A Conversation On LSD

A rare home movie of a conversation between early LSD pioneers Timothy Leary, Oscar Jangier, Al Hubbard, Sidney Cohen, Myron Stolaroff and Humphry Osmond & others. A must see for psychedelic historians. I believe this was filmed at Tim’s home circa 1972.Thank you Timothy Leary Archive!



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Hallucinogen actions on human brain revealed

Mushrooms' magic? Tuning out is key to turning on
By: Melissa Healy
From: Los Angeles Times
Date: January 23, 2012

Psilocybin mushrooms' power to throw open the doors of perception is well documented in ancient legend and modern song. But not until now have high-tech brain-scanners captured the process by which psilocybin causes a sudden shift in human cognition. The secret to its mental magic? It appears to power down the brain's seat of reason and disconnect it from regions that process the way we see, hear and experience the world.

Those findings, gleaned by a group of British neuroscientists, were published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Within a minute after subjects got an infusion of psilocybin, researchers said, scanners that plot blood flow within the brain detected a sudden drop in activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex, two areas of the brain that appear to be key in "grounding" us in reality. These areas also are key nodes of the brain's newly identified Default Mode Network, which springs to life when our minds wander.

Thus untethered, the brain's sensory regions are free to soar. Subjects reported unusual changes in their visual experiences, including geometric patterns, distortions of space and size, and dreamlike perceptions. They reported that their thoughts and imaginations wandered, their perceptions of time were changed, and sounds they heard brought on vivid images -- a mingling of sights, sounds and thoughts such as those experienced by people with the brain regions that showed the most consistent decline in activity under psilocybin's influence were the same brain regions that are most active in everyday cognition, said the study's authors, who come from a consortium of British universities and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Those regions function not only as "connective hubs" among brain regions with different functions; they are key in the kind of idle thinking in which we place ourselves at the center of our surroundings and experience.

The study's authors suggest that psilocybin's outsized effect on the brain's Default Mode Network may reveal a key function of the system. The findings suggest that a working Default Mode Network "is crucial for the maintenance of cognitive integration and constraint under normal conditions."

The study also may help suggest why psilocybin is increasingly seen as a promising treatment for a number of psychiatric conditions, including depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. By suppressing the intrusive and self-centered ruminations that are hallmarks of depression and allowing individuals to transcend themselves, drugs like psilocybin may be key to shifting perspectives and priorities, the authors wrote.

Complete Article: Neural Correlates of the Psychedelic State as Determined by fMRI Studies With Psilocybin

This article contains supporting information online at: www.pnas.org

By: Robin L. Carhart-Harrisa, David Erritzoea,Tim Williams, James M. Stone, Laurence J. Reed,  Alessandro Colasanti, Robin J. Tyacke, Robert Leech, Andrea L. Malizia, Kevin Murphy, Peter Hobden, John Evans, Amanda Feilding, Richard G. Wise, & David J. Nutt

www.GaianBotanicals.com

Manifesting The Mind : Documentary On Psychedelics & Shamanism

Manifesting the Mind features various aspects of shamanism with a broad look at psychedelics in general. Why are psychedelics so brutally suppressed in our culture? What exactly are some of the psychedelic plants and chemicals and how can they benefit us? With philosophy and insight from Robert Bussinger, Mike Crowley, Timothy Freke, Peter Gandy, Alex Grey, Clark Heinrich, Nick Herbert, John Major Jenkins, Dennis McKenna, Terence McKenna, Daniel Pinchbeck, Dr. Rick Strassman & others.

Chapter 1 – Start
An introduction to shamanism and shamanic medicines.

Chapter 2 – Manifesting God?
A discussion regarding the word “Entheogen” verses other words such as “Psychedelic” to describe shamanic medicines and psychoactive substances.

Chapter 3 – Psychedelic Fanatic
What are the effects of psychedelics and are these psychedelic substances addictive?

Chapter 4 – Psychedelic Remedy
Cannabis and other shamanic medicines used medicinally

Chapter 5 – Drugs and Culture
From coffee to cocaine… What constitutes a “bad drug”?

Chapter 6 – War on Consciousness
Is the war on drugs a war against certain states of consciousness?

Chapter 7 – Ibogaine
Can a shamanic medicine cure heroin, meth, alcohol and other addictions?

Chapter 8 – DMT
DMT, the most hallucinogenic substance known to exist, is found naturally in the human body and in nearly every other living thing.

Chapter 9 – Ayahuasca
What are the components and the effects of Ayahuasca? How is it different than other forms of DMT?

Chapter 10 – Reality Thermostat
Where do the boundaries between our selves and the world exist? Are hallucinations “real”? What is ego-death? What can be learned from a psychedelic experience?

Chapter 11 – Controlling the Masses
We are groomed to be consumers - this is encouraged via propaganda - as long as we consume those things that are sanctioned by the corporate hegemony.

Chapter 12 – Manifesting Change
Turn on, Tune in, and Drop out. Psychedelics as a catalyst for change.

Chapter 13 – Amanita muscaria
This archetypal mushroom has been used in religious art and modern iconography. How does it compare to other psychedelic substances?

Chapter 16 – Religious Roots
Psychedelic substances can often be found in early religious traditions.

Chapter 17 – Flesh of the Gods
The religious/spiritual experience. What is the origin of the sacred meal? Did the original “communion” induce a psychedelic experience? The replacement of the shamanic sacrament with a placebo.

Chapter 18 – The Heart of the Mysteries
Has the direct access to the mysteries been cut off from our modern culture?

Chapter 19 – Soma
What was the original Soma and Amrita?

Chapter 20 – Credits and Biographies

Buy the DVD

Timothy Leary archive sold to NY Library

On June 16, 2011 the New York Public Library announced that it has acquired the Timothy Leary archive for $900,000. The well organized, invaluable collection contains >335 well organized boxes equivalent to 412 linear feet of letters, manuscripts, research documents, notes, legal and financial records, printed materials, photographs, video and audio tapes, CDs and DVDs, posters and flyers, and artifacts, dating from Leary’s youth in the 1920s until his death in 1996.

William Stingone, curator of manuscripts at the library acknowledged Tim as one of the most influential figures of the 20th century and predicts the collection will help researchers get beyond the “myth making” around ’60s figures and “Hopefully we’ll be able to get to some of the truth of it here”. It will no doubt be of great resource for the recent resurgence of psychedelic research by Charlie Grob, Rick Strassman, Roland Griffiths and organizations such as Heffter Research Institute & MAPS.

