At the intersection of medicine and the truly bizarre is a procedure called trepanation. Trepanation was used a long time ago for a headache cure. Evidence from neolithic skulls dating from 7,000 to 3,000 BC showed our ancient ancestors attempted to let the headache demons out by a procedure known today as trepanation. It's actually pretty simple. All you need is a hard pointed object and a skull. Using the hard, pointed object, a hole is made in the skull. Simple, n'est pas? Of course, there was no such thing as anesthesia, so I suppose the cure and the anesthesia were one and the same. Nevertheless, how bad does your headache have to be before you go in for an impromptu craniotomy? An Atlas of Headache says the practice continues today, still without anesthesia, in some African tribes.

Well I've got news for the Headache Atlas, the practice continues today in a lot of places. For a taste of modern-day skullduggery, check out the International Trepanation Advocacy Group or ITAG. ITAG "is interested in presenting all the information about trepanation be it positively or negatively construed. . . Members of I-TAG speak from a first hand basis about trepanation, we are all trepanned. Most of us have had to resort to self-trepanation after having sought the surgical expertise of the medical profession to no avail." They do not, they hasten to add, encourage self-trepanation.

Amanda Feilding, 28, preformed a self-trepanation in her bathroom with a power drill. There are pictures to support this. Other, more timid souls, journeyed to Mexico where five, six or more are done in a day. here's the experience of one such trepenaut.

"The next hour is a bit fuzzy in my memory. I was given a sedative to relax me and shot in the scalp to anesthetized the skin. . . of course I remember the drilling which took about 15 minutes and felt like I had a helicopter in my head. I also remember that the anesthetic had worn off by the time the stitches were going in.

I'm a little fuzzy on why anyone would do this, but the proponents say they have lessened anxiety and depression and a better outlook on life. Do you think this would help any "Presidents"?

Bart Huges was an early Dutch supporter of trepanation and has spoken before world meetings of ITAG. He is listed on their site and here are a few of his, truly original, thoughts.

"I founded the Evolutionary Religion. Evolution means: origin and gradual development of species. Religion means: contact form binding individuals by passing secret knowledge onto them. Man is born a Lao-tsean, but is made a starveling by gravity. The aim of life is to become a Lao-tsean against gravity again. Lao-tsean means: on top brain metabolism. Starveling means: lacking in brain metabolism, knowledge and good company. Top brain metabolism is man's natural state, any lower level is a starveling. Knowledge of the physiology behind expanded consciousness is required for the ego to be able to cope with the implications of maximal brain metabolism. Any lack of knowledge is sub-top, a starveling."

Bart relates how his superior, non-starveling mind allowed him to beat a "marihuana" rap:

". . . One characteristic identifies the Lao-tsean: when he is threatened he reverses the threat in solemn workings against the threatener, and wins! This I personally witnessed once, when being Lao-tsean, being guided before the magistrate for a handful of marihuana found in my house. He spoke in an affected tone: "I just signed the papers to keep you under remand for three months and then I will sign again for another three months and after that the psychiatrists will know what to do with you". I spoke with even more affectation: "Never again shalt thou take freedom from any man for a non-toxic herb, and the psychiatrists will know what to do with you now!" The man was flipped out, green in the face with droplets of sweat he sat down clawing into his desk. He was kept in a clinic for two years, started speaking again and was reinstalled in his own room in the Palace of justice, Amsterdam, only he was not given any marihuana-cases anymore, that only made him stressed, it was judged."

That the prestigious ITAG has Bart at the top of their list of individual trepaners tells me everything I need to know about this subtle science. To be a trepaner in this trepa-nation (and this is obvious, but irresistible), you've got to have a hole on your head.
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