Spiritual Journal, 12/7/01
Dec. 9th, 2001 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsyche2:00 a.m.
What of all these ancient tribes that worshipped the mushroom (and, in some cases, the bovines whose dung generated these psychedelic fungi) as God itself? These men were so reverent toward what gifts and insights the mushroom gave that they considered the mushroom more deserving of praise than himself, a thinking being. How is that for humble?
Now we have plenty of substances at our disposal that can effect perhaps a similarly significant watershed event [such as the shift from mere consciousness to self-consciousness], another leap in evolutionary consciousness. Instead of learning from the past, instead of embracing what we have at the ready, we've outlawed every psychedelic substance known to man. Why is this? Why does the United States (and, indeed, all Western countries and many other industrialized nations) criminalize mushrooms, peyote, and LSD, which are benign to the body, physically nonaddictive, and extremely inexpensive? Why? These substances are nontoxic [some psychoactive mushrooms can and will make a person ill to the point of death; I am not referring to those]. These substances are not dangerous, on the micro or the macro level.
I think I can imagine the general fear about psychedelic use: that the majority of the country will become delirious. That they will intentionally drive themselves from rationality. That we will all go crazy, not work, not care about the "American way of life" (e.g., hard work, sacrifice, capital, and entertainment), and in short will drive this nation into the ground, knocking it from its superpower status and causing us to become the absolute laughingstock of the world.
Well, I have news for you: we are already that laughingstock.
There has to exist a way to integrate psychedelic use into Western culture without causing the culture to lurch and collapse. I propose to do it in the context of religious spirituality. There are studies that show that, when dispensed in a religious context, LSD engendered a significant spiritual experience for the user, 90% of the time.
Christian mystics talk about the extinguishment of the self as necessary for spiritual growth (just as the Hindi and Buddhists, do, unsurprisingly enough). Shamans have been effecting the death (and subsequent rebirth) of the conscious self for millenia, more often than not using the aid of psychoactive substances. Plenty of ancient religious at the dawn of recorded history did the same.
So, we could look at the rise of rational thought, as well as the persona of God, as the orchestrations of the scared little self. The self wants to be seen as the most important, indivisible force that exists. "I am the great I AM," both 'God' and the individual ego proclaim. "My existence is sovereign." In the West, the growing importance given and weight afforded to individualism is testimony as to how highly we have accorded status to our conscious mind. The manner in which we disdain intuition, artistic thought, and creative endeavor is testimony to the level which we disparage the [fruits of the] unconscious mind.
Addendum, 12/9/01, 11:10 p.m.
Shamanism reveres the unconscious mind. Only by subduing the conscious mind can a shaman do his or her work.
Gnosticism reveres the unconscious mind.
We in the United States are fearful of both of these movements. I am not surprised.
What of all these ancient tribes that worshipped the mushroom (and, in some cases, the bovines whose dung generated these psychedelic fungi) as God itself? These men were so reverent toward what gifts and insights the mushroom gave that they considered the mushroom more deserving of praise than himself, a thinking being. How is that for humble?
Now we have plenty of substances at our disposal that can effect perhaps a similarly significant watershed event [such as the shift from mere consciousness to self-consciousness], another leap in evolutionary consciousness. Instead of learning from the past, instead of embracing what we have at the ready, we've outlawed every psychedelic substance known to man. Why is this? Why does the United States (and, indeed, all Western countries and many other industrialized nations) criminalize mushrooms, peyote, and LSD, which are benign to the body, physically nonaddictive, and extremely inexpensive? Why? These substances are nontoxic [some psychoactive mushrooms can and will make a person ill to the point of death; I am not referring to those]. These substances are not dangerous, on the micro or the macro level.
I think I can imagine the general fear about psychedelic use: that the majority of the country will become delirious. That they will intentionally drive themselves from rationality. That we will all go crazy, not work, not care about the "American way of life" (e.g., hard work, sacrifice, capital, and entertainment), and in short will drive this nation into the ground, knocking it from its superpower status and causing us to become the absolute laughingstock of the world.
