*** Psychedelics ***

The use of psychedelics from plant sources was the beginning of humankind's deep spirtual awareness. The suppression of the use of these psychedelics by governments and organized religion is one of the great crimes against humanity. And it continues to this day in the so-called "War on Drugs", which is in part an attempt to prevent people from realizing that what they're told by politicians and the mainstream media consists mostly of lies and that the real source of true understanding is the divinity within their own consciousness. But the prohibitionists will be defeated, and will be regarded with contempt by future generations.

There is a wealth of information built into us ... tucked away in the genetic material in every one of our cells ... without some means of access, there is no way even to begin to guess at the extent and quality of what is there. The psychedelic drugs allow exploration of this interior world, and insights into its nature. — Alexander Shulgin
How to do psychedelics? At night, alone, in darkness and silence. — Terence McKenna

First a 1954 review of Huxley's The Doors of Perception.

Now a couple of reports of psychedelic experiences from the late 80s:

Now into the 90s:

And this one from 2015:.


DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine)

DMT structure

Now reports by other people. Most remark on the astonishing nature of the DMT experience, how no words can ever convey the quality of the experience to those who have not had it. It is, indeed, the weirdest thing you can experience this side of the grave. And, by the way, the experience immediately refutes all the basic assumptions of modern materialist Western science, as I say in Physicalism: A False View of the World.

For many accounts of experiences in the DMT space by a large group of people see 340 DMT Trip Reports (603 KB). The links below are to reports by individuals.


Ibogaine

Ibogaine is the active chemical [an alkaloid] found in the African Tabernanthe iboga root as well as several other plant species. It is a strong, long-lasting psychedelic used traditionally in a coming of age ritual [by the African Bwiti tribe] but also known for its modern use in treating opiate addiction.Erowid Ibogaine Vault

Click on this link for Nick Sand's article Journey into the Realm of Ibogaine, which appeared in the Vol. XI, No. 3 (Autumnal Equinox) 2002 issue of The Entheogen Review, pp. 98-100.


Amanita muscaria Mushroom

Adam and Eve and
the Tree of Knowledge
The great pioneering researcher in the field of ethnobotany and entheogenic plants, Gordon Wasson, was the first to suggest that the Vedic soma was the mushroom Amanita muscaria. In the 1970s John Allegro (in The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross) claimed to show that early Christianity arose from the suppression of a secret practice of using Amanita muscaria for spiritual purposes (and that all statements about "Jesus" were actually disguised statements about the mushroom).

Contemporary researchers, in particular, Carl Ruck, Blaise Daniel Staples and Clark Heinrich, have confirmed Wasson's research and expanded upon it, providing evidence that this mushroom has played an important role not only in Indian religions but also in Judaism and Christianity (thus supporting John Allegro's findings) and in the alchemical tradition.

But the mere suggestion that the eating of a drug-containing fungus, and the psychedelic effects thereof, played a major role in the development of the world's religions is enough to send conventional thinkers into fits of hysterics. Eventually, however, the truth will become known, and the vacuity and the fraudulent character of conventional Christianity, and other religions based merely on faith (which is chosen belief, sometimes strongly-willed and often self-delusional), will become clear.


Ketamine

PCP and ketamine are chemically similar, but have dissimilar psychic effects. And whereas PCP has a low margin for safety, ketamine seems quite safe when used judiciously (say, in one's own home). But because ketamine is a psychedelic and can have impressive (and impressively positive) effects on one's consciousness it too is demonized in the Drug War. A recent article in Time magazine was another shot in the propaganda war. Here is a reply to that article:


Better Drugs / Worse Drugs

Speaking just of psychoactive drugs, there are better drugs and there are worse drugs. In a society in which drugs are widely used, and in which an informed public is considered a good thing, a distinction is made between benign and potentially harmful drugs, so as to inform the people and help them not to make mistakes when using drugs. In the U.S., and in those unfortunate societies where the ruling elite takes the U.S. as a model, all (unapproved) drug usage is demonized and labelled "abuse" (oh horror!), and no distinction is made between life-enhancing and potentially dangerous psychoactive drugs. All one hears from the government drug propaganda apparatus are such mindless statements as Nancy Reagan's "Drugs are simply appalling!".

