Agreed - I did start looking at PubMed for more details but I'm afraid the biochemistry is over my head. But yes, a MAOI in combination with DMT makes for a wicked brew.
I claim no special expertise or experience, but I would just like to throw this out as a possibility that might stimulate further discussion;
The drugs haven't changed, we haven't fundamentally changed, but if there are spirits on the other side, THEY have changed.
By way of an analogy, I have heard of tour guides offering "Swim with the Sharks" experiences for well paying tourists. The guides in the tour boat throw out some chum, the adventurous visitor is duly equipped with scuba gear and lowered into the water in a shark proof cage. Great fun, the thrill of a lifetime !
The point to note is that the behavior of the sharks has changed over time, becoming more aggressive and more numerous at the places the tour boats visit and at the times they are usually there.
There are also "Swim with the Dolphins/Whales" experience which I believe would produce similar affects in the local environment, but lets think about the sharks.
Introduce a new element into an environment and that environment will change and adapt. Why should that not also be the same with a meta-physical or spiritual environment ?
An old time shaman taking a few young initiates or ill people from his own tribe on a spirit quest in the wilderness centuries ago could have produced very different spiritual side effects than hundreds of mixed up foreigners taking a turbo charged "healing" ceremony, maybe on high strength doses, maybe at regular times and places.
What once looked like a single candle might now look like a Las Vegas laser show to the creatures of the dark.
Oh sure the weed got stronger, at lot stronger over the years, but I think that's best seen as a change in degree not of type. Wine is stronger than beer and whiskey is stronger than both but alcohol is still the same active chemical.
Also the ancients would have used it less and so would have less chance to become habituated to it. It is interesting to consider how the ancients used these chemicals and what lessons we could take from them. Herodotus wrote about the Scythians performing rituals that look a lot like throwing cannabis buds onto hot coals in a sweat-lodge, hoopin' and hollerin' and getting damned f*cked up. There's real archeological evidence for this now.
But what it actually meant to them we have no way of knowing.
As for the presence of evil spirits in these states of mind we have ancient evidence for that too, not physical evidence (which I don’t think is possible) but certainly narratives, which is a type of evidence.
Jesus went out into the desert and fasted for forty days and nights and then he had a very long and interesting conversation with The Devil. To me that seems very plausible if not exactly rational. Moses and Elijah did something similar. Moses had a conversation with God who laid down some rules and Elijah met up with some UFOs and blasted off into orbit, which I think is what the hippies might have referred to as one helluva far out trip if not a major freak-out.
So Moses got Yahweh, Elijah got E.T. and Jesus got The Devil, I’m not sure what that means, except that if you travel far enough you’re likely to see some far out stuff.
Saint Anthony (The Great) who was a real hard-core desert dwelling monk and mendicant, related some of his spiritual experiences to his chronicler that seem to be similar to the to the visions Jesus had fasting in the desert. Devils, demons real nightmarish stuff.
Perhaps what we are seeing here is “survivor bias”. Some of these holy men were strong enough to survive their journey to the other side and returned to society to share what they had learnt with the people.
Others were not.
Not all ships return to harbor, not all travelers return from the darkness.
OK, saw the video, or enough of it to see that the guy set of on the wrong path to begin with - he was obsessed with money and material stuff, and bought into a lot of delusional stuff that took him farther away from the Creator... All of this New Age stuff that's for sale has no spiritual value, it's just delusion, it's not the real thing. You can't buy the real thing, it's a free gift from the Creator, and it's not for sale and not to be sold. So all of these people going down to South America and paying for "ceremonies" are paying for theatrical performances and delusions. Same case for buying Ayahuasca mail order, you'll get weird visions but nothing of eternal value.
As for psychedelics in therapy, it should be a one shot thing, you need a "sitter" who knows about Jungian archetypes in the Western psychoanalytic context, who can interpret what you're seeing, and keep you grounded, and it wouldn't be something you'd do on a weekend, it would be part of a longstanding relationship. Pretty much the same thing with a Native American medicine man, there's a relationship that has to be built first, then there's instruction in how to do things and it's all for free, no money passes hands. And in both cases, it's a longstanding spiritual transformation - and "when you get the message, you hang up the phone". It's not something you do over and over, these aren't "recreational drugs". It's no wonder that people have bad results when they do what you are describing.
