EROCx1 BLOG

The Marketing of Madness: The Truth About Psychotropic Drugs

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:13:05 PST

The Marketing of Madness is the definitive documentary on the psychiatric drugging industry. Here is the real story of the high income partnership between psychiatry and drug companies that has created an $80 billion psychotropic drug profit centre.

But appearances are deceiving. How valid are psychiatrists’ diagnoses – and how safe are their drugs? Digging deep beneath the corporate veneer, this three-part documentary exposes the truth behind the slick marketing schemes and scientific deceit that conceal dangerous and often deadly sales campaigns.

In this film you’ll discover that… Many of the drugs side effects may actually make your ‘mental illness’ worse. Psychiatric drugs can induce aggression or depression. Some psychotropic drugs prescribed to children are more addictive than cocaine. Psychiatric diagnoses appears to be based on dubious science. Of the 297 mental disorders contained with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, none can be objectively measured by pathological tests.

Mental illness symptoms within this manual are arbitrarily assigned by a subjective voting system in a psychiatric panel. It is estimated that 100 million people globally use psychotropic drugs.

The Marketing of Madness exposes the real insanity in our psychiatric ‘health care’ system: profit-driven drug marketing at the expense of human rights.

This film plunges into an industry corrupted by corporate greed and delivers a shocking warning from courageous experts who value public health over dollar.

John Taylor Gatto: Ultimate History Lesson

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:38:35 PST

The Ultimate History Lesson Hours 1-5 (YouTube Playlist)

When John Taylor Gatto resigned from his job, he did so on the Op-Ed page of the Wall Street Journal. At the time, he was NYC and New York State School Teacher of the Year. Herein, with more than 200 footnotes, and more than 30 books references; this 5-hour interview session, memorializing Gatto’s research, publications, and life experiences, forms an impeccable resource and reference library of the Underground History of American Education. Each hour focuses on examining the evolution of ideas; which manifest today in the phenomenon of public schooling. By dissecting the history and presenting you with the references, you’re left at the end of each hour; with a copious amount of information, from which you can continue your own personal journey of discovery.Please consider making a purchase or donating to the Tragedy & Hope Community

Official Websites:
theultimatehistorylesson.com
JohnTaylorGatto.com
TragedyandHope.com
Peace Revolution Podcast
The Podcast episodes feature round table discussions with Richard Grove, Lisa Arbercheski, Jan Irvin, Tony Myers and Paul Verge to better understand the ideas & information presented by John Taylor Gatto. With over 1,000 detailed notes, links, and references for further study. I recommend subscribing and checking out previous episodes. This is one of my favorite Podcasts!

Peace Revolution Podcast #41
Download: Mp3

OUTLINE FOR YOUTUBE HOUR 1:

1. Arriving at abstraction, critical thinking and draft evaluations

2. The metaphor of schooling and the school of fish. Collective expectations vs. individualism, identity and uniqueness. Volition in group selection. Language theft, Newspeak, Lippmann and the schooling transformation. The language of education becomes respected out of ritual.

3. Awareness of contrary dynamics leading to theories of dialectics. Intellectual self defense, questioning authority. The malign intent against individuality. Reality testing. Conditioned from infancy to shave the truth. Education begins with mistrust.

4. Outcome based education, servile arts vs. independent self sufficiency and life-long learning. The logic of schooling and asking "why?" Teaching experiences spanning 30 years including Gold Coast, Harlem, and Spanish Harlem and the disparity between what Gatto accomplished vs. the Protocol. Teaching his class to asking questions. Visiting delegations. The ideal of 120 individual curricula. Learning more from students than from the Ivy League.

5. The extension of childhood and the economics of planned obsolescence. Lincoln's Mudsill Moment in 1859. The British are financing the whole western movement and attempting to reinstall their class system. Americans, independent livelihoods and the incompatibility with the concept of the proletariat based factory systems. Private independent systems of value. Slavery, wives of the Plantation owners and the causes of the Civil War. Northern industrialists wage slavery and deadwood.

6. The pulpit and the press. William Rainey Harper and the Chautauqua's. Mass media. Ideas and ways of thinking introduced to the "best" people. A second American Revolution, controlling public opinion, mechanizing workforces. Carnegie and the elimination of the need for skilled labor.

7. Leverage and the alchemy of wealth, power, fame. Global Governance and Rockefeller lineage. Rockefeller rape allegations. Horatio Alger. "The Rise of the Dangerous Class in New York City", Adoption institutions, Lowering unit value of labor by encouraging women in the workforce, social work industry rises. Children of Labor sent west in box cars. Lutheran parents with Episcopal Hierarchy, farmers, free labor. Breaking the parental bond. The theory of "Mirror Neurons."

8. School and un-making connections. Short answer testing, memorization and disjointed thinking. Automatic weight lifting machines.

9. Frustration and Aggression and the removal of volition in schooling. Executive hiring. Cronyism and the illusion of credentialism in higher learning. How to get into Harvard or Princeton. Wealth and Fame. Ambiguous excellence and "added value". Physical, Mental and Social Hobbies. Team sports vs. carving your own path. Seat less unicycle over broken terrain. Removing imagination. "Garbage in, Garbage out."

10. Standardized testing, the Princeton Review and "What Smart Students Know." 50/50 Learning. GPA and obedience. Unmasking reality. Bush, Kerry and the "C" Averages. Skull and Bones Presidential Theatre. "Chutzpah" and the contempt for ordinary people. Economic crisis, real estate bubbles, savings and loan and the City Bank of New York. Sophisticated amoral social engineers. Speaking in China.

11. Incoherence and the exhausting of national vitality. Prussian education runs its course. Family as the root of Nations. Rhetorical concern and the dependence on constant warfare. The explosion of invention causing the "crisis of capitalism." Rockefeller, Carnegie, Astor, Vanderbilt undermine education by assembled capital. Small farmers, Entrepreneurs and the transition to the corporate economy.

12. Prussian schooling, Johann Fichte and the "Addresses to the German Nation" Battle of Jena (1806) Spinoza and "Tractatus Theologico Politicus". Forced schooling to destroy the imagination. Bells, testing, ranking. John Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion," Justified Sinners and the elect.

Peace Revolution Podcast #42
Download: Mp3

OUTLINE FOR YOUTUBE HOUR 2:

1. The Ominous Continuity. Fichte, Spinoza, Calvin and Plato. "The Republic" and "The Laws." The danger of ordinary people. Charles Darwin and "The Descent of Man", "On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of the Favored Races" "The hopeless Irish." The influence of Thomas Malthus. "The Book of Common Prayer" and the "Homily of Obedience". Wedgewood Pottery. (00:25-8:57)

2. Francis Galton and the "Galton Clubs." The so-called "Menace" to the human race and the way to render them harmless. Eugenics, Population control and the breeding of the "biologically advanced." The Emergence of the majority of Private Schools post "Descent of Man". "Fitter Family Competitions" and the reinforcement of Darwinian and earlier philosophies. "Natures Work or the Lords Work" (8:57-14:15)

3. Wilhelm Wundt and the Prussian Ph.D. University of Berlin and Leipzig. Edward Everett as the first American Ph.D. Clout and the ticket to intellectual management. The Japanese "Prussian" Constitution. (14:15-16:45)

4. The "domination of ideas" and connecting the dots. "Not a good way to get tenure." The lineage of insights. (16:46-18:19)

5. Irrationality and the Utopian ideals. Adam Smith and the "Wealth of Nations." William Playfair and the so-called destruction of the social order if everyone knew they were capable of intellectual development. "Liberal" is not a dirty word. (18:20-22:50)

6. Adolf Hitler and "Mein Kampf." Ivy Lee, Bernays and Propaganda. (22:50-23:48)

7. Teaching 5 classes the same material. Discarding the assigned curriculum and exercising your "mental muscles." Equality across social classes. Predestination, Moby Dick and Gregory Smith's lesson for the teacher. Active mentalities behind the street idiom. Taking kids seriously. Jamal Watson and doing comic books right. (23:49- 32:49)

8. The nationally known Assassination's expert that flunked out of Cornell. "Inquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth" and "The Rise and Fall of Diamonds: Shattering of a Brilliant Illusion. " DeBeers Diamond Mines and "worthless" diamonds. "News from Nowhere: Television and the News". (33:38-36:25)

9. Shaking beliefs, the known universe and seeing the destructive disconnected narratives. The moral and ethical break. Medicine and Nutrition. The closed universe of education and "one hand washing the other." Shakespeare for 8th Graders. The myth of the "dumb class." Experts inventing problems. (36:25-40:40)

10. Innate, infinite potential. Apprenticeship, skill building and biological imitation leading to selection. Richard Branson finds his way home and drops out of high school. Independent livelihood. The rationale of corporations and political control. GM and the fast track of finance. (40:40-46:19)

11. Walkabout as a rite of passage. Fragmenting and compartmentalizing education. Striking out so history won't repeat itself. "The bad things done in school have been intellectually justified." The definition of marketing as "overcoming sales resistance." (46:19-49:57)

12. Leveraging the opinion makers. Andrew Carnegie (the Atheist) and Organ donations. Carnegie and Rockefeller Pensions for Teachers. Carnegie Credit Systems. The Religion of Leverage and planning the future of Cities and Nations. The Chautauqua and the leveraging travelling Christian Ministers. Harpers Methodists and Rockefeller Baptists. The forty kinds of Baptist "one small fragment of Baptists that is like Episcopalian." The Quaker transformation from pious, humble people to the most powerful small sect in the country." 100,000 Quakers and two American Presidents. (49:58-54:31)

13. You can't think clearly without the data. "How to spin a local authority into your scheme and let him do the work." The paycheck dependent managers and those that listen to the tom-toms. Schools in 1905 vs. today. (54:32- 56:54)

14. Frederick Gates, Rockefeller Labor disputes and the idea Philanthropic "altruism." Private corporate foundations and American schooling. Congressional investigation of Walsh and Reece and how the foundations use leverage to control the curriculum, the testing systems and the public perception. Rockefeller, Carnegie and Ford dividing responsibility. The White House conferences that homogenize public opinion. Ford and the Psychological output of schooling. Carnegie and Rockefeller and Globalization of ideas. Advertising, marketing and media. (56:54-100:50)
END TAPE -- "The Mechanics of how it's done." (100:50-101:24)

Peace Revolution Podcast #43
Download: Mp3

OUTLINE FOR YOUTUBE HOUR 3:

1. Corporate and Foundation funding of Education. The Reece Committee, Norman Dodd and the Carnegie minutes. (1:09-2:43)

2. Metaphysical Club, William James, John Dewey, Wilhelm Wundt and the shapers of 20th Century institutions. Charles S. Peirce and Pragmatic Philosophy. The Old Norse Religion. Truth and Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the Judicial System. (3:15-6:51)

3. Kant and the removal of cause and effect. (Rationalizing irrationality) The Critique of Pure Reason. Pragmatism meets Justified Sinning and the ends justify the means. (6:51-8:23)

4. Bertrand Russell's "The Impact of Science on Society", Fichte, cybernetics and influence of Utopia. Psychology and Pragmatism and vehicle of education. (8:24-9:39)

5. Literacy in the Colonies, Coopers' "The Last of the Mohicans", and "Common Sense." Thomas Paine and the Printing Press. The Complexity of Ideas. Teaching the "criminal" active literacy's and elite boarding schools. Obama, Bill Clinton. Populism and the Science of Speech. (9:40-17:11)
6. Yale and the British Class Tradition. Harvard and the Unitarians. The Massachusetts School Committee. Fabian Socialism and the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. Beatrice Webb, the niece of Herbert Spencer. "Root Hog, of Die!" "Kill them with kindness. Vs. kill the brutes." (17:11- 21:12)

7. The London School of Economics, Arthur Balfour and the Society for Psychical Research. William T. Stead, Cecil John Rhodes. The Avengers, James Bond the License to Kill (21:13-22:43)

8. The Natural Instinct and the Arch of Life. Congregationalists. Martin Luther. "Every Man his Own Priest." Dissenting independent Religions in the new world. No continuous governments vs. the preservation of hierarchy (22:43-27:04)

9. Intellectual self defense. Oscar Callaway, J.P. Morgan interests and media control. Harry Truman calls out Rockefeller. "Virtual Global Society", World War II and the inability to replace German losses. War Profiteering and Foreclosing the Freedom of Speech. (27:04-30:47)
10. Carroll Quigley and the Council on Foreign Relations. "Tragedy and Hope" and the "story not as delivered." The printing controversy, Quigley's mastery of prose and his admission of agreement. "The Anglo-American Establishment" (30:47-39:35)

11. Revisiting Charles Darwin's "Descent of Man." Francis Galton and the institutionalizing the anti-educational nature. (39:54-42:49)

12. The Cato Institute. Adam Smith and the "Theory of Moral Sentiments." The religion of Libertarian Capitalism (42:11-42:50)

13. Ben Franklin as the "ultimate pragmatist." The Printing Press, the Postal Service, and the University of Pennsylvania. Franklin and the German Pietist groups. (42:50-50:06)

14. Thomas Edison goes west and "The Grand Trunk Herald." (50:07-53:30)

15. Documented history as birthright. The colossal crime, Thomas Malthus and "climbing the mountain." (53:30-55:20)

16. Lippmann, Bernays and Spinoza. "Tractatus Theologico-Politicos." Thomas Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia." The secular religion and the Church of England. (55:20-57:46)

17. "Machiavelli as a fountain of utility for the Borgias." Hobbes "Leviathan" How to maintain power over "the great unwashed." (57:46-100:39)
End of Tape/ Hour 3 -- The contradiction of national policy and the Trilateral Commission. "The Crisis of Democracy". Power is never where it seems to be. The Great Books.

