Introduction to Eye Floaters in the Vitreous

The author Floco Tausin’s statement on the eye floaters in the vitreous and their common explanation: They are neither eye disease nor sign of old age, but are to be seen in connection with our own development of consciousness.

Many of you see small dots and strings, specks, spots, strands, cobwebs, squiggles – you name it. They move or float in your field of vision, or more exactly: they seem to move simultaneously with your view. Usually you become aware of these dots and strings by daylight when you look at a bright surface or to the sky. Moreover, when you try to look at them in order to examine them carefully, they slide away. Maybe some of you are already used to these dots and strings. Others feel annoyed by them. Additionally, there are those people who are convinced to suffer from an incurable eye disease. They think of it as a continuous degenerative process inside the eye which will lead to the loss of the eyesight.

In the ophthalmology, these small dots and strings are classified as entoptic phenomenon: Though caused within the eye, they appear to be outside of it, in your field of vision. Eye doctors refer to them as vitreous opacities, known as eye floaters.
Having stated the point of view of the ophthalmology, I wish to emphazise that eye floaters are not an eye disease. However, note that there are many different types of entoptic appearances which are known as floaters. For example, there are those floaters which point to a retinal detachment and indeed may lead to blindness if not treated. (To differentiate between the so called harmless, flexible and clear distinct floaters, and the problematic diffuse dimming (infiltration): see illustration (pdf file).
Thus if you see large dark or black obscure spots that look like soot, soot rain or tabacco dust; if you are aware of flashes, sparks, shimmer or flicker; if large parts of your vision is clouded – then see the ophthalmologist. Retinal detachments however arise very rarely. A huge majority of people perceiving small dots and strings are experiencing a harmless type of eye floaters. In fact it is these harmless floaters that are of interest here.
So what are these floaters? Ophthalmologists agree that floaters are rather transparent opacities in the vitreous. The vitreous is a jelly-like clear fluid filling out the eyeball. When daylight falls into the eye, those opacities cast their shadows over the retina. The retina is known as a cellular photo-sensitive layer that covers the rear of the eye; it passes the information coming from the outside to the brain and, as a consequence, enables us to see.

But how do these vitreous opacities develop? There are various answers, provided by the ophthalmology. First of all, the dots and strings are considered as fine fibres of the vitreous frame clumped together due to age conditioned shrinking of the vitreous. A second explanation emphazises the process of the posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) leading to the appearance of these fibres. Further, it is said to be cells which have been preserved in the vitreous humour since birth – they start to float in the vitreous due to its liquefaction in the course of life. Last, dots and strings are described as debris such as clumped proteines, white blood corpuscles, red blood cells or dead cells either in the vitreous itself, or between the vitreous and the retina.

To sum up: The dots and strings in your visual field are generally understood as abnormality, as a degeneration or even as an illness. To put it in other words: Normal healthy people do not have vitreous opacities. This is the reason that many of you reject the eye floaters and want them to disappear. Some people “just” feel disturbed or annoyed by these dots and strings; others suffer from them also psychologically and are experiencing them as so horrible, that they are even willing to undertake the risky vitrectomy or a laser treatment, simply to get rid of the floaters (for a discussion of this matter, see page Ignorance).
As a consequence, vitreous floaters encounter rejection in our society. For nobody wishes to suffer from an illness or even from a natural sign of old age which reduces the sight and cannot be treated effectively and without risk.

However, this is a huge misunderstanding: The so called harmless and transparent floaters are not an eye illness but a natural appearance with people who have further developed their consciousness – irrespective of wheter they have done it on purpose or not.
I talk about this matter on the background of my own experiences which I gained on the occasion of a encounter with a knowing man. This man refers to himself as a seer. While we are thinking of eye floaters or vitreous opacities, he relates these dots and strings to consciousness which he claims can be seen directly – by anyone who develops his or her own consciousness. In the course of this meeting I changed my life for this purpose. Guided by this seer, to be called Nestor, I became gradually aware of the significance of these eye floaters. To develop my consciousness, he taught me the appropriate way of life as well as particular exercises. Following his suggestions, I received a better and more distinctive perception of these dots and strings – an indispensable ability to determine what floaters actually are. I describe my experiences with Nestor in my book “Mouches Volantes. Die Leuchtstruktur des Bewusstseins” (at the moment only available in German). To those who choose the way of consciousness development, my book offers new realization as well as fresh stimulus for the individual growing.

This is why I talk of the perception of eye floaters as connected to consciousness development. The more our consciousness unfolds, the more our floaters will change: They start to light up. Therefore, it is out of question that floaters will darken the eyesight. Lerning to see these dots and strings means to make them light up. Moreover, shining dots and strings will light up our world, for, according to Nestor, floaters are directly linked with this world. Thus, every single person who learns to see the floaters, simultaneously works on the increasement of the light of consciousness in this world.

Hence, if you want to know the real nature of those floaters, all the clinical studies and advices of the ophthalmologists do not help. They will simply inform you that there is no adequate treatment for eye floaters. Nestor, on the other hand, speaks clear words to all those who want to find out what these dots and strings really are: You must tackle them. Look at them. As often as possible. Again and again. Doing so, you will learn to see.