Drug abuse on a mass scale is a form of social control. The enthusiasm of the regime for normalising cannabis, antidepressants and even narcotics should make us all extremely wary of the emerging social license for psychedelics.
Historically, psychedelics were used in religious rites. Their use was controlled, socialised and carefully regulated by taboo etc. Even then, psychedelics were used on rare occasions only. They were never used on a frequent basis. Making any such substances available on demand for people seeking relief from anomie, atomisation and lack of purpose is not reckless...it is truly insane. Psychoactive substances are not a substitute for either proper psychiatric care or the extra-clinical support required by people with depression or addiction issues.
The regime is pretty transparent. Psychedelics will become the sacraments for the emerging transhumanist neo-pagan cults of Cthulhuland.
Erowid.org is a great resource if you want to study the subject further. History, traditional use, articles, research, experiences on nearly every mind altering drug inclusive of ayahuasca.
It’s just so sad to learn that so many people feel that they need to be “awakened “or “enlightened” nowadays. Why can they no longer find pleasure in the simple things in life? Is the world really so awful now that they feel they are just subsisting unless they take such huge risks just in order to “feel” something, be it pleasure be it a sense of peace be it refreshed and clear minded while simultaneously risking something just absolutely awful happening in the process? What has changed exactly? People’s ways of looking at life or feeling about life seems to be the only thing that has really changed and while I understand we are living through extremely difficult and tumultuous times and circumstances where has our resilient human spirit gone and our former strength of conviction telling us WE CAN get through this because we HAVE TO get through this! If the WEF and the hard left mainstream are pushing us to use psychedelics for treating mental health it’s a sure sign doing this will NOT be in humanity’s best interests. Why do people jump on the latest fad so quickly and so easily without doing some research into it first? The population is now “dumbed down” successfully as I can remember hearing this term being used back in the 1970’s and that it was their intention to do just that and I asked myself now why would they want to do that when you’d think they’d want a highly skilled and educated and intelligent population who are able to reason and to critically think for the best possible outcome for our future.
A is touted as an "anti-depressant". My cuz flew to Costa Rica half dozen times (she also drives a tesla with licence plate "cleanerair) to shake off her depression from being so wealthy. She's a doozy I can tell you😭
Oh I didn’t know that A is touted as an “anti-depressant” thanks for informing me, so people believe they can be “cured” permanently from their depression by attending these “spiritual journeys” or just from ordering the A kit online and drinking it. So now I get it thank you!
Your cousin sure sounds like a doozy but you sound like a very down to earth person so take some comfort in that.
Never have experienced this new/old breed. Showing my age, as I'd never even heard of Ayahuasca tea until very recently.
From what little I've been able to understand, it sounds like an umbrella name used for a variety of plants or mixtures.
Just like one would never want to confuse something from the psilo family with a random amanita, it sounds as if some folks have been playing with fire on many levels.
Reading through these negative reviews, and the post in general there are some things which jump out to me.
The first, being the reality of the spirit realm. Having myself smoked dmt on three occasions I have myself met that mother goddess and it was a very healing experience, but I also met other entities who where more chaotic neutral.
From this I take with me the reality of the spirit realms and therefor I also go to the descriptions of the spirits from my own, Scandinavian culture.
And all of the stories about the spirit realm contain huge flashing warnings about going there, with a long list of tricks one has to know to get around there safely. Things like finding faith in christ to banish evil demons, not believing the lies of the enchantress who will otherwise drown you in a river and what not. Trolls eating babies, fairies sending poisonous arrows unto passers-by.
That is, materialism and the technological outlook have to be thrown out the door to navigate this realm, and instead one has to rely on fairy tales.
But what we are looking at when we see Clinicians, Davos men and other assorted materialists is that they try go shoehorn this spiritual practice, which is described by most participants as a an interaction with spirits, as a magical molecules, as techne of the spirit.
So the depressed psychologists who rejects the spiritual discourse as "new age mumbo jumbo " isn't capable to integrate the experience, nor go back. Instead he is stuck in an eternal death, neither living (as a creature), nor dead (and thus, resurrected, the living Word).
