is also an extensively researched blog by Iona Miller on Epigenetics and how they relate to the evolution of humanity pertaining directly towards Kundalini. She believes it’s not only the nervous system influence but our physical genes that change and transmute dna strands. It’s a very interesting read: The Kindling effect – Epigenetics and How Evolution Really works

Itzak Bentov, a Czech scientist developed his own Kundalini model on brain activation and has written a few mind-expanding books on the subject of human evolution and consciousness.  [ref]Bentov’s Model of the Kundalini[/ref]

“According to this model, when Kundalini ascends the spine through the sushumna nadi (the main channel of subtle energy), it results in a huge energy influx into the brain. As the Kundalini flows from the thalamus to the cortex, it sets up a powerful energy loop within the brain, generating coherent alpha and gamma waves, and awakening the dormant, non-mechanical parts of the brain which we have never used before. With increasing levels of coherence, the whole brain comes alive, turning into a super-conductor of conscious energies that heal, empower and transform our lives. Enhanced awareness levels, greater creativity and extraordinary abilities start to express through us like levitation, teleportation and materialization. Brain activation is also known to slow down the ageing process and improve immunity to disease.” [ref]Scientific Study of Kundalini Activation and it’s benefits [/ref]

Although the most notable influence on Kundalini Research is Paramahamsa Nithyananda, a controversial guru, spiritual teacher and founder of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, an ashram that offers various programs on meditation, Vedic tradition, yoga and healing located in Bengaluru, India. Hes been teaming up with scientists to try to decipher the biological means of Kundalini Awakening. They conducted a group experiment where 600 participants who attended Nithyananda’s intensive yoga and meditation retreat were tested for 21 days. The results were groundbreaking and can be viewed here:  Scientific Study of Kundalini Activation 

In general Kundalini Research is only at the beginning of its time, if more people begin to look into the science and biological processing of Kundalini we could make some miraculous changes towards health, mental illness, how we view psychology, social anxiety and many more! The Revolution is the Evolution of Consciousness.

 

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Featured Image By: Cameron Gray