The complete documentation from Leary’s early psychotropic drug experiments are in tact. Thomas Lannon, the library’s assistant curator for manuscripts and archives explained that much of the archive includes legitimate scientific research performed prior these substances being made illegal. Leary kept meticulous records at many points during his life. There are comprehensive research files, legal briefs, budgets and memos about the many institutes and organizations he founded, but there are also notes and documents from when he was on the run after escaping from a California prison with help from the Weather Underground. A folder labeled as notes from his “C.I.A. kidnapping” in 1973 is full of cryptic jottings recounting the details of his arrest in Afghanistan, at an airport in Kabul, after he fled the United States.

Partial list of items in the archive purchased from the Leary Estate include:

• Thousands of letters to Leary, many from luminaries of the 1960s era, including Aldous and Laura Huxley, Gerald Heard, Alan Watts, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Peter Orlovsky, Charles Olson, Arthur Koestler, Huston Smith, Walter Houston Clark, Walter Pahnke, Humphry Osmond, Al Hubbard, Oscar Janiger, Cary Grant, Charles Mingus, Maynard Ferguson, Michael Hollingshead , Robert Anton Wilson, Gordon Wasson, Ken Kesey and Augustus Owsley Stanley. Other correspondence is with his family – including letters to and from his mother, his wives and his children – as well as publishers, attorneys, politicians and his numerous adversaries, including G. Gordon Liddy and law enforcement figures from local sheriffs to Drug Enforcement Agency and Central Intelligence Agency operatives.
• Professional and research papers, which will provide scholars a unique opportunity to study Leary’s clinical work from graduate school through his years at Millbrook, including hundreds of reports documenting the psilocybin-induced experiences Harvard graduate students and faculty, creative artists, prisoners at the Massachusetts State Prison at Concord, and theology students.
• Files and correspondence detailing Leary’s experience at Harvard University, including his initial acceptance, the university’s eventual resistance to his research, his controversial research methods and his eventual dismissal. These files depict the evolution of Leary’s studies from rigorous, empirical research into more free-flowing, scientifically problematic exploration, as well as the promotion of psychedelics.
• The complete records of the organizations Leary formed to continue his research after leaving Harvard, including the International Federation for Internal Freedom, Castalia Foundation and the League For Spiritual Discovery. These files, like those from Leary’s research at Harvard, include session reports, completed questionnaires, and letters describing the mushroom and LSD induced experiences of many notable cultural figures and Leary’s associates, such as Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) and Ralph Metzner. Letters among Leary and his research partners also document their turbulent and intense personal and professional relationships.
• Extensive correspondence, legal briefs, prison writings, letters of support and petitions sent to and produced by the four Leary defense funds during his time in prison after his arrest in 1973. There are also materials connected to his exile period in Algeria and Switzerland, including correspondence, notebooks, statements, letters and manuscript material.
• Copies of government documents, released to Leary under the Freedom of Information Act, pertaining to various agencies’ surveillance of Leary, as well as his arrest. Leary’s cooperation with the authorities, still considered by many as a betrayal of the counterculture, is also well documented.
• Computer generated text, correspondence and material relating to the computer revolution, the Biosphere project, space colonies, cryogenics and more from his time in Los Angeles.
• More than 300 videotapes and 300 audiotapes featuring Leary, including about 50 early lectures. A large portion of these tapes are noncommercial and probably represent the only copies in existence.
• Manuscripts of published books and articles, as well as a substantial number of unpublished works, some book length. Scores of unpublished essays on a variety of subjects, unproduced movie scripts, fiction and poetry are also included.

The archive is currently sitting in a storage complex in Long Island, waiting to be sorted and processed over the next 18 - 24. It is my hope that it will soon be digitized for the world to access online similar to Hofmann.org. A portion of the sale is being donated back to finance the processing of the material. When Tim announced his illness, he attempted to comfort us by saying something to the effect of “I will live forever, spreading through the WWW like a virus corrupting the minds of young people.” It has been heart breaking to see his website dead all these years and will be awesome to see Leary’s wish come full circle. I believe letters of support to the New York Public Library are appropriate, they may be contacted HERE. A big thank you to all who helped make this happen!

Further information may be found at:
FREE Mp3 recordings are featured on the Psychedelic Salon Podcast
NYT Article on TimothyLearyArchives.org
The Timothy Leary Movie Archive
www.EROCx1.com

Johns Hopkins Report on Salvia divinorum

Human psychopharmacology and dose-effects of Salvinorin A. A kappa opioid agonist hallucinogen in the plant Salvia divinorum.
By Johnson, M.W.,et al. Drug and Alcohol Dependence Journal (2010)

READ THE COMPLETE PAPER: HERE

In what is believed to be the first controlled human study of the effects of Salvinorin A, the primary active constituent in Salvia divinorum. Johns Hopkins researchers report that the effects are surprisingly strong, brief, and intensely disorienting, but without apparent short-term adverse effects in healthy people.

Since the NIH-funded research was done with four mentally and physically healthy hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a safe medical environment, researchers say they are limited in their conclusions about the compound’s safety, according to Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study’s lead author.

Johnson and the Hopkins team say they undertook the research to try and put some rigorous scientific information into current concerns over the growing recreational use of Salvia divinorum, which is an herb in mint family. The plant, which has been used for centuries by shamans in Mexico for spiritual healing, is the target of increased nationwide legal efforts to restrict its availability and use. Though little is known about the compound’s effects in humans, some legislators have been spurred to action after watching one of thousands of online videos chronicling the uncontrolled behavior that sometimes follows its use. However, because animal studies show that Salvinorin A has unique effects in the brain, some scientists believe that the drug or a modified version of it may lead to medical advances in the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, chronic pain and drug addiction.

Salvia leaves are typically smoked. Often the quantity of Salvinorin A in the leaves has been boosted by the addition of a concentrated extract of the compound. The drug is available online or in “head shops” and is legal in most states. More than a dozen states have outright bans on the product and eight others have restrictions such as prohibitions for minors. About a dozen nations have also outlawed it. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration has included it in their list of “drugs and chemicals of concern,” but to date there is no federal prohibition against it.

The findings of the Hopkins study are published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

“Everything we knew up to this point about the effects of this drug in humans, other than a few surveys or anecdotal case reports, comes from accounts on websites or YouTube videos,” Johnson says. “Those are hardly scientific sources enabling a rigorous understanding of the effects of the drug. Even though the sample size in this study is small, we used an extremely well-controlled methodology, which provided a clear picture of the drug’s basic effects.”