My larger point, these molecules cannot be used with a materialists understanding, but depending upon a spiritual outlook, one which can't be bought as a brochure at the shamanic gift shop.
I believe in the spirit realm but I don’t have to experience it firsthand to believe that it exists and I personally just don’t want to mess with it. The experiences of these people both during and after their “spiritual journeys” do not encourage one to partake and the possible severe psychotic breaks and injuries they both risked and endured afterwards some seemingly never ending seem far too high a price to pay to visit the spiritual realm even once in my humble opinion.
The paradox here is a materialistic technocracy is pushing a spiritually potent activity (the technocracy has no interest or belief in the spirit realm) as a means of manipulation and control.
This is what I see is happening at the highest level. There may be demonstrated therapeutic efficacy, sometimes, and for the therapists this might be enough - but the long game (for the likes of the WEF) is more in insidious.
I understand what you mean now Winston, thanks for explaining the paradox more clearly, so it’s actually really creepy that the technocrats would use and abuse this spiritually potent activity against those that seek it.
Set and setting. Emerging from the mental health sphere I can see the promise in some of these therapies, but the spiritual guidance required for a successful integration of the experience is something not easily fit within the western medical framework. The notions that arise from an ethneogenic experience often fly directly in the face of the medical paradigm. The opening without guidance is also of concern; these things aren’t “health potions,” they are pathways to understanding but like every pathway they require careful forward progression. The first time I sat with ayahuasca I spent a year unable to see the meaning in anything. I now understand that time of ego decay as the most important step of my journey toward the actual happiness that lies beyond The Valley of Emptiness. But prescribing these treatments with no more than a pamphlet and a pat on the head will actually accelerate depression and suicide. One of the most important parts of these medicines is the experience, which includes the heeding of a call and the trespass against what is expected and allowed. Without that, they are nothing more than profound toxicants. Appreciate this post and might do a little something more on this for my stack.
Mar 11, 2023·edited Mar 12, 2023Liked by Winston Smith
“…Are we being drawn into the spiritual side of a Big Pharma cult?”
I‘d sure say so. All this seeking for higher truth within ourselves feels very much like part the original lie of the serpent.
“And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
According to that individual experienced shaman many times the evil spirits bother or harass or even attack the people attending these spiritual journeys and he wants to get the word out and forewarn people of this happening. So yes I do believe “we are being drawn into the spiritual side of a Big Pharma cult” to quote Winston.
Boomers may remember the late '60s proliferation of psychedelic use, promoted by Harvard Professor Timothy Leary, who popularized the mantra "Turn on, tune in, drop out", portraying the benefit of "mind expansion" resulting from the use of LSD and the organic psychedelics peyote and psilocybin.
These substances were readily available on college campuses and "hippie" enclaves around the country, and widely experimented with and experienced by boomers in their youth, through the mid 70s when cocaine became the more profitable drug promoted by the deep state to distract burgeoning youth movements.
The black market product was erraticly dosed and of unpredictable quality, whether LSD in blotters, microdots or "orange barrel" tablets, mushrooms that were often just ordinary grocery store mushrooms laced with LSD, or rare peyote buttons collected in the southwest US deserts, to the near extinction of the plants.
"Bad trips" were not uncommon, many users experiencing effects of such intensity that they were immobilized by confusion and paranoia, sometimes approaching psychosis. The drugs were often taken to intensify the sensory experience of crowded loud rock concerts, or hedonistic parties. "Free your mind" was a promotional phrase touted by proponents.
Leary, an MD Harvard psychology professor, published an autobiography, detailing his experiments using Boston-area college students , titled "High Priest", a moniker he reverently gave himself, that is long out of print but might be found occasionally at used book purveyors.
These were--are-- powerful and risky potentially dangerous drugs. Not to be taken casually, usually an all day "high". It was not uncommon for a user to be desperately holding on to sanity, waiting for the effect to finally wear off, after a few intense hours of seeming to be outside your body seeing the universe and your place in it. "Cosmic, man".
The curious can currently legally purchase spore kits to grow your own psilocybin mushrooms in mason jars. Buyer beware.
