Neuroscientists find God in mushrooms
Wednesday July 12, 2006
By Jeremy Laurance
LONDON - A universal mystical experience with life-changing effects
can be produced by the hallucinogen contained in magic mushrooms,
scientists claimed yesterday.
Forty years after Timothy Leary, the apostle of drug-induced
mysticism, urged his 1960s hippie followers to "tune in, turn on, and
drop out", researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US have for
the first time demonstrated that mystical experiences can be produced
safely in the laboratory.
They say that there is no difference between drug-induced mystical
experiences and the spontaneous religious ones that believers have
reported for centuries. They are "descriptively identical".
And they argue that the potential of the hallucinogenic drugs, ignored
for decades because of their links with illicit drug use in the 1960s,
must be explored to develop new treatments for depression, drug
addiction and the treatment of intolerable pain.
Anticipating criticism from church leaders, they say they are not
interested in the "Does God exist?" debate. "This work can't and won't
go there."
Interest in the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs is growing around
the world. In the UK, the Royal College of Psychiatrists debated their
use at a conference in March for the first time for 30 years. A
conference held in Basel, Switzerland, last January, reviewed the
growing psychedelic psychiatry movement.
The drug psilocybin is the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, which
grow wild in Wales and were openly sold in London markets until a
change in the law last year.
For the Johns Hopkins study, 30 middle-aged volunteers who had
religious or spiritual interests attended two eight-hour drug
sessions, two months apart, receiving psilocybin in one session and a
non-hallucinogenic stimulant - Ritalin - in the other. They were not
told which drug was which.
One-third described the experience with psilocybin as the most
spiritually significant of their lifetime and two-thirds rated it
among their five most meaningful experiences.
In more than 60 per cent of cases the experience qualified as a "full
mystical experience" based on established psychological scales, the
researchers say. Some likened it to the importance of the birth of
their first child or the death of a parent.
The effects lasted for at least two months. Eight out of 10 of the
volunteers reported moderately or greatly increased wellbeing or life
satisfaction. Relatives, friends and colleagues confirmed the changes.
The study is one of the first in the new discipline of "neurotheology"
-the neurology of religious experience. The researchers, who report
their findings in the online journal Psychopharmacology, say that,
though unorthodox, their aim is to explore the possible benefits of
drugs like psilocybin.
Professor Roland Griffiths, of the department of neuroscience and
psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, said: "As a reaction to the excesses of
the 1960s, human research with hallucinogens has been basically frozen
in time. I had a healthy scepticism going into this. [But] under
defined conditions, with careful preparation, you can safely and
fairly reliably occasion what's called a primary mystical experience
that may lead to positive changes in a person.
"It is an early step in what we hope will be a large body of
scientific work that will ultimately help people."
A third of the volunteers became frightened during the drug sessions
with some reporting feelings of paranoia.
The researchers say psilocybin is not toxic or addictive, unlike
alcohol and cocaine, but that volunteers must be accompanied
throughout the experience by people who can help them through it.
The study is hailed as a landmark by former director of the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, Charles Schuster, in a commentary published
alongside the research.
In a second commentary, Huston Smith, America's leading authority on
comparative religion, writes that mystical experience "is as old as
humankind" and attempts to induce it using psychoactive plants were
made in some ancient cultures, such as classical Greece, and in some
contemporary small-scale cultures.
"But this is the first scientific demonstration in 40 years, and the
most rigorous ever, that profound mystical states can be produced
safely in the laboratory. The potential is great."
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
Enthogens, DNA, and Technology
I have recently begun reading the book The Cosmic Serpent - DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by Jeremy Narby
. This is a fascinating book about an anthropoligist sent to study the traditional use of plants by native peoples in the amazon rainforest.
I had passed over this books many times in the passed not realizing that it was a detailed account of one man's attempt to understand the enthogen ayahuasca and how the knowledge aquired through its use is just as valid as how western science aquires knowledge. Indeed in its own way it is superior to western science in that the plants are the teachers of how to use them. There is no guessing involved. Here is a brief synopsis of the book.
Originally sent to try to prove the economic efficacy of how the natives of the region use the plants, he was initially fustrated by how the shamans described how they went about finding out the medicinal uses of these plants. While no one would argue with the effectivness of these plants at curing, it was the shamans' claim that they were shown how to use the plants by ayahuasca. Ayahuasca being a hallucinagen, this was initially very fustrating to Mr Narby, how could he prove that these indians were using the plants in an econmicly efficient way if they claimed that they got the knowledge from the plants themselves. This conundrum leads the author to eventually experience the power of ayahuasca for himself. This becomes a totally transformational moment for the author. His experience leads him to the Radical idea that perhaps anthropoligists have been wrong in assuming that the discriptions of the spirits seen after taking ayahuasca were mere hallucinatory imaginings. Instead perhaps these visions should be taken literally!
