119891626

The shamanic tradition has undoubtedly existed far longer than such religions as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. Shamans across the globe have been using entheogens in their rituals for over a millennium to gain access to the spirit world . The word entheogen is derived from two ancient Greek words, entheos and genesthai. Entheos literally means “in God”, or can be more loosely translated as “inspired”. Genesthai means “to cause to be”. Therefore, “an entheogen is that which causes a person to be in God.” Entheogens come in many different forms, but are usually derived from a plant. They are more commonly known as “psychoactive drugs”. Humans have been using them in Shamanic rituals for as long as history can remember, likely for much longer. These drugs may even have played an important role in the evolution of mankind and religion as we know it. The Incas in Peru used ayahuasca, the Aztecs in Mexico had salvia and believed the magic mushroom to be “the flesh of god”. (Hoffman) Hippies in the USA had LSD. Hindus have soma, Rastafaris have marijuana, and Ravers have ecstacy. In fact, there are not many cultures in the world that cannot be associated with some form of ritual involving the use of entheogens. Traditional forms of shamanic rituals have become less prevalent today due to the extinction or elimination of most of the cultures that practiced them, but similar rituals have emerged and continued the Shamanic tradition in today’s society. Traditional Shamans used entheogens combined with song, drumming, or dancing in order to help them enter into trance states. They believed that through these rituals, they were able to communicate directly with the spirit world. People are still performing Shamanic rituals such as dancing, fasting, meditation, and sweat-lodging when they go to raves or live concerts.Much like traditional Shamanic rituals, raves can last for hours on end and push the body to its outer limits. It is during these peak-experiences that one is more likely to go into a trance state. (Maslow) Rave music is also very drum-heavy, much like traditional Shamanic rituals. Vision quests are another form of traditional Shamanic ritual, in which Shamans ingest entheogens such as magic mushrooms or peyote before going into meditation. I agree with this belief because I myself experienced God while experimenting with magic mushrooms. Entheogens have the ability to impact a persons’ entire view on life forever, even after just one transcendental experience. Vision quests are still practiced today by many modern Shamans, only the settings have changed. Instead of being in naturalistic settings, many teens ingest magic mushrooms in their basements, or on the streets of suburbia. Some do it merely for amusement and may never actually gain any spiritual insight from the use of magic mushrooms. But as the statistics show, and as I have experienced, some people are so greatly affected by the sacramental power of the drug, that a religious experience is induced even in the least naturalistic settings. I myself experienced visions of Christ during a mushroom trip, while I was in the back of a moving car. This is most likely because I was brought up a Roman Catholic and the car was where I went to escape from society. When I finally closed my eyes and broke free from my fears I was overwhelmed with love and tears started pouring down my face. An entheogen alters the users’ state of awareness, allowing him or her to perceive their world in new and different ways. The most common feeling associated with these altered states of consciousness is a profound feeling of sacredness; a connection from one’s spirit to the universe or in other words, a spiritual union with God. This is what I felt that I experienced during my mushroom journey. “One is shaken to the core…When you are experiencing Universal mind…the constricted Ego is gone” (Grey, 114) Entheogens are considered by some to be ‘the shortcut to enlightenment’. I’d say, if there were a book on spiritual enlightenment, taking entheogens would be like taking a peek at the answers in the back of that book rather than reading the whole book one page at a time and doing all of the hard work. Some would consider this as cheating. Others, including myself, would say it can provide valuable insights that can help one to understand the process more fully. It may even re-instil faith in one who has given up on their beliefs because they can no longer identify with their religion, or perhaps have failed to form a true spiritual practice out of it. Some entheogens are more dangerous than others, and their use should be supervised by experienced spiritual guides (Shamans). As we all know, our society is run by the all-powerful corporation. Consumerism is the method of control that keeps people sedated, suggestible, and highly profitable. Our capitalist society allows, idolizes,and promote the usage of drugs such as caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, and demonizes all other plants and substanes. These are all drugs that keep people vulnerable and addicted. When it comes to drugs that expand our consciousness or empower us however, society tries its hardest to prevent us from gaining access to them. Obviously, this is because it is harder for institutions to control what people will do or think when their minds are free from the systems of control. “Religion and society have always been about