The safest experience might best be in the presence of a trusted companion to hold your leash and talk you calmed should the experience be more confusing and frightening than expected, rather than a pleasant colorful enhanced sensory event. Thus the controlled use in therapeutic setting being increasingly promoted is likely safer than the former illicit "recreational" use.
https://www.aquilinocancercenter.com/ currently uses controlled psilocybin experiences/ therapy to assist possibly terminal cancer patients deal with chemotherapy and mortality issues.
One needs be aware that one can easily give up one’s power/sovereignty to an enemy. It can be unwittingly, it can be seduction, it can be a curse. There is a world full of ways. Often it is very difficult to be restored to sanity/sovereignty, to escape. I know this personally.
Jus saying,
John Hopkin's reputation is a Racketfeller slush funded lab of horrers - bioweapon, child gender multilation, etc.
If JH is pushing a 'mental health treatment', RUN in the opposite direction.
Do want to try A, but not in the right head space now. Even my beloved weed makes me
p.a.r.a.n.o.i.d....
Thank you Winston!
There is plenty of darkness that can be exposed:
Psychedelics Take Center Stage In Davos: World Economic Forum's Top Minds Gather To Discuss This New Field
https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/23/01/30415580/psychedelics-take-center-stage-in-davos-world-economic-forums-top-minds-gather-to-discuss-this-n
Psychedelics & Elitism: "Liberal CIA" Control over the Psychedelics Movement: Rockefeller, Luce, Ford, Mellon, Soros, Bronfman, Pritzker
https://isgp-studies.com/psychedelics-and-elites
Psychedelics and the CIA: The university’s influence on magic mushrooms
https://udreview.com/psychedelics-and-the-cia/
The CIA's Secret Quest For Mind Control: Torture, LSD And A 'Poisoner In Chief'
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/758989641/the-cias-secret-quest-for-mind-control-torture-lsd-and-a-poisoner-in-chief
Thanks for the links 😊
I'm less alarmed about the anecdotal "freak out" stories of ayahuasca use than I am about the actual biochemistry. Clearly the compound affects monoamine oxidase, which means it's altering serotonin and dopamine. Some information suggests it is serotogenic, or an MAO-B inhibitor. https://raypeatforum.com/community/threads/list-of-mao-inhibiting-supplements.35045/#post-769064
The search for insight and self-discovery isn't worth screwing up one's neurotransmitters and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to any degree.
Agreed - I did start looking at PubMed for more details but I'm afraid the biochemistry is over my head. But yes, a MAOI in combination with DMT makes for a wicked brew.
I claim no special expertise or experience, but I would just like to throw this out as a possibility that might stimulate further discussion;
The drugs haven't changed, we haven't fundamentally changed, but if there are spirits on the other side, THEY have changed.
By way of an analogy, I have heard of tour guides offering "Swim with the Sharks" experiences for well paying tourists. The guides in the tour boat throw out some chum, the adventurous visitor is duly equipped with scuba gear and lowered into the water in a shark proof cage. Great fun, the thrill of a lifetime !
The point to note is that the behavior of the sharks has changed over time, becoming more aggressive and more numerous at the places the tour boats visit and at the times they are usually there.
There are also "Swim with the Dolphins/Whales" experience which I believe would produce similar affects in the local environment, but lets think about the sharks.
Introduce a new element into an environment and that environment will change and adapt. Why should that not also be the same with a meta-physical or spiritual environment ?
An old time shaman taking a few young initiates or ill people from his own tribe on a spirit quest in the wilderness centuries ago could have produced very different spiritual side effects than hundreds of mixed up foreigners taking a turbo charged "healing" ceremony, maybe on high strength doses, maybe at regular times and places.
What once looked like a single candle might now look like a Las Vegas laser show to the creatures of the dark.
Sleep well kids.
With all due respect,
Drugs (cannaflower) has changed considerably in last 50 years.
Geneticists have bred all the fun out of it - super potent zombie smoke.
Kids these days don't want to get a buzz, they want to get f*cked up.
Oh sure the weed got stronger, at lot stronger over the years, but I think that's best seen as a change in degree not of type. Wine is stronger than beer and whiskey is stronger than both but alcohol is still the same active chemical.