This radical notion leads the author to consider that perhaps the serpents, vines and other serpentine motifs of the ayahuasca visions were actually DNA communicating with the mind of the shaman!
This book is absolutly fascinating and I cannot recommend it enough! It presents an idea of how our knowledge of the universe can be augmented by expanding our concepts of how the universe works and that by combining western science with the knowledge of tribal cultures can give us knowledge greater than what can be understood by either worldview alone.
. This is a fascinating book about an anthropoligist sent to study the traditional use of plants by native peoples in the amazon rainforest. I had passed over this books many times in the passed not realizing that it was a detailed account of one man's attempt to understand the enthogen ayahuasca and how the knowledge aquired through its use is just as valid as how western science aquires knowledge. Indeed in its own way it is superior to western science in that the plants are the teachers of how to use them. There is no guessing involved. Here is a brief synopsis of the book.
Originally sent to try to prove the economic efficacy of how the natives of the region use the plants, he was initially fustrated by how the shamans described how they went about finding out the medicinal uses of these plants. While no one would argue with the effectivness of these plants at curing, it was the shamans' claim that they were shown how to use the plants by ayahuasca. Ayahuasca being a hallucinagen, this was initially very fustrating to Mr Narby, how could he prove that these indians were using the plants in an econmicly efficient way if they claimed that they got the knowledge from the plants themselves. This conundrum leads the author to eventually experience the power of ayahuasca for himself. This becomes a totally transformational moment for the author. His experience leads him to the Radical idea that perhaps anthropoligists have been wrong in assuming that the discriptions of the spirits seen after taking ayahuasca were mere hallucinatory imaginings. Instead perhaps these visions should be taken literally!
This radical notion leads the author to consider that perhaps the serpents, vines and other serpentine motifs of the ayahuasca visions were actually DNA communicating with the mind of the shaman!
This book is absolutly fascinating and I cannot recommend it enough! It presents an idea of how our knowledge of the universe can be augmented by expanding our concepts of how the universe works and that by combining western science with the knowledge of tribal cultures can give us knowledge greater than what can be understood by either worldview alone.
Ayahuasca in National Geographic Adventure Magazine
The following excerpt is from National Geographic Adventure Magazine's website. Click the link above to read the entire story.
For centuries, Amazonian shamans have used ayahuasca as a window into the soul. The sacrament, they claim, can cure any illness. The author joins in this ancient ritual and finds the worlds within more terrifying—and enlightening—than ever imagined.
I will never forget what it was like. The overwhelming misery. The certainty of never-ending suffering. No one to help you, no way to escape. Everywhere I looked: darkness so thick that the idea of light seemed inconceivable.
Suddenly, I swirled down a tunnel of fire, wailing figures calling out to me in agony, begging me to save them. Others tried to terrorize me. "You will never leave here," they said. "Never. Never."
I found myself laughing at them. "I'm not scared of you," I said. But the darkness became even thicker; the emotional charge of suffering nearly unbearable. I felt as if I would burst from heartbreak—everywhere, I felt the agony of humankind, its tragedies, its hatreds, its sorrows. I reached the bottom of the tunnel and saw three thrones in a black chamber. Three shadowy figures sat in the chairs; in the middle was what I took to be the devil himself.
"The darkness will never end," he said. "It will never end. You can never escape this place."
"I can," I replied.
All at once, I willed myself to rise. I sailed up through the tunnel of fire, higher and higher until I broke through to a white light. All darkness immediately vanished. My body felt light, at peace. I floated among a beautiful spread of colors and patterns. Slowly my ayahuasca vision faded. I returned to my body, to where I lay in the hut, insects calling from the jungle.
"Welcome back," the shaman said.
The next morning, I discovered the impossible: The severe depression that had ruled my life since childhood had miraculously vanished.
Giant blue butterflies flutter clumsily past our canoe. Parrots flee higher into treetops. The deeper we go into the Amazon jungle, the more I realize I can't turn back. It has been a year since my last visit, and I'm here again in Peru traveling down the Río Aucayacu for more shamanistic healing. The truth is, I'm petrified to do it a second time around. But with shamanism—and with the drinking of ayahuasca in particular—I've learned that, for me, the worse the experience, the better the payoff. There is only one requirement for this work: You must be brave. You'll be learning how to save yourself.