The truth of the matter is that some psychoactive drugs can help you to overcome the self-limiting conditioning that a mechanistic/materialistic society imposes upon its members, thus leading to a more authentic understanding of self and world, whereas other drugs, used unwisely, can lead to ruin.

Perils of Cocaine Abuse

As to which are the life-enhancing drugs and which the life-destroying, you'll get no answers from government "authorities", who are mostly interested in maintaining the illusion that they are the protectors of the people's welfare — the better to preserve their allocated budgets (which money comes, involuntarily, from the pockets of the people they falsely claim to protect).

There is plenty of evidence (in the literature) from people who have used psychedelics that these drugs (LSD, psilocybin, ketamine, etc.) generally have positive effects, sometimes even major beneficial effects. Cannabis is a divine gift to mankind (Christians might reflect on the fact that the Bible — in Genesis — says that God gave to mankind for its use all the seeds and plants upon the Earth; this includes the cannabis plant). Alcohol has its beneficial uses, though injudicious use of this substance causes many problems in modern society. Tobacco may be OK for some people, but for most it is extremely addictive, and kills about 300,000 people each year in the U.S. Heroin is addictive also, but in comparison to tobacco very few people die from its use. But if we want to talk about bad drugs we haven't yet got to the worst. Cocaine is addictive, its use ruins lives, and when some people smoke crack cocaine they can go crazy (even to the point of killing other people). Amphetamine can also send you over the edge if used to excess. Even so, the use of these drugs should not be illegal, since people can use them without harming others, and if so, they have a right to do so.

Another drug which some people consider bad is PCP. This is not addictive, so it does not destroy lives in the way that cocaine can do. But (unlike its relative ketamine) it has a low margin of safety. It's easy to overdose, which can have unfortunate consequences, even for someone very experienced with psychedelics.


The issue with psychedelics is that they call into question the illusions of the masters. And I think it doesn't matter who the masters are. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about a fascist dictatorship, a high-tech industrial democracy, or a Third World banana republic — if you start taking psychedelics, you will start questioning the reality around you, and question-asking is not what the control freaks are interested in. They want you to work at your idiotic job, buy the crap they're peddling you over the media, and keep your opinions to yourself, please. ... This is a crisis. We should be going through lifeboat drills at this point, and instead, the band plays on, and the game continues to be played. The narcotics game, the government role in it, apparent suppression / tacit support, millions and billions of dollars in hot money being used to finance the murder of editors of left-wing newspapers and the financing of private armies in various rathole countries that are the client states of the remnants of the empire we created to oppose the Soviet Union. It's all CRAP. — Terence McKenna, Live at The Fez, NYC, 1993-06-20


A Few Good Rules Before You Trip:

1) Cars can hurt you.
2) You cannot fly.
3) It's never a good time to die.
4) Taking your clothes off will draw attention.
5) Keep your mouth shut at all times while in public.
6) Although you may see things that are not there, you won't NOT see things that aren't there.
7) Don't forget how to burp.
8) Only carry: a house-key, some loose change, and your address in your shoe.
9) Nobody can tell that you are tripping till you tell them "I'm tripping".
10) No matter how fucked-up you think you are, you'll eventually come down.

(Found at NOFADZ.)


Further articles on this website:


The pioneering ethnobotanist Richard Shultes died 2001-04-10.


Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, died 2008-04-29.


WE HOLD THIS TRUTH
THAT ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE CREATED DIFFERENT.
That every human being has the right to be mentally free and independent.  That every human being has the right to feel, see, hear, sense, imagine, believe or experience anything at all, in any way, at any time.  That every human being has the right to behave in any way that does not harm others or break fair and just laws.  That no human being shall be subjected without consent to incarceration, restraint, punishment or psychological or medical intervention in an attempt to control, repress or alter the individual's thoughts, feelings or experiences.
— UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF MENTAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS


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