Johnson and his team say this is not just a first step toward greater understanding of the unique compound and its effects, but of the kappa opioid receptors in the brain, which animal studies have suggested Salvinorin A targets. Researchers see potential in kappa opioid receptors — which are different from the receptors targeted by other hallucinogens or opiates like morphine and heroin — for the development of therapeutic medications.

“We’re opening the door for systematic study of this class of compounds, about which we know precious little,” says Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., a Johns Hopkins professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the study’s senior investigator.

The study found that salvia’s effects begin almost immediately after inhaled, are very short acting — with a peak of strength after two minutes and very little effect remaining after 20 — and get more powerful as more of the drug is administered. Salvinorin A produced no significant changes in heart rate or blood pressure, no tremors and no adverse events were reported. But, Johnson cautions, the sample size was small and only healthy and hallucinogen-experienced volunteers participated, so conclusions of safety are limited.

The study was conducted on four healthy, paid subjects — two men and two women — who had taken hallucinogens in the past. Each participant completed 20 sessions over the course of two-to-three months. They inhaled a wide range of doses of the drug in its pure form. At some sessions, they were given a placebo. Participants were asked to rate the strength of peak drug effect on a scale of 1 to 10. Participants were allowed to drop out of the study at any time if they felt they could not tolerate a stronger dose on the following visit. No one withdrew.

Researchers say they were struck by the reaction of two participants who rated the strength of a high dose a 10, or “as strong as imaginable for this drug.” It is unusual, the investigators said, for volunteers with prior hallucinogen experience to report such intensity. Despite these strong experiences, heart rate and blood pressure were unaffected.

While no adverse effects were noted in the controlled laboratory environment, Johnson says, the drug’s effects could be disastrous if a person were, for example, driving a car while on salvia. Few emergency room visits have been linked to its use, which researchers believe is because it wears off so quickly.

He says subjects in the study reported very different experiences from those caused by hallucinogens like LSD and so-called “magic mushrooms.” Those drugs, Johnson says, tend to have powerful effects, but the person is typically still aware of the external world and can interact with it . “With salvia, the subjects described leaving this reality completely and going to other worlds or dimensions and interacting with entities,” Johnson says. “These are very powerful, very intense experiences.”

Animal data suggests the drug is not addictive, Griffiths says, and its intensity could keep people from returning to the drug again and again. “Many people take it once and it produces such profound dysphoria that they don’t want to do it again,” he says.

Provided by Johns Hopkins University (news : web)
FROM: www.physorg.com

Dr. Richard Evans Schultes: Hallucinogenic Plants

 
From: Gnostic Media Podcast #79
Professor Richard Evans Schultes Lecture
Download: FREE Mp3 [right click, save as]
Subscribe: HERE

This episode of the Gnostic media podcast features a rare lecture Dr. Richard Evans Schultes on the topic of: Hallucinogenic Plants. I have an original BPC [Botanical Preservation Corps] cassette of this talk but there in no info on it other the #028. For those not familiar with Professor Schultes, he is widely considered The Father of Modern Ethnobotany and the real life Indiana Jones. Some of his students include Tim Plowman, Andrew Weil and Wade Davis. He coauthored Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers with Albert Hofmann and Christian Rätsch.

Richard Evans Schultes was a Boston-born and Harvard-educated botanical explorer, ethnobotanist and conservationist. To research his undergraduate thesis at Harvard, he travelled to Oklahoma with Weston LaBarre in 1936 to study the use of peyote among the Kiowa. In 1938 he travelled to Oaxaca, Mexico with Pablo Reko to seek the identity of teonanacatl. He and Reko were successful at identifying the species of mushrooms used by the Mazatec Indians and were the first to record the species used for their psychoactive properties.

In 1939 Schultes again travelled to Mexico in a successful attempt to verify the identity of Ololiúqui. He travelled throughout Mexico for a few years researching and collecting botanical medicines, hallucinogens, and poisons, before earning his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1941. He soon became caught up in World War II when he was recruited by the United States to find an Amazonian source for rubber. He spent the next ten years working on this project.

In 1953 Schultes became the curator of the Orchid Herbarium at Harvard. He served as Curator of Ethnobotany for the Harvard Botanical Museum from 1958 to 1967 and as Executive Director from 1967-1970. In 1970 he was named Professor of Biology and Director of the Botanical Museum, positions he held until his retirement in 1985.

Schultes was a prolific writer, published over 450 technical papers and nine books on Ethnobotany, and was widely recognized as one of the most distinguished figures in the field. He received many awards for his work including the Cross of Boyaca (Colombia's highest honor), the annual Gold Medal of the World Wildlife Fund, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and the Linnean Gold Medal (the highest award in the field of botany).

Schultes left our world and became one with the ancestor spirits in 2001.

 

Links:
EROWID: Richard Evans Schultes
Wikipedia: Richard Evans Schultes
Chapter from John Allen’s: Mushroom Pioneers
Buy superior Ethnobotanicals: GaianBotanicals.com
The American Academy of Achievement: Interview 
Interview by Peter Gorman: HIGH TIMES Magazine
Richard Evans Schultes: A Tribute & Bibliography in PDF
Heffter Review #1: Antiquity of the Use of New World Hallucinogens

Golden Guide: Hallucinogenic plants
 
Ethnobotany: evolution of a discipline Google Books

www.GaianBotanicals.com

Psychedelic Information Theory by James Kent

Our friend James Kent will be presenting at MAPS conference in San Jose this week. He is also releasing the final version of 'Psychedelic Information Theory' online. I know this has been in the works for a long time and I am excited to read it. For those of you who are not familiar with his work. James is a writer and programmer living in Seattle, Washington. He is the former Editor of Psychedelic Illuminations Magazine and the former Publisher of Trip Magazine. He currently edits DoseNation.com the extensive multi-user weblog for drug news, culture, and humor, and is a regular contributor to H+ magazine.

Psychedelic Information Theory: Shamanism in the Age of Reason is an examination of the nonlinear dynamics of hallucination and altered states of consciousness. By deconstructing the systems of human perception and memory Psychedelic Information Theory quantifies the limits of psychedelic perception and describes the methods by which psychedelics alter consciousness, create new information, and affect human culture. By presenting these methods in physical terms Psychedelic Information Theory offers a rational and objective model for shamanic transformation and psychedelic therapy in modern clinical practice. Written by James L. Kent.

Read Online: Online Table of Contents »

Download eBook: Release Date May 2010

Buy Hardcopy: Release Date TBA

Version: Version 1.0, Public Online Release: April 2010

More at: psychedelic-information-theory.com

A Perfect Pill - From Neurons to Nirvana

A Perfect Pill:From Neurons to Nirvana from oliver hockenhull on Vimeo.