The jungle camp where our shamanistic treatment will take place is some 200 miles (322 kilometers) from the nearest town, Iquitos, deep in the Peruvian Amazon. Beside me are the other four members of my tour. There is Winston, the biggest person I've ever met. Nearly seven feet tall (two meters), surely over 400 pounds (181 kilograms), he has a powerful body that could easily rip someone apart. I expect him to be a bodyguard or a bouncer; turns out he's a security guard. But there is something else about him. Something less tangible. It seems to rest in the black circles beneath his eyes, the face that never smiles, the glances that immediately dismiss all they survey. Winston does not seem like a happy man.
Then the others: Lisa, who has a master's degree from Stanford and is now pursuing her doctorate in political theory at Duke University; Christy, who just quit her job counseling at-risk teens to travel around South America; and Katherine, Christy's British friend. By all appearances, our group seems to be composed of ordinary citizens. No New Age energy healers. No pan flute makers. No hippies or Rastafarians or nouveau Druids. Christy betrays only a passing interest in becoming a yoga instructor.
And then there is me, who a year ago came to Peru on a lark to take the "sacred spirit medicine," ayahuasca, and get worked over by shamans. Little suspecting that I'd emerge from it feeling as if a waterlogged wool coat had been removed from my shoulders—literally feeling the burden of depression lifted—and thinking that there must be something to this crazy shamanism after all.
And so I am back again.
Story continues
Watch a video clip of an ayahuasca ceremony here
For centuries, Amazonian shamans have used ayahuasca as a window into the soul. The sacrament, they claim, can cure any illness. The author joins in this ancient ritual and finds the worlds within more terrifying—and enlightening—than ever imagined.
I will never forget what it was like. The overwhelming misery. The certainty of never-ending suffering. No one to help you, no way to escape. Everywhere I looked: darkness so thick that the idea of light seemed inconceivable.
Suddenly, I swirled down a tunnel of fire, wailing figures calling out to me in agony, begging me to save them. Others tried to terrorize me. "You will never leave here," they said. "Never. Never."
I found myself laughing at them. "I'm not scared of you," I said. But the darkness became even thicker; the emotional charge of suffering nearly unbearable. I felt as if I would burst from heartbreak—everywhere, I felt the agony of humankind, its tragedies, its hatreds, its sorrows. I reached the bottom of the tunnel and saw three thrones in a black chamber. Three shadowy figures sat in the chairs; in the middle was what I took to be the devil himself.
"The darkness will never end," he said. "It will never end. You can never escape this place."
"I can," I replied.
All at once, I willed myself to rise. I sailed up through the tunnel of fire, higher and higher until I broke through to a white light. All darkness immediately vanished. My body felt light, at peace. I floated among a beautiful spread of colors and patterns. Slowly my ayahuasca vision faded. I returned to my body, to where I lay in the hut, insects calling from the jungle.
"Welcome back," the shaman said.
The next morning, I discovered the impossible: The severe depression that had ruled my life since childhood had miraculously vanished.
Giant blue butterflies flutter clumsily past our canoe. Parrots flee higher into treetops. The deeper we go into the Amazon jungle, the more I realize I can't turn back. It has been a year since my last visit, and I'm here again in Peru traveling down the Río Aucayacu for more shamanistic healing. The truth is, I'm petrified to do it a second time around. But with shamanism—and with the drinking of ayahuasca in particular—I've learned that, for me, the worse the experience, the better the payoff. There is only one requirement for this work: You must be brave. You'll be learning how to save yourself.
The jungle camp where our shamanistic treatment will take place is some 200 miles (322 kilometers) from the nearest town, Iquitos, deep in the Peruvian Amazon. Beside me are the other four members of my tour. There is Winston, the biggest person I've ever met. Nearly seven feet tall (two meters), surely over 400 pounds (181 kilograms), he has a powerful body that could easily rip someone apart. I expect him to be a bodyguard or a bouncer; turns out he's a security guard. But there is something else about him. Something less tangible. It seems to rest in the black circles beneath his eyes, the face that never smiles, the glances that immediately dismiss all they survey. Winston does not seem like a happy man.
Then the others: Lisa, who has a master's degree from Stanford and is now pursuing her doctorate in political theory at Duke University; Christy, who just quit her job counseling at-risk teens to travel around South America; and Katherine, Christy's British friend. By all appearances, our group seems to be composed of ordinary citizens. No New Age energy healers. No pan flute makers. No hippies or Rastafarians or nouveau Druids. Christy betrays only a passing interest in becoming a yoga instructor.
