Sunday, 06. July 2008
Sacred Weeds - Salvia Divinorum

Sacred Weeds was a four part television series of 50 minute documentaries investigating the cultural impact of psychoactive plants on a broad array of early civilisations.
This is part two: Salvia Divinorum

Salvia divinorum, also known as Diviner’s Sage, aka María Pastora, Sage of the Seers, or simply by the genus name, Salvia, is a powerful psychoactive herb.

It has a long continuing tradition of use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans, who use it to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions. It was first recorded in print by Jean Basset Johnson in 1939 as he was studying Mazatec shamanism. He later documented its usage and reported its effects through personal testimonials. It was not until the 1990s that the psychoactive mechanism was identified by a team led by Daniel Siebert.

Each episode began and ended with Dr Andrew Sherratt inscribing his diary with his reflections on the series' scientific and cultural investigations. In each episode the series investigated one psychoactive plant and its cultural significance. Three specialists of various scientific disciplines were invited to monitor two volunteers who had taken each plant. After the four episodes, Sherratt assigned considerably more significance to the psychoactive properties of plants in ancient civilization and the prehistoric period than expert knowledge hitherto.

The scientists in this part:
  • Dr Françoise Barbira-Freedman, medical anthropologist and lecturer at the University of Cambridge
  • Dr Tim Kendall, psychiatrist and director of the Centre for Psychotherapeutic Studies
  • Dr Jon Robbins, pharmacologist at King's College London

    and the volunteers: Daniel Siebert and Sean Thomas


Sacred Weeds - Salvia Divinorum by Channel 4, 1998
Runtime: 68 minutes




You may also like:
Daniel Siebert's website:
The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center

Salvia divinorum Scotland: Salvia Menu

Related Entry:
Sacred Weeds - Henbane
Category: Lunacy & Psychedelic | Movies & TV |




Wednesday, 28. May 2008
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies - MAPS

What is the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies - MAPS?




Psychedelic Drugs As Medicine:



More questions answered by Dr. Julie Holland, Psychiatrist on VideoJug: Psychedelics.


The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a U.S.-based non-profit organization that assists scientists to design, fund, obtain approval for and report on studies into the risks and benefits of psychedelic drugs (including MDMA, ibogaine and cannabis).

MAPS' mission is to develop these drugs into FDA-approved prescription medicines, and to educate the public honestly about their risks and benefits. The organization was founded by Rick Doblin in 1986.

See also this Interview with Rick Doblin.


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Signed, Limited Edition Albert Hofmann Portrait, by Robert Venosa
Click the picture for a larger view


The Spring 2008 Special Edition of the MAPS Bulletin on "Technology and Psychedelics" is now available for download and online browsing as both a single PDF file (8 MB) or as individual PDFs of each article broken-out, features testimony from individuals who have used psychedelics for creative inspiration.

Exerpt from 'Letter from the Editor David Jay Brown':

An LSD experience can be subjectively viewed as an "atomic explosion" or "nuclear meltdown" of the mind.

Likewise, the penetrating perspective gleaned from a mescaline experience seems strangely similar to the seethrough point of view provided by X-ray photography, as both have the ability to make normally invisible aspects of the world visible.

A number of people - including Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, who discovered LSD - have suggested that LSD might have been discovered in 1943 as a spiritual antidote to the apocalyptic dangers of nuclear weapons that now threaten the survival of our species.

Whether these speculations are true or not, Western science's discovery of psychedelic chemicals lead to an intimate and unusually creative relationship with technology.
Since psychedelics affect all aspects of the human mind, they affect every aspect of human culture. Science, art, medicine, politics, philosophy, and spirituality have all been transformed by individuals experienced with the psychedelic mind state, as has the major hallmark of our species' success - our ability to design tools. The interplay between technological innovation and psychedelic mind states has substantially influenced many aspects of electronic media and biotechnology - including the development of new film techniques and cinematic special effects, personal computers, the internet, and genetic engineering.


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Front Cover
Category: Lunacy & Psychedelic |




Tuesday, 29. April 2008
The Art of Travis Louie

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Hypno-Krampus

This fastidious Krampus always has a pair of disembodied hands levitating in front of it, constantly gesturing like some vaudeville magician(at times, even performing "slight of hand" tricks) For the most part, he uses his hypnotic gaze to put children into a trance, convincing them that they are chickens or chartered accountants working for a firm about to be audited by some large, ruthless government agency(scary stuff).


Spooky pop surrealist Travis Louie created his own imaginary world that is grounded in Victorian and Edwardian times.

It is inhabited by human oddities, mythical beings, and otherworldly characters who appear to have had their formal portraits taken to mark their existence and place in society.