Well, I have news for you: we are already that laughingstock.
There has to exist a way to integrate psychedelic use into Western culture without causing the culture to lurch and collapse. I propose to do it in the context of religious spirituality. There are studies that show that, when dispensed in a religious context, LSD engendered a significant spiritual experience for the user, 90% of the time.
Christian mystics talk about the extinguishment of the self as necessary for spiritual growth (just as the Hindi and Buddhists, do, unsurprisingly enough). Shamans have been effecting the death (and subsequent rebirth) of the conscious self for millenia, more often than not using the aid of psychoactive substances. Plenty of ancient religious at the dawn of recorded history did the same.
So, we could look at the rise of rational thought, as well as the persona of God, as the orchestrations of the scared little self. The self wants to be seen as the most important, indivisible force that exists. "I am the great I AM," both 'God' and the individual ego proclaim. "My existence is sovereign." In the West, the growing importance given and weight afforded to individualism is testimony as to how highly we have accorded status to our conscious mind. The manner in which we disdain intuition, artistic thought, and creative endeavor is testimony to the level which we disparage the [fruits of the] unconscious mind.
Addendum, 12/9/01, 11:10 p.m.
Shamanism reveres the unconscious mind. Only by subduing the conscious mind can a shaman do his or her work.
Gnosticism reveres the unconscious mind.
We in the United States are fearful of both of these movements. I am not surprised.
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(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-10 03:06 am (UTC)have you read tom wolfe's book "the eletric acid kool-aid test"? in the end, the talk about the book is just what you said. sorta, though less coherent and less condensed...
like when the merry pranksters think about dumping a truckload of lsd into the los angeles waterbasin to wake people up...
not that i approve...
(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-10 04:09 am (UTC)I have heard jokes like the one you describe; in fact, in my home state of Michigan, someone(s) some years ago put LSD in their high school teacher's coffee. I think that would be an awful thing to do to someone, and not at all ethical. LSD use should be completely and utterly voluntary. I personally would not have wanted to be in that teacher's shoes.
(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-10 05:41 pm (UTC)o0 oh wow. no way! what happened with that HS teacher? that's just mean to make someone trip out like that.
(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-11 05:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-11 06:31 pm (UTC)they deserve more than just suspension... i mean, fuck! bringing lsd to school is just... argh
anyway, i remmeber from the end of 'electric acid koole aid test' that the merry pranksters did think of themselves and kensey as a possible new religion... kensey was charismatic and had a message the pranksters were believers... only, instead of a religion with organization and a message, they spread it as the 60s pscyhadelic movement instead.
(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-11 10:00 am (UTC)i love your brain :)
peace
(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-11 12:01 pm (UTC)Take care.
(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-11 11:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-11 12:00 pm (UTC)I haven't read "Psychedelics Reconsidered". Who's it by?
Coming of age
Date: 2001-12-12 11:00 pm (UTC)I envision a senario where young folks looking for challange, enlightenment, and a bonding experience with their peers can spend a week or two learing about and experiencing psychedelic drugs. They would learn something about the history of psychedelic use, about the chemistry/biology of the drugs, and (most importantly) about the safe and responsible use of mind-altering chemicals. Then they could trip their faces off under under the supervision of highly experienced trip guides, in a group and individually. Hopefully, the participants would come out of Inward Bound knowing more about themselves than they did when they went in, and with the sense of having met a significant challange.
Unfortunatly, we have a long way to go in terms of overcoming fear, ignorance and malicious disinformation before that can become a reality.
I think Tim Leary operated such a camp (for adults) in Mexico for a year or so (I read this in his autobiography). The Mexican government eventually shut down the camp due to 'lack of permits' or somesuch.
Re: Coming of age
Date: 2001-12-13 04:38 am (UTC)I like the structure of the idea as well.
I guess I'll have to check out Leary's autobiography. Thanks for the input.
(no subject)
Date: 2001-12-20 09:19 pm (UTC)