Peace Revolution Podcast #44
Download: Mp3

OUTLINE FOR YOUTUBE HOUR 4:

1. BEFORE Slate: Book signing. Bionomics and attempts to control evolution. David Starr Jordan of Stanford University and was President of Indiana University. He hired Elwood P. Cubberley at Stanford. "Managers of Virtue" and Cubberley's unifying of hiring. The "Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede." (00:00- 25:00)

2. "Metalogicon" A Twelfth-Century Defense of the Trivium" by John of Salisbury book presentation. WYBM introduction promo(25:10-26:45)

3. Who is R. Gordon Wasson? Soma and the Magic Mushroom and Wall St. heavy hitters. "Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality, (Ethno-Mycological Studies)" by R. Gordon Wasson (1968)
Council on Foreign Relations meetings. (26:45-27:54)

4. Who is Antony C. Sutton? Brief correspondence. "Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution" (1974), "Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler" (1976) Adding up reality. Ramsey Clark marginalization. Lysander Spooner, Frederic Bastiat. "The Daughters of the Barons of Runnymede" and discovery of continuity. (27:54-30:29)

5. Who was Ignatius Loyola? Penetrating the Reformation and the Army of Jesus. Luther's "Every man his own Priest", "Wild Declaration of Radicalism" Getting rid of the Priesthood and the middle men. (30:30-32:

6. The influence of the Illuminati on the Education System? Powers behind the scenes. Standardized testing dismissed in most universities. Johann Pestalozzi, Johann Kaspar Lavater, and the "Leipzig Connection." Militaristic strategies. The artificial extension of childhood. "The Story of Civilization" by Will and Ariel Durant. Beginning the productive life early. David Farragut, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson. The effects of marginalizing the young. Alexander the Great. (32:22-40:11)

7. The value of Hemp. Jefferson and Washington and the role of hemp in American history. The Hearst Family and wood pulp for newspapers. Reefer Madness. The quality of books then and now. (40:11-41:42:070

8. The necessity of reading the old books vs. reading the digests and abstracts. Marcus Aurelius "Meditations" "Nothing you can buy is worth having and no one you can order around is worth associating with." Reading Aurelius in 6th Grade in Western Pennsylvania. Julius Caesar. Pitting classes against each other. Division by meaningless competition. What do we learn that is enhanced by competition? Keeping track of ideas. Maintaining the social and economic order through education. How to manage a society that wouldn't require managing? (42:08-48:48)

9. The Trivium and Quadrivium. 3rd Grade Jesuit Boarding School and the intellectual diet. "The causes of the first World War." Reality testing. Dorothy Sayers and "The Lost Tools of Learning." The division caused by subject learning and measuring memory vs. actual performance. Making informed decisions. "Know yourself." Personal adaptations of the Trivium. (48:49-55:47)

10. "The 12 Secrets of the Boarding School Curriculum of Power", Groton/FDR, St. Paul's/John Kerry, Andover/Bush, Choate/Kennedy, and Episcopal in Virginia/ John McCain. Schools grounded on Religion as well as Anglican and Quaker traditions. Passive and Active literacies. Having a strong competency in the active literacies is at the core of the elite private boarding schools. Insights into institutional forms. Theories of human nature. Mastery of the social forms. (55:48-100:25)

11. Artificial extension of childhood as a secret of crowd control. Political idioms and rhetoric, units of meeting and iambic pentameters. Building models, exercises and immediate results. (1:10:28-1:16:16)

Peace Revolution Podcast #45
Download: Mp3

OUTLINE FOR YOUTUBE HOUR 5:

1. Is there an easy way to learn? Understanding yourself + raw experience. Allowing kids to follow their own instincts. Group projects with tangible goals. "Principia Mathematica" Alfred North Whitehead and statistical sampling prediction. "Aims of Education and Other Essays". (10:14-15:25)

2. Training fleas before you break their will. "Hubert's Dime Museum and Flea Circus." Breaking autonomy and "taking the lid off". Imposing your will. "Hired as the lid on the container." (15:26-18:53)

3. Wilhelm Wundt and Laboratory schooling. The Roman Collegia and 5th Century crowd control. (18:54-20:11)

4. Connections between Calvin and modern theocratic states? The impulsion of certainty, rules, and algorithms. Experimenting with humanity and enlarging its boundaries. Human ingenuity was seeing as a risk for capital formulation. Using financial crisis. "Overproduction" and "Overcapacity", "hyper-democracy" and the inability to suppress the people. The Trilateral Commission and "The Crisis of Democracy". Hyperinflation and warfare. (20:09-27:35)

5. The role of curiosity as "the lever that produces invention and forces you in a fun way to think for yourself." How schools destroy curiosity. Admiral Perry and Japan. (28:41- 31:10)

6. When did the American Dream become one of lifelong servitude and debt slavery? Lincoln @the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. "The American dream was Liberty, Freedom, and personal Sovereignty." "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" and IT technology. Discoveries by "non-experts." New ways to treat cancerous tumors by John Kanzius. Robert Scott Root-Bernstein. How to deal with ambiguity. (31:10-40:57)

7. "The Principles of Psychology" by William James (1890) "Habit as the enormous flywheel of society..." The world is much bigger than you believe it is, because of conditioning. (40:57-43:43)

8. "The Six Important Functions of Secondary Education". Alexander James Inglis and "The Principles of Secondary Education"; Adjustive functions, Integrative (conformist) Functions, Directive Function, Differentiating Function, Selective Function, and the Propaedeutic Function. (1918) Getting the Inglis lecture from Harvard. (43:44-56:43)

9. Cutting out the middle man. Why can't students just read books? Strawberry Fields Monument, "Pizza Palace Sued," paying the way to Paris. Hampshire College. (56:43-109:36)

10. Something that would "echo through time." "Sensible children do not wish to be incomplete human beings." Stage theories of human development, tormenting and limiting possibilities. Don't be your kids enemy, be a partner and enlarge the opportunity." "No homework please!"(109:36-1:10:41)

END TAPE 5 -- What does a college education really get you in the 21st Century? The last hoop to jump through that doesn't deliver much along a prescribed plan. Cornell, Columbia and Reed College experience. No bang for the buck, unless you commit. The value of persistence and the learning process and those that demonstrate merit. George W. Bush and the Iraq War. What was the role of UNESCO in Education? Pestalozzi and "killing them with kindness", Fabian Socialism, and "fundamental principles of human physics." "The Imperial Cruise" and "Perfectibilists" (1:10:41-1:27:20)

Peyote to LSD - A Psychedelic Odyssey

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:13:50 PST

Peyote to Lsd: Psychedelic Odyssey

From: Wade Davis Blog

In this feature length documentary, renowned botanist, explorer, and author Wade Davis, follows in the footsteps of his mentor to experience for himself the mind bending discoveries that Professor Richard Evans Schultes brought to the western world. Get an insight into native ceremonies and learn the secrets of shamans and medicine men. Retrace the thrilling exploration that transferred ancient knowledge to the developed world. Finally, visit laboratories in Switzerland to explore the evolution of psychedelic substances from sacred plants to LSD. Legendary writers, musicians, and Beat poets offer insight into the counterculture and mainstream influence of botanical compounds.

www.EROCx1.com

Rosicrucian Digest: Eleusis

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:05:28 PST

Rosicrucian Digest: Eleusis
Volume 87 Number 2 2009

COMPLETE ISSUE: FREE PDF DOWNLOAD
Web additions with Mp3’s & more

This is the seventh in a series of thematic issues of the Rosicrucian Digest exploring sources that have contributed to the Rosicrucian tradition. I think most of you will really enjoy The Message of the Eleusinian Mysteries for Today’s World by Albert Hofmann, Ph.D.

The Message of the Eleusinian Mysteries for Today’s World Albert Hofmann, Ph.D. PDF: Read article MP3: Audio Image: Albert Hofmann; Marcus Aurelius at Eleusis; Telesterion at Eleusis; The Rape of Proserpine; Ecstasy of St. Teresa; Leaders of Zen; Persephone purifying a candidate
What We Can Learn about the Eleusinian Mysteries George Mylonas, Ph.D. PDF: Read article MP3: Audio Image: Eleusis;Rossetti’s Persephone
Demeter and Persephone Charlene Spretnak, M.A. PDF: Read article MP3: Audio Image: Ceres; Persephone; Ceres and Triptolemos
The Wisdom of the Sages: On the Homeric Hymn and the Myth of Demeter Nicholas P. Kephalas, F.R.C. PDF: Read article MP3: Audio Image: Karyatid; Cave of Pluto Triumph of Demeter;Return of Persephone; Plato; Triptolemos
At Eleusis Ella Wheeler Wilcox, S.R.C. PDF: Read article MP3: Audio Images: Ella Wheeler Wilcox; Eleusis Museum and Mountains
The Lesser Mysteries of Eleusis Stefanie Goodart, M.A., S.R.C. PDF: Read article MP3: Audio Images: View of Athens from the River Ilissos; Purification of Herakles; Herakles Veiled; Purification of Herakles from Torre Nova
Eleusis Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel PDF: Read article MP3: Audio Images: Georg Hegel; Main Entrance to Eleusis Sanctuary
The Ritual Path of Initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries Mara Lynn Keller, Ph.D. PDF: Read article MP3:Audio Images: Main Entrance to Eleusis Sanctuary; Aristotle Teaching; Acropolis at Night; Votive Piglet Statue; Asclepius; Rape of Persephone; Demeter and Kore; Dionysus and Ploutos; Cicero
The Eleusinian Mysteries and the Bee Julie Sanchez-Parodi, S.R.C. PDF: Read article MP3: Audio Images:Rembrant’s Rape of Persephone; Golden Anatolian Bee; Minoan Gold Bee; Bees of Malia; Robert Fludd’s Dat Rosa Mel Apibus
Eleusis: The Card Game Robert Abbott, John Golden, and the Staff of the Rosicrucian Digest PDF: Read article MP3: Audio Images: Ruins of Eleusis

Supplementary Web Articles

The Rapture of Being Alive: Reflections on a Journey to Eleusis Elisa Cuttjohn, S.R.C. PDF: Read article Images: Completion; Circle Dance; In the Womb; A New Day; Gratitude; Great New Story; Learning; Gaia; The Mysteries
Wisdom of the Sages: The Eleusinian Mysteries (Full Version) Nicholas P. Kephalas, F.R.C. PDF: Read article Images: Ruins of the Temple at Eleusis; Koliva; Fronticepiece to The Golden Ass; Plutarch’s Lives; Academy of Plato: Phaedrus: Orpheus; Temple at Eleusis; Athena’s Olive Tree; Production of The Frogs; Temple of Demeter at Eleusis; Eastern Orthodox Ritual
The Eleusinian Mysteries and Other Mystery Religions Jeremy Naydler, Ph.D. PDF: Read article Images: Bronze Osiris Images; Isis Finial; Eros and Psyche; Ziggurat at Ur; Osireion at Abydos
Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries Richard G. Geldard PDF: Read article Images: Telesterion at Eleusis; Mountains at Eleusis; Dionysus-Osiris; Demeter; Demeter, Persephone and Triptolemos; Phryne at the Poseidonia in Eleusis; Kore; The Ninion Votive Plaque; Eleusis and Part of the Island of Salamis; Demeter and Metanira; Hades and Cerberus; Triumphant Return of Dionysus; Hunt for the Calydonian Boar; Eubouleus
Mastery of Life at Eleusis and in the I Ching Antonietta Francini, M.D. PDF: Read article Images: Ruins of Eleusis Telesterion;The I Ching; The Emerald Tablet

If you enjoyed this issue, I also recommend Rosicrucian Digest Volume 89 Number 2 2011 on Gnosticism

Pax ~EROCx1

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TERENCE MCKENNA: BEYOND 2012

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:00:23 PST

TERENCE MCKENNA: BEYOND 2012

A one-day seminar celebrating the life and ideas of Terence McKenna and taking the next steps beyond 2012

WITH: Bruce Damer and Lorenzo Hagerty.and including a musical performance by Constance Demby. EROCx1 will be in attendance.

COST: $40 (lunch included) A sandwich and drinks lunch is included in the cost. Vegetarian options available.

WHEN: Saturday, January 28, 2012 PARKING:

10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Due to limited parking space in the location,
a short shuttle service will be provided (included in the cost.)

Directions for parking are spelled out in the attached map and note below.

WHERE: Nature Friends
423 Yucca Trail
Sierra Madre, CA 91024

Join Bruce Damer and Lorenzo at a beautiful location in the foothills of Sierra Madre for a one-day special event this coming January 28^th. This is our kickoff event in a series of similar seminars to be held throughout the USA later in 2012. It will take you on a deep dive into the life, times, journeys, and thoughts of Terence McKenna, and then lead you to bounce his ideas and ours way beyond 2012.

Terence has been described as Copernicus of consciousness and intrepid explorer of the psychedelic plane, a scholar of history and the human condition, and an optimist about the future of our civilization. Bruce guided Terence into the virtual worlds in the late 1990s, and he will build on the themes he and Terence explored: complexity and novelty in the universe, the mind altering powers of technology, the meaning of visionary and virtual worlds, and the perils and prospects for human civilization. Lorenzo will take us from 2013 into the emerging era of cyber-enhanced humans, immersed in a meme-space stranger than we can suppose.

