Friday, August 24, 2012

Richard Dawkins on Psychedelics

Graham Hancock questions Richard Dawkins on psychedelics and challenging his world view. Dr Dawkins, author of books such as The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author and The God Delusion, is famous for his materialist views about the nature of reality and his belief that "the supernatural... can never offer us a true explanation of the things we see in the world and the universe around us."

On 3 November 2011, Dr Dawkins visited the British city of Bath to promote his new book The Magic of Reality and gave a reading at the Bath Central Library. In the Q&A session following the reading Graham Hancock, author of books such as Fingerprints of the Gods, Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind and Entangled, pointed out to Dr Dawkins that many traditional hunter-gather cultures believe there are other realities -- spirit worlds and so on and so forth -- and concrete techniques, such as the use of psychoactive plants, to access them. "As a scientist," Hancock asked, "have you ever seriously engaged such techniques to have first-hand experience of what they're talking about, and perhaps even to challenge your own concept of what is real?"

In view of Dr Dawkins' influence and importance as a shaper of public opinion his reply, given before an audience of several hundred, is a matter of public record and public interest and shows him to be more open-minded than many of his critics might allege.


Sunday, August 19, 2012

Terence McKenna: Final Art Bell Interview

Terence McKenna
Art Bell Interview
Coast to Coast AM
16th July 1999


A longtime sufferer of migraines, in mid-1999 McKenna returned to his home on the big island of Hawaii after a long lecturing tour. He began to suffer from increasingly painful headaches. This culminated in three brain seizures in one night, which he claimed were the most powerful psychedelic experiences he had ever known. Upon his emergency trip to the hospital on Oahu, Terence was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a highly aggressive form of brain cancer. For the next several months he underwent various treatments, including experimental gamma knife radiation treatment.Terence describes these experiences in his final Coast to Coast interview with Art Bell on July 16, 1999. He joined the ancestor spirits on April 3, 2000 at the age of 53, with his loved ones at his bedside. He is survived by his brother Dennis, his son Finn, his daughter Klea and many friends, students and admirers.

"I always thought death would come on the freeway in a few horrifying moments, so you'd have no time to sort it out. Having months and months to look at it and think about it and talk to people and hear what they have to say, it's a kind of blessing. It's certainly an opportunity to grow up and get a grip and sort it all out. Just being told by an unsmiling guy in a white coat that you're going to be dead in four months definitely turns on the lights. ... It makes life rich and poignant. When it first happened, and I got these diagnoses, I could see the light of eternity, a la William Blake, shining through every leaf. I mean, a bug walking across the ground moved me to tears. " ~Terence McKenna

Right Click and save file as to download Mp3’s
Terence McKenna on Art Bell 1998
Terence McKenna on Art Bell 1997 part 1
Terence McKenna on Art Bell 1997 part 2

Also see the audio files hosted on archive.org
http://archive.org/details/TerenceMckennaWithArtBell