control. And if you are a Shaman you have no need for religion or society. You have no need for greed and consumerism. They can't sell you anything.” (Icaro) Although this opinion may be guilty of making a generalization, there is in my opinion much truth about it. Those who benefit the most from today’s social structure have every reason not to allow the use of entheogens in modern Shamanic rituals. These rituals threaten their authority, control, and hence, their profits. This is why entheogens are labelled taboo by many religious institutions, and deemed criminal by government institutions. Our society’s refusal to recognize the beneficial nature of entheogens can be compared to 17th century theologians refusing to look through Galileo’s telescope. Galileo had made a discovery that threatened their reality by proving that something existed outside of it. When they finally did look through his telescope, they quickly dismissed what they saw as machines of the devil. (Smith) We aren’t in the 17th century anymore, but the narrow-minded view that religion and society have towards entheogens would make it seem like we were. Entheogens have been proven to have beneficial effects on people, but are still forbidden because of the threat that they pose to the systems that control us. How does one describe the ineffable and why would one want to? Isn’t the attempt oxymoronic or paradoxical? You’re never going to pinpoint God=GUT with an equation either! What if Space was made of Language? Could you then assert that “those who know do not say” holds when their very existence says it all? Sometimes people who know DO SAY because there is nothing left to do. Indeed Creation is spawned by boredom…God loves Novelty and Complexity and Earth, well,…some’d say there is bit much these days. The best way to know is through association. This means being multidisciplined, recognizing what is to be taken exoterically and esoterically. To know that ANY given take on reality is first and foremost metaphor and observer dependent. I read a book years ago called Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff and experienced a fictional story taking place in locales that I had been to in real life, specifically Cornell University campus and downtown Ithaca NY. The normal ability to conjure imagery was replaced with actual imagery and the story became that much more real. So it is when reading accounts of DMT trips. Short of popping through the membrane into hyperspace the description of the experience is consistent with my psilocybin, mescaline and LSD trips. What is obvious after having read or been told of the DMT experience dozens of times is that there is consistency, if not in each experience then in the range. The overall response is awe. A bad trip, in hindsight is a good one, but only in hindsight…nonetheless awesome. This consistency of experience makes it an interesting scientific tool that so far only Dr. Strassman seems to be a proponent of. The setting for the masses is our political climate and consensus reality which is already bordering on nightmarish…We would all love our leaders to become loving and empathic aka functional and wonder why not…As Dr. Strassman demonstrates, the difficulty of creating a study (Such as “Does molecularly induced love and empathy improve politics?”) under prohibition begs the question of how “they” determined it to be “bad” in the first place. Did the people who made DMT illegal base this on personal experience? It would seem requisite to employ this logic in determining its worth. The classification of DMT as a schedule 1 “drug” is due to its power to enlighten the masses, which is dangerous only to the establishment; if DMT had limbs it would’ve been crucified years ago. This is not conspiracy theory, it is obvious and ultimately moot as the true seeker nor our hyperdimensional escorts give a damn about human law. The value of the molecule is context dependent as the experience it yields is setting dependent. The context and setting are somewhat the same, however context is more about attitude than atmosphere. Due to prohibition, MTV, and plain old fear, the masses will never know how to cultivate the realer than real, they are destined to conjure their habitual reality. On the occasion of the 100th birthday of Dr. Albert Hofmann on 11 January 2006, the Gaia Media Foundation stages an International Symposium on the most widely known and most controversial discovery of this outstanding scientist. LSD - three letters that changed the world. Since 19 April 1943, the day Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann discovered this psychoactive substance, millions of people all over the world have experienced a higher reality with profound and psychological insights and spiritual renewal; created innovative social transformation, music, art, and fashion; were healed from addiction and depression; experienced enlightened insights into the human consciousness.Some 60 years later experts will present an in-depth review of all aspects of this unique phenomenon, informing and discussing history, experiences, implications, assess the risks and benefits of this most potent of all psychoactive substances. LSD - a challenge in the past, now, and in the future.Puro Nicaraguese pinolero de chancleta Granada,Nicaragua,Brother Asi somos los Nicas! sanjose costa rica A la gran puta, De Cachimba! Jodido
HOT Myspace Layouts
HOT Myspace Graphics
..
Layout by: .. .. ..