PRESENTERS:

Dr. Bruce Damer is a visionary technologist, researcher, and pioneer of avatar virtual worlds. He has visualized and designed missions for NASA, created the DigiBarn Computer Museum and Psychedelia Archives, and leads the EvoGrid project which takes aim at the conundrum of the origin of life, and the understanding of the strange properties of the conservation of novelty. Learn more about Bruce and his work at: http://www.damer.com .

Lorenzo Hagerty is the host of the globally influential Psychedelic Salon podcast. He brings an engaging style to his teaching from his years as a naval officer, lawyer, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and award-winning author. Find out more about Lorenzo at: http://www.lorenzohagerty.com .

Constance Demby is an internationally acclaimed, Grammy-nominated, award winning performing and recording artist. In live concert, Constance presents a range of sonic environments, accompanied by her penetrating voice: the Cosmic-Electronic-Symphonic Orchestra performed on digital sampling synthesizers, the Hammer Dulcimer with over 100 vibrating strings, and the Sonic Steel Space Bass, a ten foot sheet of steel that produces deep, primoridal, resonant sounds. An original design by Demby, the Sonic Steel Instruments have been recorded by Lucas Skywalker Studios for use in their filmscores, and also filmed by Discovery Channel at Gaudi's Parc Guell for "The Power of Music." Learn more about Constance at: http://www.constancedemby.com .

REGISTRATION: Register now for this very special event by sending your check or money order (sorry, no credit cards) payable to the seminar registrar:

Kenneth Symington Phone: 626-355-5571
722 Woodland Drive E Mail: Perigee63@aol.com
Sierra Madre, CA 91024 Fax: 626-790-6398

Ken is an author and translator of several books, among which is “The Three Halves of Ino Moxo”, by Cesar Calvo, about Amazonian shamanism. Ken was also one of the 4 organizers (along with Terence, Jonathan Ott, and Rob Montomery) of the Entheobotany Seminars, held in several locations during the 1990s.

This seminar is expected to fill up quickly, and capacity is limited, so don’t wait to send in your registration as soon as possible. Make sure you let us know your phone and or e-mail address, and we will confirm your registration as soon as it is received.

If you have any questions, call or e-mail Ken at the above numbers.

PARKING AND SHUTTLE SERVICE DETAILS.

Follow directions in the attached map, and park in the public parking spaces behind Taylor’s Market, at the SE corner of Baldwin Ave. and Sierra Madre Blvd. The shuttle van service will take you from the South side of the lot to the Nature Friends site (5-10 minutes.) If the parking space there gets full, there is additional parking in public parking lots to the left of it in Mariposa St., behind the shops in Sierra Madre Blvd. The shuttle van will operate continuously from the Taylor’s Market lot to the site, from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM as needed. Wait for it at the Taylor’s Market lot.

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Robert Anton Wilson: Maybe Logic

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:13:13 PST

Robert Anton Wilson Predicts Occupy Movement: Download FREE MP3

Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson (2003) Guerrilla ontologist. Psychedelic magician. Outer head of the Illuminati. Quantum psychologist. Sit-down comic/philosopher. Discordian Pope. Whatever the label and rank, Robert Anton Wilson is undeniably one of the foundations of 21th Century Western counterculture. Maybe Logic - The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson is a cinematic alchemy that conjures it all together in a hilarious and mind-bending journey guaranteed to increase your brain size 2 - 3 inches! From the water coolers and staff meetings of Playboy and the earth-shattering transmission of the Illuminatus! Trilogy, to fire-breathing senior citizen and Taoist sage, Robert Anton Wilson is a man who has passed through the trials of chapel perilous and found himself on wondrous ground where nothing is for certain, even the treasured companionship of a six-foot-tall white rabbit. Featuring RAW video spanning 25 years and the best of over 100 hours of footage thoroughly tweaked, transmuted and regenerated, Maybe Logic follows a reality labyrinth which leads through the hollows of human perception to the vast star fields of Sirius where we find one man alone, joyfully accepting his status as Damned Old Crank and Cosmic Schmuck. Beaming with insight, frustration, compassion, and unshakable optimism, the ever-open eye of Robert Anton Wilson penetrates human illusions exposing the mathematical probabilities and spooky synchronicities of the 8 dimensions of his Universe. Written by Anonymous

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Terence McKenna: What’s So Great About Mushrooms?

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:55:00 PDT

Terence McKenna on the Psychedelic Salon Podcast
Episode 287 What's So Great About Mushrooms? #1 FREE Download
Episode 288 What's So Great About Mushrooms? #2 FREE Download
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PROGRAM NOTES:

[NOTE: All quotations are by Terence McKenna.]

“There is no scientific truth, or new paradigm, can arrive in a vacuum vis-à-vis the opinions of the general informed public. If it doesn’t fly with the general informed public it doesn’t matter what degree of internal rigor it has, an idea is probably doomed to a kind of or a kind of obscurity.”

“How are we to relate to the plants which intoxicate? Do they drive us mad, or do they return us to the “religio” to our own origins? Are we to see the states of mind which they invoke as tremendously alien, or are we to see them as, in fact, a way of going back to the primary situation in which everything that we call human found genesis?”

“If you want to change people’s minds about something you have to get scientists to change their minds.”

“It’s actually cooperation is what nature seeks to consolidate and conserve. And it is the species which can make itself most user-friendly to its neighbor species which actually survives.”

“The de-sacrilizing of natural space is the process of cutting it into grids and erecting flat, planer surfaces along those grids to cut out the influx of energy that is part of the natural world.”

“Whatever Christianity was, it was a historical episode where the most patriarchal wrath extant on the planet was suddenly pumped full of so much energy that everything else was just shoved to the wall.”

“It’s impossible to stop the forward march of information.”

“This is the chaos at the end of history.”

“Because our culture crisis is so much deeper [than during the Renaissance], we are casting back to 20,000 or 30,000 years back into the past.”

“I think the task of finding the extraterrestrial is a task of recognizing it when you find it.”

“When talking about evolution it is important to remember that the cardinal dictum of Darwinian mechanics is that there is no teleology. That means that evolution is not moving toward something. All notion of purpose has to be given up. It isn’t that things evolve or move toward higher forms. It’s just that things complexify, and this complexification gives rise to what we define as higher form.”

“Culture is sort of a shockwave which follows behind language. Culture is fossilized language.”

“One of the reasons I think these psychedelic compounds still are important is because they catalyze the evolution of language.”

“I see the whole world we’re living in as basically the legacy of LSD.”

“The dreams of the alchemists of the 16th Century have been entirely realized in the technical accomplishments of the 20th Century.”

“[Acid] heads are in charge of designing the cutting edge of culture.”

“But there are no professionals in the field of self-exploration. That’s everybody’s job. I mean, you all are Ph.D.s in consciousness exploration, or if you’re not you should be, because what else have you got going?”

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Manifesting The Mind : Documentary On Psychedelics & Shamanism

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:09:27 PDT

Manifesting the Mind features various aspects of shamanism with a broad look at psychedelics in general. Why are psychedelics so brutally suppressed in our culture? What exactly are some of the psychedelic plants and chemicals and how can they benefit us? With philosophy and insight from Robert Bussinger, Mike Crowley, Timothy Freke, Peter Gandy, Alex Grey, Clark Heinrich, Nick Herbert, John Major Jenkins, Dennis McKenna, Terence McKenna, Daniel Pinchbeck, Dr. Rick Strassman & others.

Chapter 1 – Start
An introduction to shamanism and shamanic medicines.

Chapter 2 – Manifesting God?
A discussion regarding the word “Entheogen” verses other words such as “Psychedelic” to describe shamanic medicines and psychoactive substances.

Chapter 3 – Psychedelic Fanatic
What are the effects of psychedelics and are these psychedelic substances addictive?

Chapter 4 – Psychedelic Remedy
Cannabis and other shamanic medicines used medicinally

Chapter 5 – Drugs and Culture
From coffee to cocaine… What constitutes a “bad drug”?

Chapter 6 – War on Consciousness
Is the war on drugs a war against certain states of consciousness?

Chapter 7 – Ibogaine
Can a shamanic medicine cure heroin, meth, alcohol and other addictions?

Chapter 8 – DMT
DMT, the most hallucinogenic substance known to exist, is found naturally in the human body and in nearly every other living thing.

Chapter 9 – Ayahuasca
What are the components and the effects of Ayahuasca? How is it different than other forms of DMT?

Chapter 10 – Reality Thermostat
Where do the boundaries between our selves and the world exist? Are hallucinations “real”? What is ego-death? What can be learned from a psychedelic experience?

Chapter 11 – Controlling the Masses
We are groomed to be consumers - this is encouraged via propaganda - as long as we consume those things that are sanctioned by the corporate hegemony.

Chapter 12 – Manifesting Change
Turn on, Tune in, and Drop out. Psychedelics as a catalyst for change.

Chapter 13 – Amanita muscaria
This archetypal mushroom has been used in religious art and modern iconography. How does it compare to other psychedelic substances?

Chapter 16 – Religious Roots
Psychedelic substances can often be found in early religious traditions.

Chapter 17 – Flesh of the Gods
The religious/spiritual experience. What is the origin of the sacred meal? Did the original “communion” induce a psychedelic experience? The replacement of the shamanic sacrament with a placebo.

Chapter 18 – The Heart of the Mysteries
Has the direct access to the mysteries been cut off from our modern culture?

Chapter 19 – Soma
What was the original Soma and Amrita?

Chapter 20 – Credits and Biographies

Buy the DVD

Timothy Leary Interviews

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:32:36 PDT

Timothy Leary on the Psychedelic Salon Podcast
Episode 284 Timothy Leary The Revolution Continues #1 Download
Episode 285 Timothy Leary The Revolution Continues #2 Download
Episode 286 Timothy Leary The Revolution Continues #3 Download
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On November 13, 1976 Howard Pearlstein & Henry Marshall interviewed Dr. Timothy Leary just a few months after his release from prison in 1976. It took place in Houston, Texas for the local Pacifica Station, KPFT. Unlike most radio interviews, instead of just one person asking the questions this one consisted of a panel of men who at times seemed more like a board of inquiry of some kind. However, it doesn't take long for Dr. Leary to be in full command of the situation. And for historians who are interested in whether or not Leary gave evidence against one of his attorneys, you'll be quite pleased when the questions trend in this direction. Tim defends his own sanity but quickly moves on to a preliminary discussion of Leary's 8-Circuit theories, evolution, the future, space migration, life extension & more.

Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison Experiment and the Marsh Chapel Experiment. Both studies produced useful data, but Leary and his associate Richard Alpert were dismissed from the university.

Leary believed LSD showed therapeutic potential for use in psychiatry. He popularized catchphrases that promoted his philosophy, such as "turn on, tune in, drop out ", "set and setting", and "think for yourself and question authority". He also wrote and spoke frequently about transhumanist concepts involving space migration, intelligence increase and life extension (SMI²LE), and he developed the eight-circuit model of consciousness in his book Exo-Psychology (1977).

During the 1960s and 1970s, Leary was arrested regularly and was held captive in 29 different prisons throughout the world. President Richard Nixon once described Leary as "the most dangerous man in America". Leary was released from prison on April 21, 1976 by Governor Jerry Brown.

[NOTE: All quotations are by Dr. Timothy Leary]

“From my earliest years I wanted to figure out what life was about. I wanted to find out why I was here so that my actions and my desires would have some meaning. I don’t understand why everyone isn’t mainly and centrally a philosopher, because if you aren’t trying to figure that out for yourself you’re borrowing, or begging, or passively taking on someone else’s philosophy, and this may lead to situations that are unsatisfactory.”

“A philosopher never gets in trouble if his ideas are not new.”

"I spent four years in 29 jails and prisons on four continents."

“Looked at it pragmatically, the trick of taking intelligence tests is to get the highest score possible in terms of intelligence as defined by middle class intellectuals who designed the test.”

“It’s the nature of the game that a philosopher who’s proposing radical new ideas will be opposed by 80% of society.”

“My responsibility is to the genetic process and evolutionary process as I see it.”

“We have to be gentle with each other because we are going through a period of mutations.”

“I think, though, that there has never been a cultural change in history that was as profound, as pervasive, and as bloodless as the cultural revolution of the Sixties. By and large it was a smiling revolution.”

“By and large I’m very proud of what happened in the Sixties, every aspect of our culture was reformed and revised and reviewed and improved.”

“Now, LSD is a dangerous drug because it’s basically a post-terrestrial experience. And for caterpillars to start taking a butterfly drug, it gives you perspectives, and forecasts what’s to come.”

“There’s perhaps less than ten percent of the population who should even consider, under the best circumstances of disciplined control, to take this drug, because LSD is not a hedonistic, laid-back, multi-orgasm drug. It really isn’t. It’s a neurological experience. It’s a sixth circuit neuroelectric experience, and it’s basically preparation for post-terrestrial life.”

“To summarize, I’m an evolutionary agent using electromagnetic energies to broadcast evolutionary signals. The signals are ‘leave the planet’, ‘get smarter’, and ‘learn how to live as long as you want’.”

Leary makes a point about President Kennedy attempting to turn the solution to a bad economy away from war and into space.