And then there is me, who a year ago came to Peru on a lark to take the "sacred spirit medicine," ayahuasca, and get worked over by shamans. Little suspecting that I'd emerge from it feeling as if a waterlogged wool coat had been removed from my shoulders—literally feeling the burden of depression lifted—and thinking that there must be something to this crazy shamanism after all.
And so I am back again.
Story continues
Watch a video clip of an ayahuasca ceremony here
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Binaural Beats, Ayahuasca and Sorcery
I only now have the presence of mind to relate to you all my latest experiment with ayahuasca. First let me start of by saying that I have a copy of a very interesting program call BrainWave sychronizer. With this software you can create special audio signals call binaural beats which are made by pumping sound of 2 differing frequencies in to each side of your headphones. The 2 sounds produce a harmonic wave that creates and audible beat. These beats create a phenomenon called brainwave entrainment. By utilizing these sounds one can literally program your mind to produce different brainwaves in the alpha, theta and even delta bandwith. I have used the software by itself for some time and I have always intended to try using it with either a psychedelic or during ritual. Well last night I decieded to do both.
I designed a 60 min audio program to entrain my brain to go from alph for 20 min. to theta for 20 min. finally finishing with 20 minutes of delta waves. I also recorded myself doing the ritual in its entirety from banishing, to invocation and final closing. I timed it so that the ritual would finish after 40 min. Allowing the last 20 min. to be left for activation of the ritual intent. I exported the program to an mp3 and loaded it on my pocket pc so I could listen to it with headphones and not have to be at my computer. I had started about 2 hours before this time by ingesting a 15 gram combination of Syrian Rue and Mimosa Hostilis. I was just starting to get some of the preliminary effects of the huasca when I donned my headphones and started the program. I then went into my room which I had prepared by dimming the lights and lighting some pleasent incense, and layed down on my bed. The combination of the brainwave entraining beats, my own voice doing the ritual and the ayahuasca gave me the most intense closed eyed visuals that I have ever had. I fully visualized myself doing the ritual as I was listening to it. I had a vision of myself dressed in cerimonial garb projecting energy and tracing flaming blue pentagrams in the air. I could feel the names of power vibrating in my body as I listened and visualized the ritual progress. During the invocational portion of the ritual I had the distinct feeling of being 'inhabited' by the entity that I was trying to invoke. I felt like I was filled up, that somehow my body had expanded to 10 times it's normal size! In the final 20 min. of the program I had a very detailed visionary experience that is a bit too personal for me to write about at this time but sifice it to say, I felt like I was being shown these things by this entity. I was told that this entity was working in conjunction with the ayahuasca to show me these things and that I should do more invocations if I wanted to strengthen my ablity to bring back knowledge from this state.
There is a lot more to the experience, but I still need time to process it. I will be writting more about it as I am able to intigrate more of the experience into my conscious memory.
I designed a 60 min audio program to entrain my brain to go from alph for 20 min. to theta for 20 min. finally finishing with 20 minutes of delta waves. I also recorded myself doing the ritual in its entirety from banishing, to invocation and final closing. I timed it so that the ritual would finish after 40 min. Allowing the last 20 min. to be left for activation of the ritual intent. I exported the program to an mp3 and loaded it on my pocket pc so I could listen to it with headphones and not have to be at my computer. I had started about 2 hours before this time by ingesting a 15 gram combination of Syrian Rue and Mimosa Hostilis. I was just starting to get some of the preliminary effects of the huasca when I donned my headphones and started the program. I then went into my room which I had prepared by dimming the lights and lighting some pleasent incense, and layed down on my bed. The combination of the brainwave entraining beats, my own voice doing the ritual and the ayahuasca gave me the most intense closed eyed visuals that I have ever had. I fully visualized myself doing the ritual as I was listening to it. I had a vision of myself dressed in cerimonial garb projecting energy and tracing flaming blue pentagrams in the air. I could feel the names of power vibrating in my body as I listened and visualized the ritual progress. During the invocational portion of the ritual I had the distinct feeling of being 'inhabited' by the entity that I was trying to invoke. I felt like I was filled up, that somehow my body had expanded to 10 times it's normal size! In the final 20 min. of the program I had a very detailed visionary experience that is a bit too personal for me to write about at this time but sifice it to say, I felt like I was being shown these things by this entity. I was told that this entity was working in conjunction with the ayahuasca to show me these things and that I should do more invocations if I wanted to strengthen my ablity to bring back knowledge from this state.