Also the ancients would have used it less and so would have less chance to become habituated to it. It is interesting to consider how the ancients used these chemicals and what lessons we could take from them. Herodotus wrote about the Scythians performing rituals that look a lot like throwing cannabis buds onto hot coals in a sweat-lodge, hoopin' and hollerin' and getting damned f*cked up. There's real archeological evidence for this now.
https://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-science/gold-artifacts-of-ancient-scythians-reveals-bastard-war-and-drugs/article/434123
But what it actually meant to them we have no way of knowing.
As for the presence of evil spirits in these states of mind we have ancient evidence for that too, not physical evidence (which I don’t think is possible) but certainly narratives, which is a type of evidence.
Jesus went out into the desert and fasted for forty days and nights and then he had a very long and interesting conversation with The Devil. To me that seems very plausible if not exactly rational. Moses and Elijah did something similar. Moses had a conversation with God who laid down some rules and Elijah met up with some UFOs and blasted off into orbit, which I think is what the hippies might have referred to as one helluva far out trip if not a major freak-out.
So Moses got Yahweh, Elijah got E.T. and Jesus got The Devil, I’m not sure what that means, except that if you travel far enough you’re likely to see some far out stuff.
Saint Anthony (The Great) who was a real hard-core desert dwelling monk and mendicant, related some of his spiritual experiences to his chronicler that seem to be similar to the to the visions Jesus had fasting in the desert. Devils, demons real nightmarish stuff.
Perhaps what we are seeing here is “survivor bias”. Some of these holy men were strong enough to survive their journey to the other side and returned to society to share what they had learnt with the people.
Others were not.
Not all ships return to harbor, not all travelers return from the darkness.
My way of looking at it as well :-))
OK, saw the video, or enough of it to see that the guy set of on the wrong path to begin with - he was obsessed with money and material stuff, and bought into a lot of delusional stuff that took him farther away from the Creator... All of this New Age stuff that's for sale has no spiritual value, it's just delusion, it's not the real thing. You can't buy the real thing, it's a free gift from the Creator, and it's not for sale and not to be sold. So all of these people going down to South America and paying for "ceremonies" are paying for theatrical performances and delusions. Same case for buying Ayahuasca mail order, you'll get weird visions but nothing of eternal value.
As for psychedelics in therapy, it should be a one shot thing, you need a "sitter" who knows about Jungian archetypes in the Western psychoanalytic context, who can interpret what you're seeing, and keep you grounded, and it wouldn't be something you'd do on a weekend, it would be part of a longstanding relationship. Pretty much the same thing with a Native American medicine man, there's a relationship that has to be built first, then there's instruction in how to do things and it's all for free, no money passes hands. And in both cases, it's a longstanding spiritual transformation - and "when you get the message, you hang up the phone". It's not something you do over and over, these aren't "recreational drugs". It's no wonder that people have bad results when they do what you are describing.
True. There comes a point where you ‘hang up the phone’ then integrate the lessons learnt into your waking life. The slow heal.
Drug abuse on a mass scale is a form of social control. The enthusiasm of the regime for normalising cannabis, antidepressants and even narcotics should make us all extremely wary of the emerging social license for psychedelics.
Historically, psychedelics were used in religious rites. Their use was controlled, socialised and carefully regulated by taboo etc. Even then, psychedelics were used on rare occasions only. They were never used on a frequent basis. Making any such substances available on demand for people seeking relief from anomie, atomisation and lack of purpose is not reckless...it is truly insane. Psychoactive substances are not a substitute for either proper psychiatric care or the extra-clinical support required by people with depression or addiction issues.
The regime is pretty transparent. Psychedelics will become the sacraments for the emerging transhumanist neo-pagan cults of Cthulhuland.
I've heard of dishonest shamans adding much more dangerous plants to Ayahuasca brew, like Brugmansia. That's a recipe for an evil disaster of a trip.
Jimson weed will whack you up the side of the head real good.
Erowid.org is a great resource if you want to study the subject further. History, traditional use, articles, research, experiences on nearly every mind altering drug inclusive of ayahuasca.
And they’ve been around forever. Many trip reports good & bad to read. Excellent resource.