Further information may be found at:
FREE Mp3 recordings are featured on the Psychedelic Salon Podcast
Dr. Timothy Leary on Wikipedia
The Timothy Leary Movie Archive
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Secrets in Plain Sight

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:52:50 PDT

From: secretsinplainsight.com

Quicktime intro for iPad users

Watch individual episodes and read the blog for the latest discoveries.

Synopsis: Secrets In Plain Sight is an awe inspiring exploration of great art, architecture, and urban design which skillfully unveils an unlikely intersection of geometry, politics, numerical philosophy, religious mysticism, new physics, music, astronomy, and world history. Exploring key monuments and their positions in Egypt, Stonehenge, Jerusalem, Rome, Paris, London, Edinburgh, Washington DC, New York, and San Francisco brings to light a secret obsession shared by pharaohs, philosophers and kings; templars and freemasons; great artists and architects; popes and presidents, spanning the whole of recorded history up to the present time. As the series of videos reveals how profound ancient knowledge inherited from Egypt has been encoded in units of measurement, in famous works of art, in the design of major buildings, in the layout of city streets and public spaces, and in the precise placement of obelisks and other important monuments upon the Earth, the viewer is led to perceive an elegant harmonic system linking the human body with the architectural, urban, planetary, solar, and galactic scales.

Scott's Youtube page at: http://www.youtube.com/user/Secretsinplainsight

GnosticMedia Youtube page at: http://www.youtube.com/user/GnosticMedia

Carl Ruck: Mushrooms, Myth & Mithras

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:00:27 PDT

From: gnosticmedia.com
Podcast Episode #122 – DOWNLOAD MP3
Mushrooms, Myth & Mithras: The Drug Cult that Civilized Europe
Professor Carl A.P. Ruck interviewed by Jan Irvin

This episode is an interview with Prof. Carl Ruck, titled “Mushrooms, Myth and Mithras: The Drug Cult that Civilized Europe” and is being released on Friday, Sept. 23, 2011. My interview with Carl was recorded on Sept. 22, 2011.

Today Carl Ruck is back for his 3rd interview with us to discuss his explosive new book, Mushrooms, Myth and Mithras, The Drug Cult that Civilized Europe.

Carl A.P. Ruck is Professor of Classics at Boston University, an authority on the ecstatic rituals of the god Dionysus. With the ethno-mycologist R. Gordon Wasson and Albert Hofmann, he identified the secret psychoactive ingredient in the visionary potion that was drunk by the initiates at the Eleusinian Mystery. In Persephone’s Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion, he proclaimed the centrality of psychoactive sacraments at the very beginnings of religion, employing the neologism “entheogen” to free the topic from the pejorative connotations for words like drug or hallucinogen.

Also included in this post is the video Heretical Visionary Sacraments Amongst the Ecclesiastical Elite" by Carl A. P. Ruck & Blaise Daniel Staples A talk presented to : The Italian Society for the Study of the States of Consciousness on August 30, 2003 at Perinaldo, Italy.

www.GaianBotanicals.com

Entheogens & Existential Intelligence

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:57:14 PDT

Entheogens & Existential Intelligence:
The Use of “Plant Teachers” as Cognitive Tools
By Kenneth Tupper
From: www.ayahuasca.com
Download: Full Text Version

Painting by Yvonne McGillivray

Abstract

In light of recent specific liberalizations in drug laws in some countries, this article investigates the potential of entheogens (i.e. psychoactive plants used as spiritual sacraments) as tools to facilitate existential intelligence. “Plant teachers” from the Americas such as ayahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, and the Indo-Aryan soma of Eurasia are examples of both past- and presently-used entheogens. These have all been revered as spiritual or cognitive tools to provide a richer cosmological understanding of the world for both human individuals and cultures. I use Howard Gardner’s (1999a) revised multiple intelligence theory and his postulation of an “existential” intelligence as a theoretical lens through which to account for the cognitive possibilities of entheogens and explore potential ramifications for education.

Introduction

In this article I assess and further develop the possibility of an “existential” intelligence as postulated by Howard Gardner (1999a). Moreover, I entertain the possibility that some kinds of psychoactive substances—entheogens—have the potential to facilitate this kind of intelligence. This issue arises from the recent liberalization of drug laws in several Western industrialized countries to allow for the sacramental use of ayahuasca, a psychoactive tea brewed from plants indigenous to the Amazon. I challenge readers to step outside a long-standing dominant paradigm in modern Western culture that a priori regards “hallucinogenic” drug use as necessarily maleficent and devoid of any merit. I intend for my discussion to confront assumptions about drugs that have unjustly perpetuated the disparagement and prohibition of some kinds of psychoactive substance use. More broadly, I intend for it to challenge assumptions about intelligence that constrain contemporary educational thought.

“Entheogen” is a word coined by scholars proposing to replace the term “psychedelic” (Ruck, Bigwood, Staples, Ott, & Wasson, 1979), which was felt to overly connote psychological and clinical paradigms and to be too socio-culturally loaded from its 1960s roots to appropriately designate the revered plants and substances used in traditional rituals. I use both terms in this article: “entheogen” when referring to a substance used as a spiritual or sacramental tool, and “psychedelic” when referring to one used for any number of purposes during or following the so-called psychedelic era of the 1960s (recognizing that some contemporary non-indigenous uses may be entheogenic—the categories are by no means clearly discreet). What kinds of plants or chemicals fall into the category of entheogen is a matter of debate, as a large number of inebriants—from coca and marijuana to alcohol and opium—have been venerated as gifts from the gods (or God) in different cultures at different times. For the purposes of this article, however, I focus on the class of drugs that Lewin (1924/1997) termed “phantastica,” a name deriving from the Greek word for the faculty of imagination (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 1973). Later these substances became known as hallucinogens or psychedelics, a class whose members include lysergic acid derivatives, psilocybin, mescaline and dimethyltryptamine. With the exception of mescaline, these all share similar chemical structures; all, including mescaline, produce similar phenomenological effects; and, more importantly for the present discussion, all have a history of ritual use as psychospiritual medicines or, as I argue, cultural tools to facilitate cognition (Schultes & Hofmann, 1992).

The issue of entheogen use in modern Western culture becomes more significant in light of several legal precedents in countries such as Brazil, Holland, Spain and soon perhaps the United States and Canada. Ayahuasca, which I discuss in more detail in the following section on “plant teachers,” was legalized for religious use by non-indigenous people in Brazil in 1987i. One Brazilian group, the Santo Daime, was using its sacrament in ceremonies in the Netherlands when, in the autumn of 1999, authorities intervened and arrested its leaders. This was the first case of religious intolerance by a Dutch government in over three hundred years. A subsequent legal challenge, based on European Union religious freedom laws, saw them acquitted of all charges, setting a precedent for the rest of Europe (Adelaars, 2001). A similar case in Spain resulted in the Spanish government granting the right to use ayahuasca in that country. A recent court decision in the United States by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, September 4th, 2003, ruled in favour of religious freedom to use ayahuasca (Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, 2003). And in Canada, an application to Health Canada and the Department of Justice for exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is pending, which may permit the Santo Daime Church the religious use of their sacrament, known as Daime or Santo Daimeii (J.W. Rochester, personal communication, October 8th, 2003)

One of the questions raised by this trend of liberalization in otherwise prohibitionist regulatory regimes is what benefits substances such as ayahuasca have. The discussion that follows takes up this question with respect to contemporary psychological theories about intelligence and touches on potential ramifications for education. The next section examines the metaphor of “plant teachers,” which is not uncommon among cultures that have traditionally practiced the entheogenic use of plants. Following that, I use Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (1983) as a theoretical framework with which to account for cognitive implications of entheogen use. Finally, I take up a discussion of possible relevance of existential intelligence and entheogens to education.

Plant Teachers

Before moving on to a broader discussion of intelligence(s), I will provide some background on ayahuasca and entheogens. Ayahuasca has been a revered “plant teacher” among dozens of South American indigenous peoples for centuries, if not longer (Luna, 1984; Schultes & Hofmann, 1992). The word ayahuasca is from the Quechua language of indigenous peoples of Ecuador and Peru, and translates as “vine of the soul” (Metzner, 1999). Typically, it refers to a tea made from a jungle liana, Banisteriopsis caapi, with admixtures of other plants, but most commonly the leaves of a plant from the coffee family, Psychotria viridis (McKenna, 1999). These two plants respectively contain harmala alkaloids and dimethyltryptamine, two substances that when ingested orally create a biochemical synergy capable of producing profound alterations in consciousness (Grob, et al., 1996; McKenna, Towers & Abbot, 1984). Among the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, ayahuasca is one of the most valuable medicinal and sacramental plants in their pharmacopoeias. Although shamans in different tribes use the tea for various purposes, and have varying recipes for it, the application of ayahuasca as an effective tool to attain understanding and wisdom is one of the most prevalent (Brown, 1986; Dobkin de Rios, 1984).

Notwithstanding the explosion of popular interest in psychoactive drugs during the 1960s, ayahuasca until quite recently managed to remain relatively obscure in Western cultureiii. However, the late 20th century saw the growth of religious movements among non-indigenous people in Brazil syncretizing the use of ayahuasca with Christian symbolism, African spiritualism, and native ritual. Two of the more widespread ayahuasca churches are the Santo Daime (Santo Daime, 2004) and the União do Vegetal (União do Vegetal, 2004). These organizations have in the past few decades gained legitimacy as valid, indeed valuable, spiritual practices providing social, psychological and spiritual benefits (Grob, 1999; Riba, et al., 2001).

Ayahuasca is not the only “plant teacher” in the pantheon of entheogenic tools. Other indigenous peoples of the Americas have used psilocybin mushrooms for millennia for spiritual and healing purposes (Dobkin de Rios, 1973; Wasson, 1980). Similarly, the peyote cactus has a long history of use by Mexican indigenous groups (Fikes, 1996; Myerhoff, 1974; Stewart, 1987), and is currently widely used in the United States by the Native American Church (LaBarre, 1989; Smith & Snake, 1996). And even in the early history of Western culture, the ancient Indo-Aryan texts of the Rig Veda sing the praises of the deified Soma (Pande, 1984). Although the taxonomic identity of Soma is lost, it seems to have been a plant or mushroom and had the power to reliably induce mystical experiences—an “entheogen” par excellence (Eliade, 1978; Wasson, 1968). The variety of entheogens extends far beyond the limited examples I have offered here. However, ayahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms, peyote and Soma are exemplars of plants which have been culturally esteemed for their psychological and spiritual impacts on both individuals and communities.

In this article I argue that the importance of entheogens lies in their role as tools, as mediators between mind and environment. Defining a psychoactive drug as a tool—perhaps a novel concept for some—invokes its capacity to effect a purposeful change on the mind/body. Commenting on Vygotsky’s notions of psychological tools, John-Steiner and Souberman (1978) note that “tool use has . . . important effects upon internal and functional relationships within the human brain” (p. 133). Although they were likely not thinking of drugs as tools, the significance of this observation becomes even more literal when the tools in question are plants or chemicals ingested with the intent of affecting consciousness through the manipulation of brain chemistry. Indeed, psychoactive plants or chemicals seem to defy the traditional bifurcation between physical and psychological tools, as they affect the mind/body (understood by modern psychologists to be identical).

It is important to consider the degree to which the potential of entheogens comes not only from their immediate neuropsychological effects, but also from the social practices—rituals—into which their use has traditionally been incorporated (Dobkin de Rios, 1996; Smith, 2000). The protective value that ritual provides for entheogen use is evident from its universal application in traditional practices (Weil, 1972/1986). Medical evidence suggests that there are minimal physiological risks associated with psychedelic drugs (Callaway, et al., 1999; Grinspoon & Bakalar, 1979/1998; Julien, 1998). Albert Hofmann (1980), the chemist who first accidentally synthesized and ingested LSD, contends that the psychological risks associated with psychedelics in modern Western culture are a function of their recreational use in unsafe circumstances. A ritual context, however, offers psychospiritual safeguards that make the potential of entheogenic “plant teachers” to enhance cognition an intriguing possibility.

Existential Intelligence

Howard Gardner (1983) developed a theory of multiple intelligences that originally postulated seven types of intelligence (iv). Since then, he has added a “naturalist” intelligence and entertained the possibility of a “spiritual” intelligence (1999a; 1999b). Not wanting to delve too far into territory fraught with theological pitfalls, Gardner (1999a) settled on looking at “existential” intelligence rather than “spiritual” intelligence (p. 123). Existential intelligence, as Gardner characterizes it, involves having a heightened capacity to appreciate and attend to the cosmological enigmas that define the human condition, an exceptional awareness of the metaphysical, ontological and epistemological mysteries that have been a perennial concern for people of all cultures (1999a).

In his original formulation of the theory, Gardner challenges (narrow) mainstream definitions of intelligence with a broader one that sees intelligence as “the ability to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in at least one culture or community” (1999a, p. 113). He lays out eight criteria, or “signs,” that he argues should be used to identify an intelligence; however, he notes that these do not constitute necessary conditions for determining an intelligence, merely desiderata that a candidate intelligence should meet (1983, p. 62). He also admits that none of his original seven intelligences fulfilled all the criteria, although they all met a majority of the eight. For existential intelligence, Gardner himself identifies six which it seems to meet; I will look at each of these and discuss their merits in relation to entheogens.