There is a lot more to the experience, but I still need time to process it. I will be writting more about it as I am able to intigrate more of the experience into my conscious memory.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Longer Clip of Terence Mckenna's Last Public Lecture
Here is a longer clip from Psychedelics in the Age of Intelligent Machines by Terence Mckenna. This one is 13 min. long and is found on google video. By the way if you have bittorrent I understand that the entire 86 min video is available for download. I don't have a link but if you are a regular user of bittorrent then you know where to look to find a link. Anyway, enjoy!
Non Drug Altered States from Viking Youth Power Hour
As a student of magick and shamanism, altered states and how to attain them are an ongoing area of intense study and interest of mine. Though it may seem that I have a preference from drug induced altered states, I would love to be able to quickly and realiably achieve similar results without the need of chemical assistance. To that end I have made a life long study of the technologies of hypnosis and NLP which I have found to be THE most effective ways to achieve novel states of consciousness at will. If you are interested in hearing a discussion of such topics, tune in to the latest podcast from The Viking Youth Power Hour in which they discuss trance induction using NLP and other subjects of interest.
Daniel Pinchbeck, 2012 and the Return of Quetzalcoatl
Well I just started reading Daniel Pinchbeck's new book 2012
and I have to say that so far I am very impressed. Pinchbeck may indeed be Terence Mckenna's successor as the literary voice of the psychedelic community. Drawing from topics as varied as mayan and toltec myth, crop circles, alien abductions, amazonian shamanism and transpersonal psychology Mr. Pinchbeck has created in his words a though provoking "thought experiment" that resonated deeply with some of my deepest intuitions about the striking transformations that are taking place on this planet. If you would like to read an excerpt of the first two chapters you can find them at disinfo.com:
Chapter One
Chapter two
If you are interested in hearing Daniel talk about some of the themes found in 2012
you can tune into a podcast of a talk he gave at last years burningman festival entitled "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dimensional Shift." This is just one of many interesting Podcasts From The Psychedelic Salon which include recordings of Terence Mckenna, Shasha and Ann Shulgin, Alex Grey and others of interest. Check them out!
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Drug Sanity South of the Border
By Margaret Dooley, AlterNet
Posted on May 8, 2006, Printed on May 9, 2006
"Appallingly stupid" is how San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders jumped to describe the Mexican Senate's recent overwhelming approval of legislation that would, in a limited way, decriminalize the possession of small amounts of some drugs. Our city officials' knee-jerk condemnation of the bill, which District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said would send "addicts pouring onto our streets," was as predictable as it was disappointing.
Worse still was that Mexico's President Vicente Fox bowed to U.S. pressure and vetoed the legislation, which would have removed incentives for corruption and allowed law enforcement to focus their limited resources on organized and violent crime. When Mexico's legislature takes up the issue again in the fall, it should have the courage to continue drafting drug policies that are far more practical than our own.
Certainly, American and Mexican residents alike would be very concerned if, by some change of law, drugs suddenly became much more available to youth on either side of the border. But the Mexican legislation in question, which proposes to reduce (but not remove) criminal penalties for low-level drug possession, would not do that -- just as similar policies have not increased the availability of drugs in Western Europe and Canada.
Indeed, our own policies have proved much worse in this regard. Despite a $40-billion-a-year drug war, "controlled substances" are more available and cheaper than they have ever been -- in San Diego and around the United States. And, unlike alcohol, these drugs are as available to kids as to adults.
Because we enforce a drinking age on this side of the border, there is clear incentive for our youth to head south in search of alcohol (where the age limit of 18 is poorly enforced). No such incentives exist for marijuana or methamphetamine, nor would they had President Fox signed the bill this week. Why drive south and wait in line to cross the border, when you can already buy it at school or from a neighbor?
San Diego officials know how pervasive drugs are in this city, so it is disingenuous for them to oppose Mexico's legislation based on concerns about increased availability of drugs.
And yet no one is surprised that our mayor and district attorney, among others, rushed to condemn the Mexican bill last week. This is because Mexico's decision flies in the face of our national government's 30-year-old crusade to eradicate illegal drugs -- and does so very close to home. Drug war advocates say that reducing criminal penalties for possession of controlled substances is akin to admitting defeat. It sends the wrong message, they say.
But isn't it the right thing to do?
In the name of sending the right message, we have incarcerated millions of Americans over the last three decades. More people are in prison for drug charges in the United States than are incarcerated for all crimes in Western Europe, which has a larger total population. In California alone, the number of people incarcerated for drug possession quadrupled in the 12 years between 1988 and 2000, peaking at 20,116. And yet drug use remains stable.