It’s just so sad to learn that so many people feel that they need to be “awakened “or “enlightened” nowadays. Why can they no longer find pleasure in the simple things in life? Is the world really so awful now that they feel they are just subsisting unless they take such huge risks just in order to “feel” something, be it pleasure be it a sense of peace be it refreshed and clear minded while simultaneously risking something just absolutely awful happening in the process? What has changed exactly? People’s ways of looking at life or feeling about life seems to be the only thing that has really changed and while I understand we are living through extremely difficult and tumultuous times and circumstances where has our resilient human spirit gone and our former strength of conviction telling us WE CAN get through this because we HAVE TO get through this! If the WEF and the hard left mainstream are pushing us to use psychedelics for treating mental health it’s a sure sign doing this will NOT be in humanity’s best interests. Why do people jump on the latest fad so quickly and so easily without doing some research into it first? The population is now “dumbed down” successfully as I can remember hearing this term being used back in the 1970’s and that it was their intention to do just that and I asked myself now why would they want to do that when you’d think they’d want a highly skilled and educated and intelligent population who are able to reason and to critically think for the best possible outcome for our future.
A is touted as an "anti-depressant". My cuz flew to Costa Rica half dozen times (she also drives a tesla with licence plate "cleanerair) to shake off her depression from being so wealthy. She's a doozy I can tell you😭
Oh I didn’t know that A is touted as an “anti-depressant” thanks for informing me, so people believe they can be “cured” permanently from their depression by attending these “spiritual journeys” or just from ordering the A kit online and drinking it. So now I get it thank you!
Your cousin sure sounds like a doozy but you sound like a very down to earth person so take some comfort in that.
Never have experienced this new/old breed. Showing my age, as I'd never even heard of Ayahuasca tea until very recently.
From what little I've been able to understand, it sounds like an umbrella name used for a variety of plants or mixtures.
Just like one would never want to confuse something from the psilo family with a random amanita, it sounds as if some folks have been playing with fire on many levels.
Bad news. I wouldn't touch the stuff, personally.
Reading through these negative reviews, and the post in general there are some things which jump out to me.
The first, being the reality of the spirit realm. Having myself smoked dmt on three occasions I have myself met that mother goddess and it was a very healing experience, but I also met other entities who where more chaotic neutral.
From this I take with me the reality of the spirit realms and therefor I also go to the descriptions of the spirits from my own, Scandinavian culture.
And all of the stories about the spirit realm contain huge flashing warnings about going there, with a long list of tricks one has to know to get around there safely. Things like finding faith in christ to banish evil demons, not believing the lies of the enchantress who will otherwise drown you in a river and what not. Trolls eating babies, fairies sending poisonous arrows unto passers-by.
That is, materialism and the technological outlook have to be thrown out the door to navigate this realm, and instead one has to rely on fairy tales.
But what we are looking at when we see Clinicians, Davos men and other assorted materialists is that they try go shoehorn this spiritual practice, which is described by most participants as a an interaction with spirits, as a magical molecules, as techne of the spirit.
So the depressed psychologists who rejects the spiritual discourse as "new age mumbo jumbo " isn't capable to integrate the experience, nor go back. Instead he is stuck in an eternal death, neither living (as a creature), nor dead (and thus, resurrected, the living Word).
My larger point, these molecules cannot be used with a materialists understanding, but depending upon a spiritual outlook, one which can't be bought as a brochure at the shamanic gift shop.
I believe in the spirit realm but I don’t have to experience it firsthand to believe that it exists and I personally just don’t want to mess with it. The experiences of these people both during and after their “spiritual journeys” do not encourage one to partake and the possible severe psychotic breaks and injuries they both risked and endured afterwards some seemingly never ending seem far too high a price to pay to visit the spiritual realm even once in my humble opinion.
The paradox here is a materialistic technocracy is pushing a spiritually potent activity (the technocracy has no interest or belief in the spirit realm) as a means of manipulation and control.
This is what I see is happening at the highest level. There may be demonstrated therapeutic efficacy, sometimes, and for the therapists this might be enough - but the long game (for the likes of the WEF) is more in insidious.