One criterion applicable to existential intelligence is the identification of a neural substrate to which the intelligence may correlate. Gardner (1999a) notes that recent neuropsychological evidence supports the hypothesis that the brain’s temporal lobe plays a key role in producing mystical states of consciousness and spiritual awareness (p. 124-5; LaPlante, 1993; Newberg, D’Aquili & Rause, 2001). He also recognizes that “certain brain centres and neural transmitters are mobilized in [altered consciousness] states, whether they are induced by the ingestion of substances or by a control of the will” (Gardner, 1999a, p.125). Another possibility, which Gardner does not explore, is that endogenous dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in humans may play a significant role in the production of spontaneous or induced altered states of consciousness (Pert, 2001). DMT is a powerful entheogenic substance that exists naturally in the mammalian brain (Barker, Monti & Christian, 1981), as well as being a common constituent of ayahuasca and the Amazonian snuff, yopo (Ott, 1994). Furthermore, DMT is a close analogue of the neurotransmitter 5-hydroxytryptamine, or serotonin. It has been known for decades that the primary neuropharmacological action of psychedelics has been on serotonin systems, and serotonin is now understood to be correlated with healthy modes of consciousness.

One psychiatric researcher has recently hypothesized that endogenous DMT stimulates the pineal gland to create such spontaneous psychedelic states as near-death experiences (Strassman, 2001). Whether this is correct or not, the role of DMT in the brain is an area of empirical research that deserves much more attention, especially insofar as it may contribute to an evidential foundation for existential intelligence.

Another criterion for an intelligence is the existence of individuals of exceptional ability within the domain of that intelligence. Unfortunately, existential precocity is not something sufficiently valued in modern Western culture to the degree that savants in this domain are commonly celebrated today. Gardner (1999a) observes that within Tibetan Buddhism, the choosing of lamas may involve the detection of a predisposition to existential intellect (if it is not identifying the reincarnation of a previous lama, as Tibetan Buddhists themselves believe) (p. 124). Gardner also cites Czikszentmilhalyi’s consideration of the “early-emerging concerns for cosmic issues of the sort reported in the childhoods of future religious leaders like Gandhi and of several future physicists” (Gardner, 1999a, p. 124; Czikszentmilhalyi, 1996). Presumably, some individuals who are enjoined to enter a monastery or nunnery at a young age may be so directed due to an appreciable manifestation of existential awareness. Likewise, individuals from indigenous cultures who take up shamanic practice—who “have abilities beyond others to dream, to imagine, to enter states of trance” (Larsen, 1976, p. 9)—often do so because of a significant interest in cosmological concerns at a young age, which could be construed as a prodigious capacity in the domain of existential intelligencev (Eliade, 1964; Greeley, 1974; Halifax, 1979).

The third criterion for determining an intelligence that Gardner suggests is an identifiable set of core operational abilities that manifest that intelligence. Gardner finds this relatively unproblematic and articulates the core operations for existential intelligence as:

the capacity to locate oneself with respect to the farthest reaches of the cosmos—the infinite no less than the infinitesimal—and the related capacity to locate oneself with respect to the most existential aspects of the human condition: the significance of life, the meaning of death, the ultimate fate of the physical and psychological worlds, such profound experiences as love of another human being or total immersion in a work of art. (1999a, p. 123)

Gardner notes that as with other more readily accepted types of intelligence, there is no specific truth that one would attain with existential intelligence—for example, as musical intelligence does not have to manifest itself in any specific genre or category of music, neither does existential intelligence privilege any one philosophical system or spiritual doctrine. As Gardner (1999a) puts it, “there exists [with existential intelligence] a species potential—or capacity—to engage in transcendental concerns that can be aroused and deployed under certain circumstances” (p. 123). Reports on uses of psychedelics by Westerners in the 1950s and early 1960s—generated prior to their prohibition and, some might say, profanation—reveal a recurrent theme of spontaneous mystical experiences that are consistent with enhanced capacity of existential intelligence (Huxley, 1954/1971; Masters & Houston, 1966; Pahnke, 1970; Smith, 1964; Watts, 1958/1969).

Another criterion for admitting an intelligence is identifying a developmental history and a set of expert “end-state” performances for it. Pertaining to existential intelligence, Gardner notes that all cultures have devised spiritual or metaphysical systems to deal with the inherent human capacity for existential issues, and further that these respective systems invariably have steps or levels of sophistication separating the novice from the adept. He uses the example of Pope John XXIII’s description of his training to advance up the ecclesiastic hierarchy as a contemporary illustration of this point (1999a, p. 124). However, the instruction of the neophyte is a manifest part of almost all spiritual training and, again, the demanding process of imparting of shamanic wisdom—often including how to effectively and appropriately use entheogens—is an excellent example of this process in indigenous cultures (Eliade, 1964).

A fifth criterion Gardner suggests for an intelligence is determining its evolutionary history and evolutionary plausibility. The self-reflexive question of when and why existential intelligence first arose in the Homo genus is one of the perennial existential questions of humankind. That it is an exclusively human trait is almost axiomatic, although a small but increasing number of researchers are willing to admit the possibility of higher forms of cognition in non-human animals (Masson & McCarthy, 1995; Vonk, 2003). Gardner (1999a) argues that only by the Upper Paleolithic period did “human beings within a culture possess a brain capable of considering the cosmological issues central to existential intelligence” (p. 124) and that the development of a capacity for existential thinking may be linked to “a conscious sense of finite space and irreversible time, two promising loci for stimulating imaginative explorations of transcendental spheres” (p. 124). He also suggests that “thoughts about existential issues may well have evolved as responses to necessarily occurring pain, perhaps as a way of reducing pain or better equipping individuals to cope with it” (Gardner, 1999a, p. 125). As with determining the evolutionary origin of language, tracing a phylogenesis of existential intelligence is conjectural at best. Its role in the development of the species is equally difficult to assess, although Winkelman (2000) argues that consciousness and shamanic practices—and presumably existential intelligence as well—stem from psychobiological adaptations integrating older and more recently evolved structures in the triune hominid brain. McKenna (1992) goes even so far as to postulate that the ingestion of psychoactive substances such as entheogenic mushrooms may have helped stimulate cognitive developments such as existential and linguistic thinking in our proto-human ancestors. Some researchers in the 1950s and 1960s found enhanced creativity and problem-solving skills among subjects given LSD and other psychedelic drugs (Harman, McKim, Mogar, Fadiman & Stolaroff, 1966; Izumi, 1970; Krippner, 1985; Stafford & Golightly, 1967), skills which certainly would have been evolutionarily advantageous to our hominid ancestors. Such avenues of investigation are beginning to be broached again by both academic scholars and amateur psychonauts (Dobkin de Rios & Janiger, 2003; Spitzer, et al., 1996; MAPS Bulletin, 2000).

The final criterion Gardner mentions as applicable to existential intelligence is susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system. Here, again, Gardner concedes that there is abundant evidence in favour of accepting existential thinking as an intelligence. In his words, “many of the most important and most enduring sets of symbol systems (e.g., those featured in the Catholic liturgy) represent crystallizations of key ideas and experiences that have evolved within [cultural] institutions” (1999a, p. 123). Another salient example that illustrates this point is the mytho-symbolism ascribed to ayahuasca visions among the Tukano, an Amazonian indigenous people. Reichel-Dolmatoff (1975) made a detailed study of these visions by asking a variety of informants to draw representations with sticks in the dirt (p. 174). He compiled twenty common motifs, observing that most of them bear a striking resemblance to phosphene patterns (i.e. visual phenomena perceived in the absence of external stimuli or by applying light pressure to the eyeball) compiled by Max Knoll (Oster, 1970). The Tukano interpret these universal human neuropsychological phenomena as symbolically significant according to their traditional ayahuasca-steeped mythology, reflecting the codification of existential ideas within their culture.

Narby (1998) also examines the codification of symbols generated during ayahuasca experiences by tracing similarities between intertwining snake motifs in the visions of Amazonian shamans and the double-helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid. He found remarkable similarities between representations of biological knowledge by indigenous shamans and those of modern geneticists. More recently, Narby (2002) has followed up on this work by bringing molecular biologists to the Amazon to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies with experiences shamans, an endeavour he suggests may provide useful cross-fertilization in divergent realms of human knowledge.

The two other criteria of an intelligence are support from experimental psychological tasks and support from psychometric findings. Gardner suggests that existential intelligence is more debatable within these domains, citing personality inventories that attempt to measure religiosity or spirituality; he notes, “it remains unclear just what is being probed by such instruments and whether self-report is a reliable index of existential intelligence” (1999a, p. 125). It seems transcendental states of consciousness and the cognition they engender do not lend themselves to quantification or easy replication in psychology laboratories. However, Strassman, Qualls, Uhlenhuth, & Kellner (1994) developed a psychometric instrument—the Hallucinogen Rating Scale—to measure human responses to intravenous administration of DMT, and it has since been reliably used for other psychedelic experiences (Riba, Rodriguez-Fornells, Strassman, & Barbanoj, 2001).

One historical area of empirical psychological research that did ostensibly stimulate a form of what might be considered existential intelligence was clinical investigations into psychedelics. Until such research became academically unfashionable and then politically impossible in the early 1970s, psychologists and clinical researchers actively explored experimentally-induced transcendent experiences using drugs in the interests of both pure science and applied medical treatments (Abramson, 1967; Cohen, 1964; Grinspoon & Bakalar, 1979/1998; Masters & Houston, 1966). One of the more famous of these was Pahnke’s (1970) so-called “Good Friday” experiment, which attempted to induce spiritual experiences with psilocybin within a randomized double-blind control methodology. His conclusion that mystical experiences were indeed reliably produced, despite methodological problems with the study design, was borne out by a critical long-term follow-up (Doblin, 1991), which raises intriguing questions about both entheogens and existential intelligence.

Studies such as Pahnke’s (1970), despite their promise, were prematurely terminated due to public pressure from a populace alarmed by burgeoning contemporary recreational drug use. Only about a decade ago did the United States government give researchers permission to renew (on a very small scale) investigations into psychedelics (Strassman 2001; Strassman & Qualls, 1994). Cognitive psychologists are also taking an interest in entheogens such as ayahuasca (Shanon, 2002). Regardless of whether support for existential intelligence can be established psychometrically or in experimental psychological tasks, Gardner’s theory expressly stipulates that not all eight criteria must be uniformly met in order for an intelligence to qualify. Nevertheless, Gardner claims to “find the phenomenon perplexing enough, and the distance from other intelligences great enough” (1999a, p. 127) to be reluctant “at present to add existential intelligence to the list . . . . At most [he is] willing, Fellini-style, to joke about ‘8½ intelligences’” (p. 127). I contend that research into entheogens and other means of altering consciousness will further support the case for treating existential intelligence as a valid cognitive domain.

Educational Implications?

By recapitulating and augmenting Gardner’s discussion of existential intelligence, I hope to have strengthened the case for its inclusion as a valid cognitive domain. However, doing so raises questions of what ramifications an acceptance of existential intelligence would have for contemporary Western educational theory and practice. How might we foster this hitherto neglected intelligence and allow it to be used in constructive ways? There is likely a range of educational practices that could be used to stimulate cognition in this domain, many of which could be readily implemented without much controversy.vi Yet I intentionally raise the prospect of using entheogens in this capacity—not with young children, but perhaps with older teens in the passage to adulthood—to challenge theorists, policy-makers and practitioners.vii

The potential of entheogens as tools for education in contemporary Western culture was identified by Aldous Huxley. Although better known as a novelist than as a philosopher of education, Huxley spent a considerable amount of time—particularly as he neared the end of his life—addressing the topic of education. Like much of his literature, Huxley’s observations and critiques of the socio-cultural forces at work in his time were cannily prescient; they bear as much, if not more, relevance in the 21st century as when they were written. Most remarkably, and relevant to my thesis, Huxley saw entheogens as possible educational tools:

Under the current dispensation the vast majority of individuals lose, in the course of education, all the openness to inspiration, all the capacity to be aware of other things than those enumerated in the Sears-Roebuck catalogue which constitutes the conventionally “real” world . . . . Is it too much to hope that a system of education may some day be devised, which shall give results, in terms of human development, commensurate with the time, money, energy and devotion expended? In such a system of education it may be that mescalin or some other chemical substance may play a part by making it possible for young people to “taste and see” what they have learned about at second hand . . . in the writings of the religious, or the works of poets, painters and musicians. (Letter to Dr. Humphrey Osmond, April 10th, 1953—in Horowitz & Palmer, 1999, p.30)

In a more literary expression of this notion, Huxley’s final novel Island (1962) portrays an ideal culture that has achieved a balance of scientific and spiritual thinking, and which also incorporates the ritualized use of entheogens for education. The representation of drug use that Huxley portrays in Island contrasts markedly with the more widely-known soma of his earlier novel, Brave New World (1932/1946): whereas soma was a pacifier that muted curiosity and served the interests of the controlling elite, the entheogenic “moksha medicine” of Island offered liminal experiences in young adults that stimulated profound reflection, self-actualization and, I submit, existential intelligence.