Our fear of sending the wrong message is stopping us from implementing policies that would keep drugs away from youth and would better prevent and treat addiction. We must not be afraid to admit that drugs and drug addiction will never be eradicated. Instead, we must work toward reducing the harm that drugs cause. That means being more practical and perhaps being a little more like our neighbors to the south.
Margaret Dooley, who is based in San Diego, is the outreach coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance.
© 2006 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/35891/
Posted on May 8, 2006, Printed on May 9, 2006
"Appallingly stupid" is how San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders jumped to describe the Mexican Senate's recent overwhelming approval of legislation that would, in a limited way, decriminalize the possession of small amounts of some drugs. Our city officials' knee-jerk condemnation of the bill, which District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said would send "addicts pouring onto our streets," was as predictable as it was disappointing.
Worse still was that Mexico's President Vicente Fox bowed to U.S. pressure and vetoed the legislation, which would have removed incentives for corruption and allowed law enforcement to focus their limited resources on organized and violent crime. When Mexico's legislature takes up the issue again in the fall, it should have the courage to continue drafting drug policies that are far more practical than our own.
Certainly, American and Mexican residents alike would be very concerned if, by some change of law, drugs suddenly became much more available to youth on either side of the border. But the Mexican legislation in question, which proposes to reduce (but not remove) criminal penalties for low-level drug possession, would not do that -- just as similar policies have not increased the availability of drugs in Western Europe and Canada.
Indeed, our own policies have proved much worse in this regard. Despite a $40-billion-a-year drug war, "controlled substances" are more available and cheaper than they have ever been -- in San Diego and around the United States. And, unlike alcohol, these drugs are as available to kids as to adults.
Because we enforce a drinking age on this side of the border, there is clear incentive for our youth to head south in search of alcohol (where the age limit of 18 is poorly enforced). No such incentives exist for marijuana or methamphetamine, nor would they had President Fox signed the bill this week. Why drive south and wait in line to cross the border, when you can already buy it at school or from a neighbor?
San Diego officials know how pervasive drugs are in this city, so it is disingenuous for them to oppose Mexico's legislation based on concerns about increased availability of drugs.
And yet no one is surprised that our mayor and district attorney, among others, rushed to condemn the Mexican bill last week. This is because Mexico's decision flies in the face of our national government's 30-year-old crusade to eradicate illegal drugs -- and does so very close to home. Drug war advocates say that reducing criminal penalties for possession of controlled substances is akin to admitting defeat. It sends the wrong message, they say.
But isn't it the right thing to do?
In the name of sending the right message, we have incarcerated millions of Americans over the last three decades. More people are in prison for drug charges in the United States than are incarcerated for all crimes in Western Europe, which has a larger total population. In California alone, the number of people incarcerated for drug possession quadrupled in the 12 years between 1988 and 2000, peaking at 20,116. And yet drug use remains stable.
Our fear of sending the wrong message is stopping us from implementing policies that would keep drugs away from youth and would better prevent and treat addiction. We must not be afraid to admit that drugs and drug addiction will never be eradicated. Instead, we must work toward reducing the harm that drugs cause. That means being more practical and perhaps being a little more like our neighbors to the south.
Margaret Dooley, who is based in San Diego, is the outreach coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance.
© 2006 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/35891/
Terence Mckenna on YouTube.com
Here is a clip I found of Terence giving what ended up being his last recorded lecture. The video is called Psychedelics in the Age of Intelligent Machines. If you can get a copy of the video I highly recommend it.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Transcending Fear and the Shamanic experience
Practicing my own personal form of neo-shamanism has been a transformational experience for me. Looking over some of my old journal entries I find that I have changed much in my world view and my expectiation about life. Primarily I have found that the most rewarding aspect of my practice has been that it has forced my time and again to confront fear. It is the confrontation and transcending of fear that I believe it THE most important factor in attainment of shamanic knowledge. I believe that this experience is similar to that of "Stalking Power" which has been described by other authors of books on indigenous shamanism. Only by transcending our fears can we have access to true power. We modern humans living in the so called First World nation states are constantly bombarded with images and symbols of fear. The evening news if filled with terrorizing images. Irronically however, our society is suprisingly safe. We have fairly long lifespans especially compared with those living in the so called Third World. Few of us have to fear that our children will be drafted into a revolutionary army or kidnapped and held for ransom. This illustrates the disconnect from reality that the western news media has succesfully created for the viewing public. Magick, shamanism and psychedelics as well as other technologies of de-conditioning are vital to those who wish to wake up from the socio-cultural mediasphere.