A Perfect Pill: From Neurons to Nirvana is a smart-looking, in-depth analysis and commentary on psychedelic drugs in light of current scientific, medical and cultural knowledge. The film is far from completed.

In partnership with the executive producer Mark Achbar, (The Corporation) and Betsy Carson, and with the addition of our European co-producer, Oval Filmemacher, Berlin, I have been developing and shooting this film over the last two years. We have shot extensively in Canada, the USA and Europe.

We want to get the message out into the mainstream — the validity of psychedelics and MDMA as adjuncts to therapy, as crucial but neglected and taboo medicines, as technologies of consciousness, and as consciousness sacraments.

From: DoseNation.com

neuronirvana.net

National Geographic: Inside The Tripper's Brain

National Geographic Explorer presents how researchers are using scans and sensors to create 3D maps showing the activity of the brain on hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD.

FROM: Nationalgeographic.com

Inside LSD airs Tuesday, November 3rd @ both 7PM & 10PM ET/PT.

 

LSDs inventor Albert Hofmann called it "medicine for the soul." The Beatles wrote songs about it. Secret military mind control experiments exploited its hallucinogenic powers. Outlawed in 1966, LSD became a street drug and developed a reputation as the dangerous toy of the counterculture, capable of inspiring either moments of genius, or a descent into madness. Now science is taking a fresh look at LSD, including the first human trials in over 35 years. Using enhanced brain imaging, non-hallucinogenic versions of the drug and information from an underground network of test subjects who suffer from an agonizing condition for which there is no cure, researchers are finding that this "trippy" drug could become the pharmaceutical of the future. Can it enhance our brain power, expand our creativity and cure disease? To find out, Explorer puts LSD under the microscope.

www.Nationalgeographic.com

2 interviews with Dennis McKenna, Ph.D

Gnostic Media Research and Publishing’s
Podcast #26
April 12, 2009
Direct Mp3: Download
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Guest: Dr. Dennis McKenna

In this episode Jan and Dennis discuss oo-koo-he, ayahuasca, habit and novelty theory, Terence McKenna, plant communication and the future of psychedelic research. For the last thirty years, Dennis McKenna has pursued the interdisciplinary study of ethnopharmacology and plant hallucinogens.

Dennis has authored numerous scientific articles and books, including co-authoring the book The Invisible Landscape with his brother Terence McKenna. McKenna spent a number of years as a senior lecturer for the Center for Spirituality and Healing, part of the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He is now a senior research scientist for the Natural Health Products Research Group at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in the Vancouver area. McKenna received his Master's degree in botany at the University of Hawaii in 1979. He received his Doctorate in Botanical Sciences in 1984 from the University of British Columbia, where he wrote a dissertation entitled Monoamine oxidase inhibitors in Amazonian hallucinogenic plants: ethnobotanical, phytochemical, and pharmacological investigations. His research has included the pharmacology, botany, and chemistry of Ayahuasca and oo-koo-hé, the subjects of his master's thesis. He has also conducted extensive fieldwork in the Peruvian, Colombian, and Brazilian Amazon. He is the Co-founder and Director of Ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute.  For a more complete biography and list of publications please visit: www.heffter.org

---

The second interview

From: realitysandwich.com
By: Alexander Price
March 11, 2007

Dennis reflects on the events that took place in 1971 at La Chorerra as described in True Hallucinations: An account of the Author's Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil's Paradise. He also tells us about some of his other early field work in the Amazon basin. Dennis shares some personal memories about experimenting with the I Ching, the development of Time Wave Zero and co-authoring The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching along with some more recent thoughts and discoveries on the topic. This interview has a great ending with Dennis sharing his unique perspective of being Terence McKenna's brother:

Terence is so persuasive and he is such a good talker and he says ... he could say complete nonsense in the most lovely way that most people never questioned it at all. He didn't actually like me to come to his seminars or his lectures because I was the only one who ever argued with him. Everyone else was sort of sitting there taking it all in – 'Oh wow man isn't this cool,' you know – and I would actually stand up and say, 'Well now wait a minute, what you said makes no sense. It's a total crock of shit and not only that but it contradicts what you said twenty minutes ago that also didn't make any sense.'

And he would of course dismiss that and say, 'Well, consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds...' The guy was a fucking genius... I think that he did a service with the way he was able to get people to question their assumptions or to entertain ideas that never in a million years would they entertain. He presented them in such a way that they seemed to make sense at the time, and it's only a few days later when you think about it that it's like, 'What was this guy saying?'” Dennis laughed.

“I'm critical but I admire him. He was great. There will never be another like him.

Dr. Timothy Leary: The Intelligent Use of Drugs

From: The Psychedelic Salon Subscribe: FREE

Guest speaker: Dr. Timothy Leary

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PROGRAM NOTES:

[NOTE: All quotations below are by Timothy Leary.]

 "We represent the aristocratic, exploring elite of our species, and we always have."

"The purpose of human life is to go within and find out who you are. The purpose of human life is to grow."

"American history is filled with people who knew how to use drugs intelligently."

"He [William James] later wrote the book "Varieties of Religious Experience", in which he said over and over again, no attempt at the metaphysical quest, no attempt to probe the philosophic wonders of the cosmos can be undertaken by those who don’t have some experience with chemicals. In his case it was peyote and nitrous oxide."

"The ‘original’ sin was the intelligent use of drugs in the garden of Eden."

"The problem with drugs is that stupid people use drugs stupidly."

"As more and more people learn how to use drugs intelligently in the next twenty years, and get back to their microscopes and DNA mock-ups, we may have some more information on exactly how evolution got started."

"All of you in this room have experienced more realities, more crisis, more of life, you’ve seen more than the wisest sultans and philosophers in the past."

"The generation you belong to is of key importance."

"Nobody died for my sins, man. I did my time for ‘em."

"Let me give you an example of set and setting. If you take LSD under the following conditions: you’ve just escaped from prison where they want to put you in the gas chamber, and you find yourself in a hotel in Palm Springs where the FBI is having its local convention, that is bad set and bad setting."

The Psychedelic Salon

DMT receptor has been discovered

February 12, 2009
Molecular biology
Chemical & Engineering News

Sophie L. Rovner

Receptor's Binding Partner Identified

Shamans' hallucinogen that is also produced by the body binds to nervous system receptor

A hallucinogenic compound found in psychoactive snuffs and sacramental teas used in native shamanic rituals in South America has helped elucidate the role of a receptor found throughout the nervous system. The sigma-1 receptor was known to bind many synthetic compounds, and it was originally mischaracterized as a receptor for opioid drugs. But its real role in the body remains unknown. However, Arnold E. Ruoho of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and colleagues have now solved one part of the mystery: They have discovered that the receptor's endogenous ligand is N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) (Science 2009, 323, 934).