Huxley’s writings point to an implicit recognition of the capacity of entheogens to be used as educational “tools”. The concept of tool here refers not merely the physical devices fashioned to aid material production, but, following Vygotsky (1978), more broadly to those means of symbolic and/or cultural mediation between the mind and the world (Cole, 1996; Wertsch, 1991). Of course, deriving educational benefit from a tool requires much more than simply having and wielding it; one must also have an intrinsic respect for the object qua tool, a cultural system in which the tool is valued as such, and guides or teachers who are adept at using the tool to provide helpful direction. As Larsen (1976) remarks in discussing the phenomenon of would-be “shamans” in Western culture experimenting with mind-altering chemicals: “we have no symbolic vocabulary, no grounded mythological tradition to make our experiences comprehensible to us . . . no senior shamans to help ensure that our [shamanic experience of] dismemberment be followed by a rebirth” (p. 81). Given the recent history of these substances in modern Western culture, it is hardly surprising that they have been demonized (Hofmann, 1980). However, cultural practices that have traditionally used entheogens as therapeutic agents consistently incorporate protective safeguards—set, settingviii, established dosages, and mythocultural respect (Zinberg, 1984). The fear that inevitably arises in modern Western culture when addressing the issue of entheogens stems, I submit, not from any properties intrinsic to the substances themselves, but rather from a general misunderstanding of their power and capacity as tools. Just as a sharp knife can be used for good or ill, depending on whether it is in the hands of a skilled surgeon or a reckless youth, so too can entheogens be used or misused.

The use of entheogens such as ayahuasca is exemplary of the long and ongoing tradition in many cultures to employ psychoactives as tools that stimulate foundational types of understanding (Tupper, in press). That such substances are capable of stimulating profoundly transcendent experiences is evident from both the academic literature and anecdotal reports. Accounting fully for their action, however, requires going beyond the usual explanatory schemas: applying Gardner’s (1999a) multiple intelligence theory as a heuristic framework opens new ways of understanding entheogens and their potential benefits. At the same time, entheogens bolster the case for Gardner’s proposed addition of existential intelligence. This article attempts to present these concepts in such a way that the possibility of using entheogens as tools is taken seriously by those with an interest in new and transformative ideas in education.

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i The 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances allows for indigenous peoples to use traditional medicines and sacraments even if those substances are prohibited under international drug control treaties (United Nations, 1977, Article 32).

ii Santo Daime is the name of the sacrament as well as the religion.

iii Writers and drug aficionados William S. Burroughs and Allan Ginsberg (1963) published an account of their experiences seeking out and drinking ayahuasca in South America in the early 1960s, but their report was mostly negative and did not inspire many others to follow in their footsteps. As ethnobotanist Wade Davis remarks, “ayahuasca is many things, but pleasurable is not one of them” (2001).

iv The original seven types of intelligence Gardner (1983) proposed were: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.

v Eliade (1964) identifies two primary ways of becoming a shaman: 1) hereditary transmission, or falling heir to the vocation in a family legacy passed down from generation to generation; and 2) spontaneous vocation, or being called to shamanism by the spirits. Prodigious existential intelligence may be manifest in either case.

vi Here I conceptually separate education and schooling; unfortunately, I don’t see the latter institution—the legacy of 19th-century homogenizing and democratizing socio-political programs (Cremin, 1961; Egan, 2002)—as inspiring much optimism for an embracing of existential intelligence.

vii Gotz (1970) argues that the practices of teachers might benefit from the mind-expanding potential of psychedelics.

viii “Set is a person’s expectations of what a drug will do to him [sic], considered in the context of his whole personality. Setting is the environment, both physical and social, in which a drug is taken” (Weil, 1972/1986). These factors influence all psychoactive drug experiences, but psychedelics or entheogens especially so.

Hurricane Irene Could Sprout Magic Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:32:46 PDT

Hurricane Irene Could Sprout Bumper Crop Of Magic Mushrooms
From: www.huffingtonpost.com
By: David Moye

Everyone knows the potential destructive power of hurricanes, but few people are aware that storms like Hurricane Irene encourage growth of psychedelic mushrooms.

Yes, it sounds trippy, but one of the strange aftermaths of a hurricane is an increased amount of mushrooms popping up -- especially the psilocybin -- or "magic" kind -- the ones that cause hallucinations.

According to Dr. Casey Simon, an addiction expert based in Orange County, Calif., hurricanes create the perfect climactic conditions for the mushrooms to grow.

"Mushrooms are spores and they multiply in moisture and are spread by wind," he told HuffPost Weird News.

Dr. Suneil Jain, a naturopathic physician in Scottsdale, Ariz., goes even further.

"The moisture, humidity, the wind and the temperature during hurricanes is the perfect climate for mushrooms," he told HuffPost Weird News. "Also, both hurricanes and mushroom growth are associated with new or full moons, so there may be a lunar element as well."

Jain says, generally, psychedelic mushrooms are noted by their bluish-gray stems, but stresses that many mushrooms can be toxic and ones picked in the wild should not be consumed unless they've been examined by an expert.

However, despite the hallucinogenic effects, he says that magic mushrooms are relatively safe.

"These substances have been used for centuries, with just a handful of cases of addiction, or long-term problems," he said. "Generally, they are fairly benign."

Recent studies by Johns Hopkins University suggest psilocybin mushrooms may have medical benefits, and Jain is one of those who believes the findings could have a positive impact on humanity.

"There is evidence that it can help in treating OCD, body dismorphia issues and even marital problems," he said.

Simon says the real danger of the mushrooms isn't the psilocybin.

"Some mushrooms can attract a fungus that makes them more toxic," he said. "It looks like a gray mold on the under side. Just a few differences in temperature can make a difference."

Jain says that's why experienced mushroom experts pick mushrooms when they are as fresh as possible.

"The optimal time to pick is right after the storm before the other elements can affect them," he said.

Still, the news that the whole East Coast of the U.S. could soon be awash in 'shrooms is bound to get every hippie worth his hemp sandals and hacky sack on the hunt for a new high.

Mushrooms are likely to pop up in locations where bark is used for decorative landscaping, like industrial parks and government offices, according to ethnobotanist Clark Heinrich

It's important to emphasize that wild mushrooms -- both mind-altering or not -- should not be consumed willy nilly, but Jain hopes to use the fact that so many potentially medicinal mushrooms will soon be popping up all over the East Coast as a way to raise a discussion about an aspect of the medical-pharmaceutical industry he doesn't like.

"There are a lot of medicinal plants that [have health benefits]," he said. "For instance, the main ingredient in statin drugs comes from red yeast rice. But instead of focusing on the plants that can heal, medical science tries to find the active ingredient, change it slightly and then market that so they can charge a lot."

"Besides that, singling out one ingredient in the plant, like psilocybin, doesn't take into account that everything in the plant, and that they all work together."

Dennis McKenna interview by Peter Gorman

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:33:51 PDT

Subscribe to the Psychedelic Salon Podcast

Podcast 276 – “Peter Gorman Interviews Dennis McKenna Part 1” Download Mp3
Podcast 277 – “Peter Gorman Interviews Dennis McKenna Part 2” Download Mp3
To Download, right click & save target as..

Guest speakers: Peter Gorman and Dennis McKenna

Recorded in 1994

[NOTE: All quotations are by Dennis McKenna.]

“The idea that you could use these to actually explore other dimensions, real worlds that were outside the cognizance of our ordinary world, is really what I think fascinated me about psychedelics.”

“More than anything else, it [DMT] seemed to be not an experience, not a drug, but a place, an actual other dimension that you were plunged into.”

“In order to understand its limitations, I almost had to become the ‘enemy’. I had to become a scientist in order to understand the limitations of science.”

“I think that Ayahuasca is actually much more controllable than mushrooms. . . . I think that it is quite an amazing tool for self-understanding and for exploration. I think that it’s good for you, actually physically and psychologically good for you.”

“It’s no different than it ever was. When the Jesuits and the missionaries came to meso-America the first things to go, the first things to be stamped out was the knowledge of the sacred plants and the practice of using the sacred plants.”

“I think that Christianity linked with Calvinism has a hard time dealing with what you might call facts of biology, which in another phrase is sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. In some ways, life is about sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. Biology is about those things.”

“All experience is a drug experience. Whether it’s mediated by our own [endogenous] drugs, or whether it’s mediated by substances that we ingest that are found in plants, cognition, consciousness, the working of the brain, it’s all a chemically mediated process. Life itself is a drug experience.”

“He [Terence McKenna] will never let a fact get in the way of making a provocative statement. He’s a good story teller, but I think it’s important to remember that they are stories, and that he often makes mistakes in his lectures.”

“In that position, a guy who can pack the houses every time, I feel has a larger responsibility to the psychedelic community to refrain from making these completely off-the-wall comments, and to actually tell it like it is, not how he imagines it to be.”

“I’m sure that Terence views it as theater. I can’t believe that he takes what he says seriously. I mean, I can tell you that he doesn’t. Much of what he says he says it because it’s going to get a rise out of somebody. He’s always been that way.”

Peter Gorman

Writer, Explorer, Naturalist

Dennis McKenna

Writer, Ethnopharmacologist, Researcher, Explorer

www.EROCx1.com • www.GaianBotanicals.com

Swedish House Mafia @ Creamfields 2010

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:36:42 PDT

Listen below or click on Essential Mix 2010 to Download:
Download in 320kbs Mp3: HERE
01. Sander van Doorn – Reach Out / Florence and the Machine – You Got the Love (Acapella)
02. Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello & Laidback Luke – Leave the World Behind
03. Butch – Tease Me / Funkagenda – What The Fuck (Acapella)
04. The Prodigy – No Good For Me (Da Fresh Bootleg)
05. Mohombi – Bumpy Ride (Sebastian Ingrosso Remix)
06. Steve Angello & AN21 – Valodja / Pocket808 feat. Nathan Hudson – Ghost Ship (Hook ‘N’ Sling Remix) / Eurythmichs – Sweet Dreams
07. TV Rock – In The Air (Axwell Remix) / Laidback Luke – My G*O*D (Guns on Demo / Basemant Jaxx – Where’s Your Head At? (Acapella)
08. Swedish House Mafia – Miami 2 Ibiza (Instrumental)
09. Thomas Gold – AGORa / Junior Jack – My Feelings (Acapella)
10. Steve Angello – Rave N Roll / Robin S – Show Me Love (Acapella)
11. Marco V – Reaver
12. D-Formation vs. Bloody Beetroots, Steve Aoki – Weakness 4 Warp (Bass Kleph Bootleg)
13. Pendulum – The Island (Steve Angello, AN21 & Max Vangeli Remix)
14. Axwell – Nothing But Love (Remode)
15. Sebastian Ingrosso – Kidsos
16. Funkerman feat. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Otherside 2010
17. Adrian Lux – Teenage Crime (Axwell & Henrik B Remode)
18. 2000 And One – Spanish Fly (Butch Remix) / Calvin Harris – Flashback / Steve Angello & Laidback Luke 0 Be (Loop)
19. Oliver Twizt – You’re Not Alone (Bingo Players Remix)
20. Congorock – Babylon Steve Angello Edit & Laidback Luke – Be
21. Steve Angello – Knas & Laidback Luke – Be / Axwell – I Found U
22. C-Mos – 2 Million Ways (Axwell Remix) / Sebastien Drums, Tom Geiss & Eric G – Funky Beep (Dub Mix) / The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony / Supermode – Tell Me Why
23. Swedish House Mafia feat. Pharell – One (Your Name)
24. Steve Angello – Tivoli
25. M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade – Body Language / Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition (Axwell & Dirty South Remix)
26. Daft Punk – Be More Time (Laidback Luke Bootleg)
27. Swedish House Mafia – One
28. Swedish House Mafia – One (Congorock Remix)
29. Swedish House Mafia feat. Pharell – One (Your Name)

www.EROCx1.com

Electric Daisy Carnival LV 2011 Mp3’s

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:09:47 PDT

Unfortunately I was unable to score tickets to this years EDC in Las Vegas even though I could see the fireworks from my house. Talk about rubbing it in. At any rate many friends knew how badly I wanted to attend so they began sending me digital audio recordings made from some of the top performances at the 2011 Electric Daisy Carnival.

I will share those here in the name of community. If you have some that I am missing or have better copies of any listed, please do share. Big thanks to Paul Loeb.

For best results, right/ctrl click and Save As.

www.EROCx1.com

Aldous Huxley: Mp3 Interview

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 22:55:52 PDT

An Interview with Aldous Huxley
"Capital A, Capital R" Circa 1959
Transcribed by Plutonic / From EROWID
Originally published by British Library Sound Archive

DOWNLOAD MP3 BELOW (5:38 Min - 8MB)
Aldous Huxley Interview Right Click, Save Target As.

Q: How often have you taken mescaline yourself?

A: I've taken mescaline twice, and lysergic acid about 5 times I suppose. I would like to take it about once a year I think. When one [oh] doesn't ... most people that I know who take it have no desire to sort of fool with it, or take it constantly, I mean the thing take it too seriously to, to behave in this way towards it, you wouldn't want to wallow in it. I mean you needed a good enough time to digest this I think, I mean I don't know, most people I know that eat it don't have any special desires to go on taking it, I mean they would like to take it every six months or every year, something of that kind. But I still have to meet one who wants to take it constantly.

Q: But isn't it a condition that one would want to be in all the time?

A: You couldn't be in it all the time cause it's so to say beyond the level of biological efficiency. The world becomes so extraordinary and so absorbing that you couldn't cross the street without considerable risk of being run over. You wouldn't want to do anything else because just experiencing this thing is so extraordinary.

Q: Is the effect the same on everyone?