Fear is the control mechanism that is used by the elite to control you. It has been this way since the beginning of culture (i.e. the beginnings of cities and governments) If we are to fully awaken to our potential as human beings it is essential to learn to overcome the culturally enforced irrational fears that are use to contol us. I have found that by using the techniques of hermetic magick, shamanism and the selective use of plant based psychoactives that it is possible to see thru the illusion of culture. To in effect see thru the Matrix and become aware. Aware of what you may ask? Well I will not say aware of reality because after all, each of us percieves reality in our own way. What I will say is that by deconditioning yourself you learn to sense the world in a more primal way, as a reaction to your sensory input unfiltered by culturaly installed mental programs. Hopefully, one day enough people will become aware of how we are controlled and free themselves enough to effect change on this planet on a much wider scale. Until that time comes I encourage everyone to question, explore and push the boundaries of thier experience, only by doing so can you arrive at some understanding of the nature of awareness and hopefully help others to become more aware.
Fear is the control mechanism that is used by the elite to control you. It has been this way since the beginning of culture (i.e. the beginnings of cities and governments) If we are to fully awaken to our potential as human beings it is essential to learn to overcome the culturally enforced irrational fears that are use to contol us. I have found that by using the techniques of hermetic magick, shamanism and the selective use of plant based psychoactives that it is possible to see thru the illusion of culture. To in effect see thru the Matrix and become aware. Aware of what you may ask? Well I will not say aware of reality because after all, each of us percieves reality in our own way. What I will say is that by deconditioning yourself you learn to sense the world in a more primal way, as a reaction to your sensory input unfiltered by culturaly installed mental programs. Hopefully, one day enough people will become aware of how we are controlled and free themselves enough to effect change on this planet on a much wider scale. Until that time comes I encourage everyone to question, explore and push the boundaries of thier experience, only by doing so can you arrive at some understanding of the nature of awareness and hopefully help others to become more aware.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
NeoHuasca Taking The Red Pill
NeoHuasca - A Mimosa hostillis extract with a dark red coloring that can be gel capped and taking in conjunction with an MAOI such as syrian rue. Such a combination results in a powerful entheogenic experience. I call it NeoHuasca both as a nod to the Matrix films and the Red Pill that Neo swallows to make his escape, and to differentiate it from traditional Ayahuasca or Yaje. Having tryed traditional formulations of Yaje I can tell you that the effects are markedly different. NeoHuasca is just as powerful of a hallucinagen but without the purging and crapping that goes along with the traditional methods. Having experienced both I find I prefer NeoHuasca for convenience sake. There is something to be said however for the traditional method of brewing and consumption. The purging that comes with it can have a powerful healing effect but there is a definate recovery period, at least for me, and the Red Pills are far better suited to the magickal operations with which I am currently involved. The following is a short discription of how to prepare NeoHuasca:
How to Create Red Pills
------------------------
Ingredients and Equipment
Mimosa Hostilis
Syrian Rue
Lemon juice concentrate
A pyrex baking dish
A Crockpot and/or 2 large pots (dutch oven style work best)
Blender or coffee grinder
Coffee filters and/or pantyhoes (filter and strain)
Using scissors or shears cut the M. Hostilis bark into pieces small enough to fit in your blender or grinder and then pulverize it. Dump your now pulverized root bark into a crockpot or large dutch oven style pot, I don't have a working crockpot so I use a pot. Pour in just enough water to cover your root bark, then turn on the heat and bring to a boil. Now begin adding your lemon juice about a tablespoon at a time, until the water starts forming a frothy bubbles this is a sign that we have acidified the water in the right amount. Now, cover the pot and simmer at a low boil for about 3 hours. Pour the mixture through your filter into another pot and put aside, take the pulp that you strained out and return it to your boiling pot and again cover it with water and add lemon juice, boiling for another 3 hours. Repeat the filtering process adding this liquid to the first batch, discarding the pulp. Boil until there is about an inch of liquid left in the pot. Pour this now dark red liquid into your Pyrex baking dish and put it over low heat. It will start to bubble, when these bubbles start to grow bigger instead of popping and/or the liquid starts getting thick and viscous turn off the heat and cover the pan and put it aside to cure. The resulting residue will by a sticky tarlike substance that is a dark red to maroon color that you will have to scrape off the dish. You can gel cap it and take it along with gel capped ground Rue. The tar is very sticky and can be a bit fustrating to cap, If you leave the tar out in the air it will eventually (after many days) turn into a hard resin like compound. This resin can be powdered and used in the gel caps as well. I am not sure if there is a loss of potency when you let it dry out that much, I only discovered this after I only had a little left of the substance and the effect seemed a bit weaker but that could have been because I had to make due with a smaller dose. Here is some guidelines on dosage:
6-10 grams of the M. Hostilis extract
3-4 grams Syrian Rue
I have found that taking the gel caps in 3 doses every 20 min. eliminates nausea and makes for a smooth trip.