DMT is not only found in hallucinogenic teas and snuffs but is also produced by enzymes in the body. It's been detected in human urine, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid; in the mammalian lung; and in rodent brains. At least in rodents, DMT levels rise in stressful conditions. Ruoho's group found that DMT inhibits voltage-gated sodium ion channel activity when it binds to sigma-1 receptors on cells.

2008 World Psychedelic Forum: Panel discussion with Doblin, Mckenna, Pendell & Harrison

 

Everything you always wanted to know about psychedelics

As presented at the 2008
World Psychedelic Forum

Download Mp3: PART 1
Download Mp3: PART 2
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Courtesy of: Psychonautica

 Part 1 of the panel discussion from the 2008 World Psychedelic Forum, called "Everything you always wanted to know about psychedelics, a conversation between experts and users" featuring Rick Doblin, Dennis Mckenna, Dale Pendell and Kathleen Harrison. They discuss potentiating magic mushrooms with MAOIs, spiritual growth and psychotic episodes, integrating psychedelic experiences, Dennis Mckenna's psychotic episode/shamanic initiation in La Chorrera, schizophrenia and LSD, using psychedelics frequently at low doses, using LSD to treat cluster headaches, psychedelic drugs as painkillers, opiate addiction, MDMA and opiates, Kratom addictiveness and its use for overcoming addictions.

Part 2 the second installment of the 2 part panel discussion from the 2008 World Psychedelic Forum. The expert panel discusses the chemical composition of Kratom, use of the leaf vs extracts, the analgesic properties of Kratom and Salvia Divinorum. Determining the toxicity of drugs, laboratory testing of drugs on animals, avoiding fear on psychedelic trips, being open to the psychedelic experience, LSD to assist in openness, why bad trips should not be avoided, being convinced that you are dying/going crazy on a trip, keeping energy moving on a trip, getting headaches after a trip, the importance of keeping your body hydrated, using cannabis alongside psychedelics, the importance of diet before a trip, remembering psychedelic experiences afterwards, stating your intention before embarking on a trip, different varieties of Ayahuasca sessions, and the balance of masculine and feminine energies.

From: Psychonautica

www.GaianBotanicals.com

2 TED Talks: Featuring Wade Davis

Wade Davis Ph.D. is a Harvard graduate and former student of Professor Richard Evans Shultes. He holds degrees in Anthropology, Biology and Ethnobotany and is also a professional writer, photographer, and filmmaker currently working with National Geographic. The feature film "Serpent and the Rainbow" was based on Davis's doctoral thesis on Haitian Voodoo Witchdoctors and the science behind zombification. He has done extensive fieldwork with Ayahuasca, Magic Mushrooms, DMT containing snuffs and other entheogens / psychotropic plant medicines. Last but not least he is dedicated conservationist who believes humanity's greatest legacy is the "ethnosphere," the cultural counterpart to the biosphere, and "the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness." He beautifully articulates the intellectual, emotional and moral reasons why it's in everyone's best interest to preserve the world's cultures.. I'm certain you will enjoy these TED talks, they are well worth your time to watch or listen to.

Download: in Mp3 Format

Wade Davis: Cultures at the far edge of the world with stunning photos and stories, National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the world's indigenous cultures, which are disappearing from the planet at an alarming rate. 

You can learn more about the Kogi HERE. Also in the National Geographic story entitled "Keepers of the World"

Wade Davis serves on the councils of Ecotrust and other NGOs working to protect diversity. He also co-founded Cultures on the Edge, a quarterly online magazine designed to raise awareness of threatened communities.

Horizons 2008: Perspectives on Psychedelics

The second annual Horizons forum is for learning about psychedelics. It seeks to open a fresh dialogue about psychedelics and challenges society to rethink their role in history, culture, medicine, spirituality and art. Featuring a small group of dedicated researchers and activists who have orchestrated a renaissance in psychedelic research that is re-shaping the public's understanding of these unique substances. Horizons brings together some of the brightest minds and boldest voices in this movement to share their research, insights and dreams for the future.

Streaming Audio 64kbps: Horizons 2008

To download, right click on any file size and save as:

Download the complete conference *
MP3 ZIP 64Kbps [165 MB]
MP3 ZIP VBR Mp3 [238 MB]
*The Shulgins talk must be downloaded separately.

Individual Audio Files	160Kbps MP3	64Kbps MP3	VBR MP3
Allan Hunt Badiner	55 MB	22 MB	31 MB
Dan Merkur	54 MB	22 MB	31 MB
Daniel Pinchbeck	52 MB	21 MB	30 MB
David Nichols	56 MB	22 MB	32 MB
Dmitri Mugianis	33 MB	13 MB	19 MB
Rick Doblin	57 MB	23 MB	33 MB
Robert Forte	45 MB	18 MB	26 MB
Roland Griffiths	61 MB	24 MB	36 MB
*The Shulgins	N/A	N/A	50 MB

Horizons

2008 Burning Man: Entheon Village Lecture Series

 *NOTE: These files are now available again. Download them while you can.

Here are some mp3 recordings from Entheon Village's Lecture Series held at the 2008 Burning Man! The links are listed below for your convenience and are hosted by CSSDP. Should you have any of the other talks, please email me or post the links in to the comments of this entry. Last but not least, if you find these talks of value please donate to CSSDP or MAPS.

Sasha and Ann Shulgin
MAPS/Shulgin_Sascha_Ann.mp3

Rick Doblin:
entheon08/doblin_1.mp3
entheon08doblin_2.mp3

Sameet Kumar, Matt Johnson, Alicia Danforth:
entheon08/panel1_1.mp3
entheon08/panel1_3.mp3

Troy Dayton, Randolph Hencken, and Rick Doblin:
entheon08/panel2_1.mp3
pinchbeck_1.mp3

Daniel Pinchbeck:
entheon08/pinchbeck_2.mp3
entheon08/pinchbeck_3.mp3

Charles Shaw:
entheon08/shaw_1.mp3
entheon08/shaw_2.mp3

www.GaianBotanicals.com

Scientists study the brain & consciousness of people near death.

The University of Southampton has just launched the world's largest scientific study (ever) of near-death experiences. What I want to know is, will this confirm DMT is in deed the Spirit Molecule? Entheogenic minds want to know.
-EROCx1

Published by: ScienceDaily
Adapted from materials by University of Southampton.

The AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation) study is to be launched by the Human Consciousness Project of the University of Southampton - an international collaboration of scientists and physicians who have joined forces to study the human brain, consciousness and clinical death.

The study is led by Dr Sam Parnia, an expert in the field of consciousness during clinical death, together with Dr Peter Fenwick and Professors Stephen Holgate and Robert Peveler of the University of Southampton. Following a successful 18-month pilot phase at selected hospitals in the UK, the study is now being expanded to include other centres within the UK, mainland Europe and North America.

"Contrary to popular perception," Dr Parnia explains, "death is not a specific moment. It is a process that begins when the heart stops beating, the lungs stop working and the brain ceases functioning - a medical condition termed cardiac arrest, which from a biological viewpoint is synonymous with clinical death.

"During a cardiac arrest, all three criteria of death are present. There then follows a period of time, which may last from a few seconds to an hour or more, in which emergency medical efforts may succeed in restarting the heart and reversing the dying process. What people experience during this period of cardiac arrest provides a unique window of understanding into what we are all likely to experience during the dying process."

A number of recent scientific studies carried out by independent researchers have demonstrated that 10-20 per cent of people who go through cardiac arrest and clinical death report lucid, well structured thought processes, reasoning, memories and sometimes detailed recall of events during their encounter with death.

During the AWARE study, doctors will use sophisticated technology to study the brain and consciousness during cardiac arrest. At the same time, they will test the validity of out of body experiences and claims of being able to 'see' and 'hear' during cardiac arrest.

The AWARE study will be complemented by the BRAIN-1 (Brain Resuscitation Advancement International Network - 1) study, in which the research team will conduct a variety of physiological tests in cardiac arrest patients, as well as cerebral monitoring techniques that aim to identify methods to improve the medical and psychological care of patients who have undergone cardiac arrest.

Dr Parnia formally announced the launch of the AWARE study at an international symposium held at the United Nations on September 11.

www.GaianBotanicals.com

Treating Childhood Schizophrenia with Psychedelics

Psychedelic Salon Podcast #156
Guest speakers: Gary Fisher and Charlie Grob
Subscribe to the Salon: HERE
Download this talk: MP3                 
PCs - Right click, select option
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In 1963, Dr. Gary Fisher wrote a paper titled:

"An Investigation to Determine Therapeutic Effectiveness of LSD-25 and Psilocybin on Hospitalized Severely Emotionally Disturbed Children"

The complete paper is available in HTML and PDF

[From the above report]
We have given treatment to 12 patients. They have ranged in age from 4 years, 10 months to 12 years, 11 months. The average age is 9 years, 10 months. All patients are severely emotionally disturbed and are considered variants of childhood schizophrenia and infantile autism. Nine Children are considered to be childhood schizophrenics, one case of symbiotic, infantile psychosis and one case of manic-depressive psychosis.
. . .
We have found that the patients who have responded best to the treatment are those who: have speech; are more schizophrenic than autistic; older (10 to 12 yrs.); exhibit more blatant psychotic symptomatology
. . .
The working hypothesis of this study is that the psychosis is a massive defensive structure in the service of protecting and defending the patient against his feeling and effectual states. The experiences that have produced such painful and frightening affect have been repressed and the feelings produced by such traumas have been denied. Consequently, the individual has built a massive control system wherein all experience is denied and he exists in an isolated, unfeeling condition which renders him helpless and incapacitated. The psychedelic drugs have the potential of breaking this psychotic control which then allows the individual to re-experience his trauma and to again experience his feelings.

This phenomena has been amply proven with our work with these severely disturbed children, wherein they return to traumatic experiences and re-live and re-experience them. By working through these painful episodes the patient is then able to rid himself of the horror of them, to reevaluate their significance and be freed of the psychic effects of their repression. This process has been repeatedly observed in our psychotic children. The transcendental experience, often described in the literature, has occurred with 4 of our children. It might be added that we were very surprised to see this experience occur in such disturbed and young children.
 

---

Articles by Dr. Gary Fisher from the Albert Hofmann Foundation:

• Dosage Of Psychedelic Compounds For Psychotherapeutic Experiences [Print-friendly]
• Death, Identity, and Creativity
• Counter-Transference Issues in Psychedelic Psychotherapy
• Treatment of Childhood Schizophrenia Utilizing LSD and Psilocybin
• Successful Outcome of a Single LSD Treatment in a Chronically Dysfunctional Man
• The Psychotherapeutic Use Of Psychodysleptic Drugs by Dr. Fisher and Joyce Martin M.D.
• Psychotherapy for the Dying: Principles and Illustrative Cases with Special Reference to the use of LSD  by Gary Fisher, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor, Division of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, School of Public Health. University of California, Los Angeles

The article below is one referred to in Gary Fisher's conversation
Ayahuasca and Cancer: One Man's Experience by Donald M. Topping, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, University of Hawai'i

www.PsychedelicSalon.org

Psychedelic drugs could heal thousands

By: Andrew Feldmár
From: guardian.co.uk
Tuesday August 19 2008

Andrew Feldmár has been practising psychotherapy in Vancouver, Canada for 38 years. He writes:

There is a horrible sense of meaninglessness and chaos that comes from the extreme loneliness of being cut off. Trauma, whether sustained in the family, or in the military during combat, renders millions feeling unsafe, insecure, mistrustful, and in the end isolated, lonely and desperate. Judith Lewis Herman, who wrote the definitive book on trauma and recovery, stated that all so-called mental illness and suffering could be seen as a person's misguided attempt to survive trauma. Fear separates, love unites. We all wish to grow to freedom, to belong, to participate. Hatred is like gangrene, shame is deadly. Forgiveness is but a faint hope.

Sandoz began to market LSD in 1947 as a psychiatric panacea, the cure for everything from schizophrenia to criminal behaviour, sexual perversions, alcoholism, and other addictions. During a 15-year period beginning in 1950, research on LSD and other hallucinogens generated over 1,000 scientific papers, several dozen books and six international conferences, and LSD was prescribed as an adjunct of psychotherapy to over 40,000 patients. The current research using psychedelics heralds a reawakening to the magnificent healing possibilities of these now prohibited substances. After over 40 years of repression or oppression, Rick Doblin of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps), and others are spearheading a more enlightened, less hysterical and terrified approach to the use of these substances. I am participating in what hopefully will be Canada's first government approved clinical trials in 40 years, sponsored and organised by Maps, evaluating MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for subjects with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder.