A: Statistically about 70 percent, 75 percent probably get a good and positive happy result from it, and a certain percentage get no results, a certain percentage get very unpleasant and ill-like results out of it, get very frightened. Mine were always positive, I didn't have what some people have which is a great elaborate visions with the eyes closed, some people have the most elaborate and circumstantial visionary experiences with the eyes closed. I merely see sort of living geometries but never any of these great landscapes and figures and architectures which some people see.

Q: Do you sit, or do you move about?

A: I've spent a lot of time sitting quietly looking at things, and getting these sort of strange metaphysical insights into the world.

Q: Is it a habit forming drug?

A: In most occasions it has no more hangover then two cocktails, some people feel actually much better the next day. It's being used to some extent in therapy, there's a man here called Sandison that uses it a lot, there are several people in America, in Canada several groups have had very very good results with alcoholism using LSD.

There's a new drug now, psilocybin, which is derived from the Mexican mushroom which has the same effect but doesn't last quite so long. And that it is being used in France therapeutically with some success. Mescaline you take a capsule of 400 milligrams and the lysergic acid you take this incredibly small dose of 100 gamma, which is 100 millionths of a gram, a ten thousandth of a gram, a 10th of a milligram which is a homeopathic dose, it's perfectly extraordinary it should have any effect and in fact it has an effect long after all traces of it have gone out of the body, it has an effect by triggering some... nobody knows exactly what, probably inhibits one of the 27 enzymes which control the functioning of the brain, either inhibits one or stimulates one and I don't think anyone quite knows what it does.

The intensity of the experience is entirely unlike any ordinary experience, but on the other hand it quite obviously resembles spontaneous experiences certain artists and religious people have unquestionably had. It's an immense intensification of the world, a transfiguration of the external world into incredible beauty and significance. It's also beyond this kind of aesthetic experience, there may be other experience, a sense of solidarity with the universe, solidarity with other people, understanding of such phrases as you get in the book of Job: "Yeah, Though He Slay Me, Yet Will I Trust In Him", it becomes quite comprehensible. This thing opens the door to these experiences which can be of immense value to people if they choose to make use of them. If they don't choose to, I mean this is what the Catholics call a gratuitous grace, it doesn't guarantee salvation or it's not sufficient and it's not necessary to salvation but if it can be collaborated with and used in an intelligent way it can be an immense help to people. This sense that in spite of everything which of course is the ultimate, I suppose, the ultimate mystical conviction in spite of pain, in spite of death, in spite of horror, the universe is in some mysterious sense is all right, capital A capital R.

Timothy Leary archive sold to NY Library

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:40:06 PDT

On June 16, 2011 the New York Public Library announced that it has acquired the Timothy Leary archive for $900,000. The well organized, invaluable collection contains >335 well organized boxes equivalent to 412 linear feet of letters, manuscripts, research documents, notes, legal and financial records, printed materials, photographs, video and audio tapes, CDs and DVDs, posters and flyers, and artifacts, dating from Leary’s youth in the 1920s until his death in 1996.

William Stingone, curator of manuscripts at the library acknowledged Tim as one of the most influential figures of the 20th century and predicts the collection will help researchers get beyond the “myth making” around ’60s figures and “Hopefully we’ll be able to get to some of the truth of it here”. It will no doubt be of great resource for the recent resurgence of psychedelic research by Charlie Grob, Rick Strassman, Roland Griffiths and organizations such as Heffter Research Institute & MAPS.

The complete documentation from Leary’s early psychotropic drug experiments are in tact. Thomas Lannon, the library’s assistant curator for manuscripts and archives explained that much of the archive includes legitimate scientific research performed prior these substances being made illegal. Leary kept meticulous records at many points during his life. There are comprehensive research files, legal briefs, budgets and memos about the many institutes and organizations he founded, but there are also notes and documents from when he was on the run after escaping from a California prison with help from the Weather Underground. A folder labeled as notes from his “C.I.A. kidnapping” in 1973 is full of cryptic jottings recounting the details of his arrest in Afghanistan, at an airport in Kabul, after he fled the United States.

Partial list of items in the archive purchased from the Leary Estate include:

Thousands of letters to Leary, many from luminaries of the 1960s era, including Aldous and Laura Huxley, Gerald Heard, Alan Watts, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Peter Orlovsky, Charles Olson, Arthur Koestler, Huston Smith, Walter Houston Clark, Walter Pahnke, Humphry Osmond, Al Hubbard, Oscar Janiger, Cary Grant, Charles Mingus, Maynard Ferguson, Michael Hollingshead , Robert Anton Wilson, Gordon Wasson, Ken Kesey and Augustus Owsley Stanley. Other correspondence is with his family – including letters to and from his mother, his wives and his children – as well as publishers, attorneys, politicians and his numerous adversaries, including G. Gordon Liddy and law enforcement figures from local sheriffs to Drug Enforcement Agency and Central Intelligence Agency operatives.
Professional and research papers, which will provide scholars a unique opportunity to study Leary’s clinical work from graduate school through his years at Millbrook, including hundreds of reports documenting the psilocybin-induced experiences Harvard graduate students and faculty, creative artists, prisoners at the Massachusetts State Prison at Concord, and theology students.
Files and correspondence detailing Leary’s experience at Harvard University, including his initial acceptance, the university’s eventual resistance to his research, his controversial research methods and his eventual dismissal. These files depict the evolution of Leary’s studies from rigorous, empirical research into more free-flowing, scientifically problematic exploration, as well as the promotion of psychedelics.
The complete records of the organizations Leary formed to continue his research after leaving Harvard, including the International Federation for Internal Freedom, Castalia Foundation and the League For Spiritual Discovery. These files, like those from Leary’s research at Harvard, include session reports, completed questionnaires, and letters describing the mushroom and LSD induced experiences of many notable cultural figures and Leary’s associates, such as Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) and Ralph Metzner. Letters among Leary and his research partners also document their turbulent and intense personal and professional relationships.
Extensive correspondence, legal briefs, prison writings, letters of support and petitions sent to and produced by the four Leary defense funds during his time in prison after his arrest in 1973. There are also materials connected to his exile period in Algeria and Switzerland, including correspondence, notebooks, statements, letters and manuscript material.
Copies of government documents, released to Leary under the Freedom of Information Act, pertaining to various agencies’ surveillance of Leary, as well as his arrest. Leary’s cooperation with the authorities, still considered by many as a betrayal of the counterculture, is also well documented.
Computer generated text, correspondence and material relating to the computer revolution, the Biosphere project, space colonies, cryogenics and more from his time in Los Angeles.
More than 300 videotapes and 300 audiotapes featuring Leary, including about 50 early lectures. A large portion of these tapes are noncommercial and probably represent the only copies in existence.
Manuscripts of published books and articles, as well as a substantial number of unpublished works, some book length. Scores of unpublished essays on a variety of subjects, unproduced movie scripts, fiction and poetry are also included.

The archive is currently sitting in a storage complex in Long Island, waiting to be sorted and processed over the next 18 - 24. It is my hope that it will soon be digitized for the world to access online similar to Hofmann.org. A portion of the sale is being donated back to finance the processing of the material. When Tim announced his illness, he attempted to comfort us by saying something to the effect of “I will live forever, spreading through the WWW like a virus corrupting the minds of young people.” It has been heart breaking to see his website dead all these years and will be awesome to see Leary’s wish come full circle. I believe letters of support to the New York Public Library are appropriate, they may be contacted HERE. A big thank you to all who helped make this happen!

Further information may be found at:
FREE Mp3 recordings are featured on the Psychedelic Salon Podcast
NYT Article on TimothyLearyArchives.org
The Timothy Leary Movie Archive
www.EROCx1.com

Manly P. Hall: Gulliver's Travels Interpretation

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:02:16 PDT

Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts.
By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships. Better known simply as Gulliver's Travels. Published in 1726 amended 1735 By Jonathan Swift aka Dean Swift.
Both a satire on human nature and a parody of the "travellers' tales" literary sub-genre. It is Swift's best known full-length work, and a classic of English literature. The book became popular as soon as it was published and has never been out of print since.

Peace Revolution
Podcast Episode #29
Metaphors of Liberation
The Wisdom of Gullible's Travels

Manly P. Hall’s interpretation
of Gulliver’s Travels

Free Download: Mp3 Right Click, save file

Outstanding Lecture, well worth the download!

Great Google Ebook (1863) read online
PDF or ePub formats.

www.EROCx1.com
www.GaianBotanicals.com
Peace Revolution Podcast
www.gnosticmedia.com

www.manlyphall.org

Jonathan Ott: Inebriating Potions from Agave

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:04:25 PDT

From our friend Lorenzo
Subscribe to the Psychedelic Salon Podcast

Podcast 269: Inebriating Potions from Agave”
Download: Mp3 File

This is a talk that Jonathan Ott gave in September 2004 at the Mind States Conference in Oaxaca, Mexico.
From the program for Mind States 2004:
Jonathan Ott will give a talk titled “From Octli/Pulque and Xochioctli to Mezcal and Vino de Mezcal Tequila”.
The ethnopharmacognosy of inebriating pre-Columbian potions based on octli or pulque, wine of various species of Agave, with special reference to numerous inebriating additives; traditional foods and beverages made from mezcal Agaves; and colonial development of distilled mezcal from fermented, cooked mezcal Agaves. Finally, more recent development of Vino de Mezcal Tequila or Tequila, a regional type of mezcal brandy, from cooked hearts of Agave tequillense or blue agave.
See: The Spirits of Maguey Erowid Extracts NOV2004

Jan Irvin: Logic, Fallacies & the Trivium

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:28:36 PDT

Tony Myers interviewing Jan Irvin following his
appearance at the Free Your Mind Conference

This interview goes into Entheogens, Critical Thinking, Logical Fallacies and the 7 Liberal Arts which are divided into the Trivium ("the three roads") and the Quadrivium ("the four roads").

The Trivium consists of:

Grammar
Rhetoric
Logic

The Quadrivium consists of:

Arithmetic - Number in itself
Geometry - Number in space
Music, Harmonics, or Tuning Theory - Number in time
Astronomy or Cosmology - Number in space and time

I also recommend the Peace Revolution Podcast #23
How to Free Your Mind / The Occulted Keys of Wisdom
Free Download: Mp3

Notes, links, references, etc.:
Transcript of this episode, for your convenience.
1.     Jan Irvin’s Trivium and Quadrivium
interviews with Gene Odening, episodes 49, 50, 51
          a.    Video version: Trivium
          b.    Video version: Quadrivium
2.     Jan Irvin’s Fallacy interviews with Dr. Michael Labossiere
3.     Dr. Labossiere’s Fallacy video
4.     Peace Revolution episodes 1, 2, 3, etc., an entire podcast dedicated to a comprehensive or full-spectrum education
5.     What You’ve Been Missing episodes 1 and 2
6.    Government / "to control the mind" etymology: http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/noun:mens
from the Latin, mens, mentis, menti, mentem, mente; which are 3rd declension nouns which mean "mind", the ablative meaning "the mind". Gubernare (to control) + mente (the mind) = the root of government (to control the mind).

Also See: Critical Thinking and Logic

For more information on the Trivium www.triviumeducation.com
Interviews, lectures & videos from Jan Irvin www.gnosticmedia.com
For more from Tragedy & Hope visit: www.tragedyandhope.com

Terence Mckenna: Earliest Lecture Recorded

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Sat, 28 May 2011 19:50:35 PDT

From our friend Lorenzo
Subscribe to the Psychedelic Salon Podcast

Podcast 267: Exploring the Abyss
Download: Mp3 File

This is possibly the oldest Terence McKenna lecture in existence. Recorded November 1982. The workshop was titled New & Old Maps of Hyperspace: Dreams, Hallucinogens & UFO’s.

[NOTE: All quotations are by Terence McKenna.]

“My assumption whenever I am confronted with opposites is to try to unify them, to create a coincidentia oppositorum as was done in alchemy, to not force the system to closure but to try and leave the system open enough so that the differences can resonate and become complimentary rather than antithetical.”

“Shamanism, on the other hand [as compared with science], is this world wide, since Paleolithic times, tradition which says that you must make your own experience the centerpiece of any model of the world that you build. No amount of readings from meters, whether they’re metering cyclotrons or any other kind of instrument, are going to satisfy you.”

“What psilocybin focuses as a problem that these other hallucinogens do not is that it allows a dialogue with the other that is full of give and take. In other words there are entities in the hallucinogenic world that psilocybin, and DMT, and a few other not well-known or widely distributed plants, hallucinogens, induce.”

“Our alienation from ourselves has caused us to set up a number of straw men that are keeping us from building actually a mature model of how the universe really works. The content of the dialogue with the Other is a content that indicates that man’s horizons are infinitely bright.”

“Alchemy is about the generation of a psychic construct, a wholeness, a thing which has many properties, which is paradoxical, which is both mind and matter, which can do anything.”

“[UFOs are], in other words, something which in order not to alarm us has disguised itself as an extraterrestrial being but is in fact the collectivity of the human psyche signaling a profound historical crisis.”

“A mature humanity could get into a place where we no longer required these metaphysical spankings from messiahs and flying saucers that come along every thousand years or so to mess up the mess that has been created and try and send people off on another tack.”

“Eternity does not have a temporal existence, even the kind of temporal existence where you say it always existed. It does not have temporal duration of any sort. It is eternity.”