Have fun exploring and as always be careful!
How to Create Red Pills
------------------------
Ingredients and Equipment
Mimosa HostilisSyrian RueLemon juice concentrate
A pyrex baking dish
A Crockpot and/or 2 large pots (dutch oven style work best)
Blender or coffee grinder
Coffee filters and/or pantyhoes (filter and strain)
Using scissors or shears cut the M. Hostilis bark into pieces small enough to fit in your blender or grinder and then pulverize it. Dump your now pulverized root bark into a crockpot or large dutch oven style pot, I don't have a working crockpot so I use a pot. Pour in just enough water to cover your root bark, then turn on the heat and bring to a boil. Now begin adding your lemon juice about a tablespoon at a time, until the water starts forming a frothy bubbles this is a sign that we have acidified the water in the right amount. Now, cover the pot and simmer at a low boil for about 3 hours. Pour the mixture through your filter into another pot and put aside, take the pulp that you strained out and return it to your boiling pot and again cover it with water and add lemon juice, boiling for another 3 hours. Repeat the filtering process adding this liquid to the first batch, discarding the pulp. Boil until there is about an inch of liquid left in the pot. Pour this now dark red liquid into your Pyrex baking dish and put it over low heat. It will start to bubble, when these bubbles start to grow bigger instead of popping and/or the liquid starts getting thick and viscous turn off the heat and cover the pan and put it aside to cure. The resulting residue will by a sticky tarlike substance that is a dark red to maroon color that you will have to scrape off the dish. You can gel cap it and take it along with gel capped ground Rue. The tar is very sticky and can be a bit fustrating to cap, If you leave the tar out in the air it will eventually (after many days) turn into a hard resin like compound. This resin can be powdered and used in the gel caps as well. I am not sure if there is a loss of potency when you let it dry out that much, I only discovered this after I only had a little left of the substance and the effect seemed a bit weaker but that could have been because I had to make due with a smaller dose. Here is some guidelines on dosage:
6-10 grams of the M. Hostilis extract
3-4 grams Syrian Rue
I have found that taking the gel caps in 3 doses every 20 min. eliminates nausea and makes for a smooth trip.
Have fun exploring and as always be careful!
A Review of Yaje - The New Purgatory
A Review of Yaje: The New Purgatory By Jimmy Weiskopf
In the past few years there has been many books written by western authors on the subject of the use of Ayahuasca or Yaje by native shamans of South America and although such books have served a vital role in reporting on the phenomenon of Yaje, few have captured the distinct experience of Yaje use in the context of a rapidly changing Latin America. In Yaje: The New Purgatory, Jimmy Weiskopf has successfully captured the mood that reflects the ancient practices of the amazon shamans against the backdrop of Columbia, a country that is a portrait of contrasts. In the book Jimmy recounts his repeated visits to Columbia to take Yaje and learn about its spiritual and physical healing power.
When reading any book on modern accounts of shamanism and psychedelics one cannot avoid comparisons with the works of Carlos Castenada and the enigmatic Don Juan Matus. In Yaje, Mr. Weiskopf has drawn a compelling picture of a modern shaman every bit as wise and wierd as Don Juan. In the personage of Taita Pacho Peaguaje we find such a character, with the added bonus of actual pictures which leave little doubt of his existance. The story details the authors stay with Pacho and his family as well as his experiences drinking Yaje repeatedly over the course of his stay.
Yaje is more than just a personal account of one mans experience with the sacred brew. Yaje also details the principals of the indigenous traditions of Columbia as well as the latest anthropological and botanical research. Yaje - The new Purgatory is first and foremost a literary work and as such it is both an entertaining and engrossing read. The author however has gone above and beyond the call by including the results of painstaking research on every aspect of Yaje use. At over 600 pages, including a glossery of terms, Yaje - The new Purgatory is not a light read but if you want to get some deep insight into the use of vision plants by indigenous cultures there are few books that can compare.
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