There are many other applications of psychedelic psychotherapy, such as ibogaine, or ayahuasca for the treatment of substance abuse. Large numbers of people could benefit from the use of psychedelics as entheogens, introducing people to spiritual experiences, reducing pain and suffering due to isolation, by the irresistible realisation that each of us is a small part of something much greater than any of us, that separateness is an illusion, there is nothing to fear, and love is accessible, shame can be left permanently behind. Rites of passage, responsibly organised, could benefit everyone.

Despite prohibition, people have often asked me to attend their own psychedelic experiments, to keep them safe, to guide them towards liberation, the end of automatic habit patterns, kneejerk reactions, towards heartfelt responses, love, acceptance and forgiveness. After one session with MDMA, people were able to sustain insights gained, without further assistance from the drug. Psychotherapy proceeded faster and deeper than before: the debilitating effects of shame have been annulled, heavily defended hearts opened, and stayed open, and people acquired the ability to enjoy the sacrament of every living moment without distraction by past regrets or future worries. No small gains!

After three LSD sessions, a patient emerged from what was labelled chronic psychotic depression (she had attempted suicide three times, had been hospitalised, and given several courses of ECT, major antipsychotics and antidepressants), and was able to hold a job, derive pleasure from her days, and look forward to cultivating a varied garden of delights. She moved from cursing me for not letting her die to blessing me for the surprising freedom that opened up for her as a result of her LSD experiences. Psychotherapy, without LSD, would not have been enough, I'm afraid.

I can only hope that if new research with psychedelics proceeds in a responsible, careful and creative manner, the powers that be can begin to support and foster further research into this fascinating realm. I was 27 when I first tasted this incredible substance called LSD. Now I am 68 and for the last two years have been persona non grata in the US, because a border guard Googled my name, and found an article I wrote many years ago on entheogen-assisted psychotherapy. I hope I will be invited into the US before I die to teach professionals how to use psychedelics for the benefit of all.

www.GaianBotanicals.com

A Case in Defense of Salvia divinorum

I was recently approached by Brent McDonald & Kevin Sack from the New York Times who were producing a newspaper article and video story on Salvia divinorum with an emphasis on its current legal struggles. One of the producers contacted me to arrange a telephone interview which after reviewing some of Brent and Kevin's work, I accepted and conducted on August 1, 2008. While I believe these journalist and film makers are honorable people wanting to share a fair and honest story. I have some trepidation as to how the editors and executives of national news corporation will influence the final version of the story. So as soon as the interview concluded. I wrote down my version of what was said. This entry was written from those notes.

I did my interview today and am pretty pleased with how it went. At first it seemed their primary interest in me was my perspective as the proprietor of Gaian Botanicals. However I tried not to focus too much on that and steered our conversation more towards the plant and the issues that encompass it.

The first thing I said was go to Entheogen.com and read what the members had to say about this interview. I consulted them the day prior, seeking their input and wisdom.
I asked the journalist interviewing me if he had tried Salvia divinorum? Unfortunately he replied with a no. I recommended that any professional investigator preparing a national story on an ineffable experience should at least invest 15 minutes and try the herb. It's like someone reporting on a religion and the person being interviewed said, "Do you want to meet my god?" And the interviewer says, "No." Why wouldn't you? It’s safe and legal. I honestly do not believe anyone could possibly comprehend Salvia divinorum without directly experiencing it. Maybe he will try it, maybe he won’t. That’s his personal and private choice, but I hope he does.

He was familiar with most of the major the scientific literature already so there was really no point in repeating what he already knew. I made it clear the Salvia divinorum is NOT like any other psychedelic.

Yes this includes Marijuana, LSD, Magic Mushrooms or any other of more commonly known psychedelics. This comparison is all too commonly used by the media and is more inaccurate then claiming all food tastes the same and has the same nutritional properties or that all medicine is the same. These analogies are absurd.

I continued with the my main question, why make Salvia divinorum illegal? It is likely that over the past decade at least a million of people from around the world have tried it in some form. No one has died, became ill, addicted, mentally deranged or suffered any other from of disability due to Salvia. This is even with production of extracts and cultivation being somewhat underground. Not regulated like food or medicine offered at your retail store and still no ill effects with Salvia. The chemicals sold by your neighborhood pharmacy are probably more toxic.

The government technically does not have the authority to declare something Schedule 1 unless it’s a hazard to public safety, addictive and / or has NO medical use. Salvia divinorum is not a threat; it is the opposite of addictive and has demonstrated significant potential medical use in the treatment of depression, addiction, among other possibilities. Doctors will not be able to determine its best medicinal uses until they have had an opportunity to thoroughly investigate and research it.

This plant is unique. Fist of all Salvinorin A is a Diterpenoid which acts as a kappa opioid receptor agonist. This is important because it is the first known compound with such action that is not an alkaloid. All of the other known hallucinogens are Tryptamines and Phenethylamines which act on the Serotonergic system.

Salvinorin A practically sets a speed record for how fast it crosses the blood brain barrier. If one were developing medicines which must rapidly reach the brain, Salvinorin would be a good compound to study. What all of this means to science and medicine is that Salvia contains a completely unique pharmacological action previously unknown thus it extremely valuable to humanity. Not only to learn more on how the brain works, but also for its potential medicinal value. Shouldn’t these discoveries be celebrated instead of persecuted?

Most legislators argue Salvia is similar to illegal substances therefore it too should be illegal. The Federal government all ready has a law that makes any substance similar to illegal substances also illegal. It’s called the Analog Act. This only further proves (as previously mentioned) that Salvia is special and is not like the other classic psychedelics.

Please keep in mind when these things are made illegal, they are not only restricted for use by ordinary people. They are restricted from scientific study. Unless your a government lab trying to maintain the illegal status. Well except a few recent scientific studies which have been allowed for DMT, Psilocybin and MDMA. The authorities were finally forced to admit that the most powerful substances known to act upon the human mind may have some medical use? Something most people who have experimented with them already knew.

My friend Fraser Clark once said only two things can change a person in a single instant: Psychoactive drugs, and direct religious experience. The greatest transformation would then come via a synthesis of these two: a religious experience created by psychoactive drugs. This is a very wise and true observation. The ancient institution of Shamanism has relied on these powerful tools for such purposes since pre-history. In fact it is completely plausible that entheogens have played a significant role in our human evolution. But that’s another story for another day. When addressing the public in general, I don’t want to get too far out of their current belief system.

Back to the legal status. Today we have let some thirty-five years of potential scientific study be wasted. In a field of medicine with the potential to aid victims of war, rape, molestation, abuse, assaults and traumas. Medicines that can reduce the anxieties of the terminally ill dying from cancer and other horrible diseases. Help them come to better terms with their death.