“We are not primarily biology with mind emerging as a kind of iridescence, a kind of epiphenomenon at the higher levels of organization of biology. We are in fact hyperdimentional objects of some sort which cast a shadow into matter. And the shadow in matter is the body.”

“The whole purpose of shamanism, and of life correctly lived, is to strengthen the soul and strengthen the relationship to the soul, so that this passage [death] can be cleanly made.”

“Technology is the real skin of our species.”

“There is not the Newtonian universe deployed throughout the parsecs and kiliacosoms of physical space and the interior mental universe. They are the same thing.”

“An Aquarian science, or a science that places psychedelic experience at the center of its program of investigation, should move toward a practical realization of the goal of eliminating the barrier between the ego and the overself so that the ego can perceive itself as an expression of the overself.”

“This [psilocybin] is a source of gnosis, and the voice of gnosis has been silenced in the Western mind for at least a thousand years.”

“We can release this thing once again. The logos can be unleashed once again, and the voice that spoke to Plato and Parmenadies and Hericlitus, that voice can speak again in the minds of modern people. And when it does, the alienation will be ended because we will have become the alien.”

“But the main thing about psilocybin, and I stress it over all these other hallucinogens, is information, immense amounts of information.”

“Only through the medium of sight can the true modality of this logos be perceived.”

“This situation called ‘history’ is totally unique. It will only last for a moment. It began a moment ago. It will only last for a moment. But in that moment there is like this tremendous burst of static as the monkey goes to godhood.”

“We, and I, we are intellectuals trapped in a world of too much information. Innocence is gone for us. We cannot expect to cross the rainbow bridge through a good Act of Contrition. That won’t be sufficient. . . . Because to fear death is to not understand what’s going on. And to even see it as a big deal is to not understand what’s going on, although I don’t claim to have reached that exalted plane.”

www.EROCx1.com

San Francisco Gathering Sets

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Wed, 25 May 2011 04:20:00 PDT

The Gathering Sets

These MP3 files are created from WAV files, which were generated from the DATs recorded from the mixing desk at each party.

We started recording with audio tapes from 1992 to 1996, and with DAT from 1996 onwards. We intend to create MP3 files from the content of the audio tapes and post them here over the next few months.

1992 October Gathering 1992 October Gathering – Tony
1992 October Gathering – Josh
1992 October Gathering – Garth
1992 October Gathering – Doran
1997 April Gathering – Monty & Josh
1997 June Basics
1997 June Basics - Tony
1997 June Basics - Mark E Quark
1997 June Basics - Andre Lucero
1997 June Basics - Carlos
1997 June Basics - Josh
1997 June Basics – Spun
1997 July Freedom
1997 July Freedom - Stacey Pullen
1997 July Freedom - Roy Davis Jr and Peven Everett
1997 July Freedom - Jon Williams
1997 July Freedom - Spun
1997 July Freedom - Tony
1997 July Freedom – Josh
1997 October Gathering
1997 October Gathering- Josh
1997 October Gathering- Tony
1997 October Gathering- Onionz
1997 October Gathering- Jason Mess
1997 October Gathering- Jeno
1997 December Gathering
1997 December Gathering - Tony
1997 December Gathering - Dan
1997 December Gathering - Harry
1997 December Gathering - Jeno
1997 December Gathering - Josh
1997 December Gathering - Mark Farina
1998 January Basics/Come-Unity
1998 January Basics/Come-Unity - Markie
1998 January Basics/Come-Unity - Josh
1998 January Basics/Come-Unity – Simon
1998 February Basics
1998 February Basics - Steve Loria
1998 February Basics – Simon
1998 February Basics – Josh
1998 February Basics - Terry Francis
1998 February Basics – Tony
1998 March Vision
1998 March Vision – Tony
1998 March Vision – Jeno
1998 March Vision - Gene Farris
1998 April Gathering
1998 April Gathering - Alex Patterson 1
1998 April Gathering - Alex Patterson 2
1998 April Gathering - Joe Rice
1998 April Gathering - Nick Philips
1998 April Gathering - Stuart McMillan
1998 April Gathering - Tony
1998 April Gathering - Jeno
1998 April Gathering - Josh
1998 April Gathering - Tony
1998 April Gathering - Orde Meikle
1998 July Freedom
1998 July Freedom - Jon Williams
1998 July Freedom - Tony
1998 July Freedom - Spun
1998 July Freedom - Jeno
1998 July Freedom - Huggy
1998 July Freedom - Onionz
1998 July Freedom - Terry Francis
1998 December Gathering
1998 December Gathering - Simon 'Faze Action' Lee
1998 December Gathering - Mark Rae
1998 December Gathering - Deep Dish
1998 December Gathering - Joe Rice 1
1998 December Gathering - Joe Rice 2
1998 December Gathering - Josh 1
1998 December Gathering - Josh 2
1998 December Gathering - Romanthony
1999 April Gathering
1999 April Gathering - Onionz
1999 April Gathering - Eric Spire
1999 April Gathering - Huggy
1999 April Gathering - Joe Rice
1999 April Gathering - Jon Santos
1999 April Gathering - Noel
1999 April Gathering - Onionz
1999 April Gathering - Mr. Scruff 1
1999 April Gathering - Mr. Scruff 2
1999 April Gathering - Mr. Scruff 3
1999 June Basics
1999 June Basics - Garth
1999 June Basics - Spun
1999 June Basics - Tony
1999 June Basics - Josh
1999 June Basics - Jeno
1999 July Freedom
1999 July Freedom - Jon Williams
1999 July Freedom - Spun
1999 July Freedom - Josh
1999 July Freedom - Phil Smart
1999 July Freedom - Terry Francis
1999 July Freedom - Huggy I
1999 July Freedom - Huggy II
1999 September Gathering
1999 September Gathering - Doc Martin
1999 October Basics
1999 October Basics - Josh
1999 October Basics - Simon
1999 October Basics - Tony
1999 December Gathering
1999 December Gathering - Tony
1999 December Gathering - MarkEQuark
1999 December Gathering - Onionz
1999 December Gathering - Halo
April 2000 Basics
April 2000 Basics - Mark E Quark
April 2000 Basics - Tony
July 2000 Freedom
July 2000 Freedom - Carlos
July 2000 Freedom - 'Evil' Eddie Richards
July 2000 Freedom - H-Foundation
July 2000 Freedom – Tony
September 2000 Basics
September 2000 Basics - Tony
2002 May Basics
2002 May Basics - Leo Lennard
2002 May Basics - Jeno
2002 May Basics - Markie
2002 May Basics - Tony
2007 July Basics
2007 July Basics - Bones
2007 July Basics - Spun
2007 July Basics - Galen
2007 July Basics - Tony
2007 July Basics - Jeno

History...

In 1991, the Gathering parties were born. Malachy (Come-Unity), Tony (Pieces), Kenny & Harry (Destiny), and Martin (Eklypz), met and the circle was now complete. We were four small parties joining as one to try to bring the scene together for a massive party. During the first meeting Mal busted out a Hopi Indian prophecy book with the passage.....

Hopi Indian Prophecy for 1991 (The year of the first Gathering):

For those who stay here on Grandmother Earth,
They will totally gain the light of the great light wheel.
There will be one humanity, one planet composed of all the different ways of dancing in complete harmony in the great gathering together circle.
In 1991 the seeds will be planted....

Peace & Love, & please help us spread the word.The Gathering Family

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Terence McKenna: The Final Interview

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Wed, 18 May 2011 09:21:06 PDT

From my friend Lorenzo & Erik Davis / Wired Magazine

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Podcast 262 – “Terence McKenna’s Last Interview” Download Mp3
Podcast 263 – “Terence McKenna’s Last Interview” Download Mp3

[NOTE: All quotations are by Terence McKenna.]

“But I did [as a child] spend a lot of time grappling with shit like the nature of the soul, and the nature of sin, and all of these imponderables. And, of course, what you end up doing is you end up reading scholars of mysticism.”

“To me it’s the most psychedelic part of the psychedelic experience, it’s when you get the logos coming out of the trees, the rocks, the berries, the water, everything.”

“[Speaking about how to pursue a psychedelic culture.] Well, I’d say the wrongly-packaged version would be something like ‘Castenadaism’, a formulaic cult. Do these things, take these drugs, follow these instructions and moral obligation will flee from your kin. Nobody can be that foolish. If, on the other hand, you sincerely pursue this stuff, grow the plants, try to understand it, try to revivify the rituals and figuring out what it’s all about, well, that’s an authentic push towards spirituality, a very authentic push towards spirituality, and probably fruitful.”
“It seems to me that ‘the shamanic drug of the month’ is not a very appealing idea.”

“The basic concept [of alchemy] is that somehow intuition and nature are reflective of each other. Until that hypothesis fails we should probably hang on to it, because look how far we’ve gotten. I mean it is really bizarre how much of nature the human mind seems to be able to understand.”

“[I'm hoping] that some lack of resource or vision doesn’t reveal that we can’t give enough people a bearable life. So we [would then] have to live forward into an age of revolution, social turmoil, and struggle for resources. It doesn’t have to be this way.”

“Now let’s see if information can liberate. That’s why I don’t want to do something stupid like die and miss the whole unfoldment of this proposition that knowledge is power, information will liberate. And it will be settled in the next ten or fifteen years. Either they’ll get a handle on it, whoever ‘they’ are, whatever a ‘handle means. Or it will slip from their control, and it will be clear that some kind of dialogue is now going on between individual human beings and the sum total of human knowledge, and that nothing can stop it, that some kind of Renaissance, some kind of total new relationship to knowledge and possibility is put in place.”

“The trick to making the shamanic virtual world compelling is to fairly and truly convey it. You can’t cut corners. You can’t fake it. . . . So that this stuff really does blow people’s minds, so that people see, well, human imagination is large enough to accommodate the human soul. It doesn’t leave you feeling like you’re wearing too tight a pair of shoes.”

“We have no idea how strange the world we can create in the near term will be.”

“Given the circumstances as we find them, what rational momentum is there to think that life is unique and arose on this planet only?”

“I think that’s the question that remains unanswered, you know, that’s the grail of the thing. What is the nature of the Other, is basically what you’re asking. Is it a construct, a projection or a discovery? It’s not clear to me what it is.”
“ You can’t believe everything you hear. The are of many kind, ‘some are made of ions, some of mind, the ones of DMT, you’ll find, stutter often and are blind.’”

“I think [ketamine] is an inter-uterine memory drug. I think there are things about it that cause you to recapture some kind of inter-uterine state.”

“The psychedelic vision is of some kind of relevant thing. It isn’t just the equivalent of a dust bunny under your psychic bed or something like that.”

“Mathematics is really what it’s all about when you finally get it sliced thin, I think.”

“All doubt means is that ‘I’m shopping, thank you.’”

[Before I had cancer] I had no idea that such peculiar states of mind were naturally available to people, and non-lethal. In other words that you could have fairly frequent brain seizures and experience very bizarre states of body/mind dislocation and have it not kill you. So now I see that the spectrum of human experience is a lot broader than I previously imagined.”

“The mind can adjust to a great deal more than that which simply kills it.”

“Given how weird life has been, why rush to prejudge death. It’s bound to be mighty strange, life was mighty strange, and I’m curious. … It’s an interesting situation to be told that you have a very limited amount of life left, because it composes your mind for you, wonderfully.”

“What psychedelics show is that the world is full of surprises. I consider psychedelics a constant and verifiable miracle. The fact that that can happen to your mind. So it means that all kinds of things are possible.”

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Neil Postman: Amusing Ourselves to Death

noreply@blogger.com (EROCx1) — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:57:07 PDT

History of Media in America
Education for your Edification
Peace Revolution Podcast #25
By: Neil Postman

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Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985) is a book by educator Neil Postman.

The book's origins lie in a talk Postman gave in 1984. He was participating in a panel on Orwell's 1984 and the contemporary world. In the introduction to his book Postman said that the contemporary world was better reflected by Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, whose public was oppressed by their addiction to amusement, than by Orwell's 1984, where they were oppressed by state control.

Invitation link to the Tragedy and Hope online community

Neil Postman (1931 — 2003) was an American critic and educator. Postman received his B.S. from the State University of New York at Fredonia and his M.A. and Ed.D. from Columbia University. He was the Paulette Goddard Chair of Media Ecology at New York University and chair of the Department of Culture and Communication. His pedagogical and scholarly interests included media and education, as can be seen in many of his seventeen books, including Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), Conscientious Objections (1988), Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (1992), and End of Education (1995). Postman died in 2003.

Neil Postman Bibliography
Propaganda (ETC Vol. 36)
The Educationist as Painkiller (English Education 1988)
Language Education in a Knowledge Context (ETC Vol. 37)
Social Science as Theology (ETC Vol. 41)
Foreword from Amusing Ourselves to Death
Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change
Science and the Story That We Need (from First Things 69)
A Graduation Speech
Profile of Philo Farnsworth (from Time Magazine)
Neil Postman Ponders High Tech (Q&A Forum 1996)
Informing Ourselves To Death (given at a meeting of the
"Technology and Education," lecture by Neil Postman 1994.
The Error of Our Ways (August 1, 1995)
The American Experiment (September 6, 1995)
Commentary: Learning in the Age of Television (1985)
Ray Suarez (from NPR) interviews Neil Postman on the state of contemporary American education standards.
Neil Postman on the topic "In Search of New Ideas."
Neil Postman speaks about Media Ecology Education at the SCA conference, Chicago 1973. Part 1 & Part 2. [MP3]