I understand what you mean now Winston, thanks for explaining the paradox more clearly, so it’s actually really creepy that the technocrats would use and abuse this spiritually potent activity against those that seek it.
Set and setting. Emerging from the mental health sphere I can see the promise in some of these therapies, but the spiritual guidance required for a successful integration of the experience is something not easily fit within the western medical framework. The notions that arise from an ethneogenic experience often fly directly in the face of the medical paradigm. The opening without guidance is also of concern; these things aren’t “health potions,” they are pathways to understanding but like every pathway they require careful forward progression. The first time I sat with ayahuasca I spent a year unable to see the meaning in anything. I now understand that time of ego decay as the most important step of my journey toward the actual happiness that lies beyond The Valley of Emptiness. But prescribing these treatments with no more than a pamphlet and a pat on the head will actually accelerate depression and suicide. One of the most important parts of these medicines is the experience, which includes the heeding of a call and the trespass against what is expected and allowed. Without that, they are nothing more than profound toxicants. Appreciate this post and might do a little something more on this for my stack.
“…Are we being drawn into the spiritual side of a Big Pharma cult?”
I‘d sure say so. All this seeking for higher truth within ourselves feels very much like part the original lie of the serpent.
“And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
What’s the harm in eating an apple, right?
According to that individual experienced shaman many times the evil spirits bother or harass or even attack the people attending these spiritual journeys and he wants to get the word out and forewarn people of this happening. So yes I do believe “we are being drawn into the spiritual side of a Big Pharma cult” to quote Winston.
Boomers may remember the late '60s proliferation of psychedelic use, promoted by Harvard Professor Timothy Leary, who popularized the mantra "Turn on, tune in, drop out", portraying the benefit of "mind expansion" resulting from the use of LSD and the organic psychedelics peyote and psilocybin.
These substances were readily available on college campuses and "hippie" enclaves around the country, and widely experimented with and experienced by boomers in their youth, through the mid 70s when cocaine became the more profitable drug promoted by the deep state to distract burgeoning youth movements.
The black market product was erraticly dosed and of unpredictable quality, whether LSD in blotters, microdots or "orange barrel" tablets, mushrooms that were often just ordinary grocery store mushrooms laced with LSD, or rare peyote buttons collected in the southwest US deserts, to the near extinction of the plants.
"Bad trips" were not uncommon, many users experiencing effects of such intensity that they were immobilized by confusion and paranoia, sometimes approaching psychosis. The drugs were often taken to intensify the sensory experience of crowded loud rock concerts, or hedonistic parties. "Free your mind" was a promotional phrase touted by proponents.
Leary, an MD Harvard psychology professor, published an autobiography, detailing his experiments using Boston-area college students , titled "High Priest", a moniker he reverently gave himself, that is long out of print but might be found occasionally at used book purveyors.
These were--are-- powerful and risky potentially dangerous drugs. Not to be taken casually, usually an all day "high". It was not uncommon for a user to be desperately holding on to sanity, waiting for the effect to finally wear off, after a few intense hours of seeming to be outside your body seeing the universe and your place in it. "Cosmic, man".
The curious can currently legally purchase spore kits to grow your own psilocybin mushrooms in mason jars. Buyer beware.
The safest experience might best be in the presence of a trusted companion to hold your leash and talk you calmed should the experience be more confusing and frightening than expected, rather than a pleasant colorful enhanced sensory event. Thus the controlled use in therapeutic setting being increasingly promoted is likely safer than the former illicit "recreational" use.
https://www.aquilinocancercenter.com/ currently uses controlled psilocybin experiences/ therapy to assist possibly terminal cancer patients deal with chemotherapy and mortality issues.
My apologies, Leary's books are currently available at Amazon, not out of print.
https://www.amazon.com/High-Priest-Leary-Timothy/dp/0914171801
His work is evolved into the current fad of psychedelic-assisted therapy
One needs be aware that one can easily give up one’s power/sovereignty to an enemy. It can be unwittingly, it can be seduction, it can be a curse. There is a world full of ways. Often it is very difficult to be restored to sanity/sovereignty, to escape. I know this personally.
What’s that saying?… The path to hell is paved with good intentions.
It’s also paved with subtle deceptions and seductions!