Drug addiction and alcoholism could have been cured. Making families more loving, healthy and happy. Over 35 years of scientific and medical progress lost, all due to paranoia of entheogens? Well that’s sorta off topic of Salvia, but I wanted to lay out some of the consequences of illegalization. Lets just end this point by stating the issue is not that Salvia is threat to public safety; the issue is that the establishment fears psychedelics. Free thinking isn’t conducive to controlling a population. They want everyone to fit within the cultural paradigm of being good little consumer robots who go about playing their game and following the rules with out questioning their authority or motives. In the 60's the US government wanted to escalate the war in Vietnam and large parts of the population were using psychedelics. The authority’s propaganda was not effective and the people would not tolerate the actions of their government. Therefore the government had to put an end it to it all. Of course many mistakes were made by the drug users of that era. It was all too new. We know much more about these things now.

California and Maine have taken very reasonable and wise steps in regulating Salvia. No sales to minors. Everyone in the Salvia divinorum community applauds this. We hate to see kids acting stupid on YouTube more then anyone. I wish Salvia were inaccessible to minors. I am a parent and I don't want my kids using anything either. My wife and I are very involved with our children's life and take the responsibility to educate them and raise them to make wise decisions. My interest in entheogens is private; I don't talk about or use anything in their presence. If when they are responsible adults, they choose to explore this domain. I will be glad that I have some wisdom and guidance to offer on the topic. Not what most uninformed parents offer.

When it comes to teens. As it’s always been, some will be determined to get high. If Salvia is what they get their hands on. It’s allot better then what this demographic has used in the past. Paint, glue or solvent huffing, computer duster inhaling, prescription drug abuse or even worse. Dangerous and addictive drugs that poison the mind and body and can lead toward destructive and criminal lifestyles. That’s not what Salvia is, nor will it ever be. Not in the least. This distinction must be made crystal clear.

This is about Americans just surrendering their rights and not caring about freedom. We have become so conditioned to just doing what we are told. As the late Terence McKenna said. "If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include cognitive liberty, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on." I didn’t have the exact quote with me in my car, but I like my version better.

He asked me of the Salvia users I knew, what are they like? Based on my circle of friends and people I know from the net. Most who choose Salvia. Do so initially because they don’t want to be made criminals. It’s a legal option as many have families and jobs that would be threatened by using illegal drugs. Also if you have just a half-hour with no kids, work or other responsibilities. You could have an effective entheogenic experience. It brings some magic and amazement to your day. An alternate perspective for self reflection and you don’t need 8 hours of nothing to do to have this experience. As I said most users I know, are responsible tax paying citizens. They just choose to make this experience part of their life. They find it a useful tool. For many reasons. Some people I know try it and never want to try it again. Salvia isn’t a match for everyone; in fact its not for most. It can be a totally boundary dissolving, reality model smashing experience. For some it totally astonishes them, they come back and can’t believe it. They run to a mirror to see if they are indeed themselves awake and not dreaming and if what they witnessed really happened. It gives one a lot to think about.

I’ve always valued entheogens for reflecting on my own self. It helps reach clarity to what’s most important in your life. What work must be performed on yourself and in your relationships. What habits you must end and what interests you should peruse. Prior to my first being turned on. I felt like a cultural robot executing the code I was programmed to follow. This was my individuality and freedom I thought I had.

Being an medically diagnosed insomniac, back in the early 90’s I ended up an underground party in search of a little fun. Upon entry someone I slightly knew handed me a piece of Starburst candy that had LSD dropped on it. I didn’t even know it until another friend said you’re going to get really high. I thought how potent could a Starburst be? I danced all night, the music, lights, colors and people where all amazing. My senses have never been so inundated. I had these thoughts I never thought before. I discovered my inner voice. Separated not only from my friends, but reality. I recall wandering the day glow lit warehouse in a state of trance, and then I heard a voice say. “Ok walk over here, find your friends. Don’t look at the two guys making out in the corner. Don't eat, drink or smoke anything. Sober up.” Then I thought. Who said that? Voices? OK Symptom A your insane. No. Once I learned I had this voice that was commanding my being. I was able to make some positive changes in my life. I was able to deal with my subconscious and change my mental programming.

Well not by this experience alone. I was greatly influenced by some really amazing people who I was fortunate enough to encounter back then. Mainly Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson and Terence McKenna along with many other individuals with extraordinary ideas and philosophies. In fact as I speak to you know I can hear the bard’s novel voice, sorta as if I am channeling him or perhaps just straight out plagiarizing. But in this case I don't think he would mind. With out this experience, I would have never taken the path I have and that would be a tragedy. To deny this experience to people should be the crime.

I must make it clear for the record. I do not use or posses any illegal substances. At this phase in my life, Salvia and psychedelic thinking are more then enough to satisfy my entheogenic needs. Mostly I enjoy the philosophy and theory of it all. I like to read, participate on forums and listen to podcasts like my friend Lorenzo’s Psychedelic Salon. By doing so I am able to benefit simply by taking in other peoples reflections on their experiences.

The thing that really bothers me most is the criminalization of plants. Who the hell do we think we are? If you are religious most likely you believe the earth and everything on it was created by a god. If you’re an atheist or evolutionist you probably believe there was a big bang, everything came together and 13 billion years of cosmic evolution labored to bring all the life found on earth in to existence. How egotistical can humans be to come along and declare parts of this miraculous creation illegal? That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. There is a total disrespect of nature. But look at the environment; this shouldn’t be news to anyone. It’s our blindly following those in power that will drive our species into extinction.

The rest of the talk was stuff we all know. The effects of Salvia range from mild to profound and last about 15 minutes. A little of the history of Salvia from the Mazatecan shamans, re-discovery by Wasson & Hoffman. All the way up to making her emergence onto the Internet and probably on her path to extinction. But we won’t let her go with out our best effort to keep her legal. She is an intelligent plant spirit. Evading the Inquisition and all attempts to stomp out the use of Shamanic plants. We talked about the communities’ attempts to keep Salvia legal. Being that this is not currently a Federal matter. Its difficult to organize state by state, now we must even watch county and city ordinances. Just knowing the law of the Country is difficult enough, let alone fight all the smaller battles. There is presently no national organization of Salvia users taking political action. Maybe there should be, or are we too late?

Thank you for reading this. Please feel free to share this with others. I would appreciate a link back to this blog or my website.

Namasté,
EROCx1, D.D.

www.GaianBotanicals.com