The underlining thread that connects all these characters is the unusual circumstances that shape who they were and how they lived. Some of their origins are a complete mystery while others are hinted at.

He's created portraits from an alternate universe that seemingly may or may not have existed.

Travis Louie is also one of 50 Artists featured in the second publication entitled Metamorphosis 2.
Category: Art & Visions | Demons & Devils | Lunacy & Psychedelic |


Saturday, 09. February 2008
Psychedelic Shamanism

This book is a bona fide classic of psychedelic literature. It separates its subject into two parts: The Shamanic Hypothesis, and Psychedelic Catalysts. The first part focuses on experience; the second on the plants, their psychedelic chemicals, and how to grow and ingest them. The writing is calm, clear and vivid; and the various warnings and advice given should be taken very seriously indeed.

Here's a brief quote from the "Extraction Prodedures" chapter:

"In most aboriginal cultures, the extraction process for psychedelic plants is quite simple; as often as not, the shaman just boils down the raw materials in a pot and then drinks the concentrated brew.

We come from a different tradition with different beliefs and expectations. For one thing, our 'civilized' tastes have been refined to the point where we have difficulty in ingesting anything we perceive as bitter or repulsive -- this, unfortunately, applies to most psychoactive botanicals.

I know of no plant hallucinogen that actually tastes good, which I would want to eat even if it weren't a psychedelic.

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Westerners generally prefer pure compounds in the form of pills or capsules that can be easily swallowed, an efficiency which makes up in acceleration what it loses in verisimilitude."

Psychedelic Shamanism: The Cultivation, Preparation & Shamanic Use of Psychoactive Plants by Jim DeKorne.
Loompanics Unlimited, 1994-05 | 155 pages | PDF | 3.5 MB
Category: Books & Magazines | Ethno & Shamanism | Lunacy & Psychedelic |


Wednesday, 23. January 2008
The Psychedelic Salon

The Psychedelic Salon is a political and spiritual podcast, a source for cutting edge information about the exploration and expansion of consciousness. Featured speakers include Terence McKenna, Alex Grey, Daniel Pinchbeck, Erik Davis, Ann and Sasha Shulgin, Nick Sand and more. You can access all of these podcasts for free at Psychedelic Salon.

The latest podcast:
Terence McKenna, Ralph Abraham, Rupert Sheldrake discuss "Cannabis".
Listen:




Program Notes:

Terence McKenna: "In the absence of cannabis the dream life seems to become much richer. This causes me to sort of form a theory, just for my own edification, that cannabis must in some sense thin the boundary between the conscious and unconscious mind. … And if you smoke cannabis, the energy which would normally be channeled into dreams is instead manifest in the reveries of the cannabis intoxication."

Terence McKenna: "And what I really value about cannabis is the way in which it allows one to be taken by surprise by unexpected ideas."

Terence McKenna: "For the 19th century, and for all of European civilization, cannabis was something that was eaten in the form of various sugared confections that were prepared. And this method of ingestion changes cannabis into an extremely powerful psychedelic experience. … For the serious eater of hashish, it is the portal into a true artificial paradise whose length and breadth is equal to that of any of the artificial paradises that we’ve discovered in modern psychedelic pharmacology."

Terence McKenna: "To my mind, the whole of Indian and Middle Eastern civilization is steeped in the ambiance of hashish."

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Terence McKenna: "Hashish, cannabis, has an ambiance of its own. It has a morphogenetic field, and if you enter into that morphogenic field you enter into an androgynous, softened, abstract, colorful, and extraordinarily beautiful world."

Ralph Abraham: "It [cannabis] is medicine for cultural evolution."

Terence McKenna: "If I judiciously control my intake of cannabis, it like gives me a second wind and a third wind to go forward with creative activity."

Terence McKenna: "It can turn you into a stupor, sort of lazy, loutish person. On the other hand, it can allow you to do very hard work for very long periods of time. So you sort of have to manage it, and I think a lot of people don’t learn to manage it."
Category: Herbs & Kitchen | Lunacy & Psychedelic | Music & Voices |


Sunday, 25. June 2006
Sacred Weeds - Henbane

This documentary is a scientific study on Henbane, a plant used by witches.

Henbane - Hyoscyamus niger - also known as Hen Pen, Henbell, Devil's Eye, Hog's-bean, Jupiter's-bean, Symphonica, Cassilata, Cassilago, Deus Caballinus, and Jusquiame - Henbane is one of the herbs of the underworld. Ritually it is used to summon spirits, relatives who have passed into other lives, and beings who live in the astral realms, though this sort of work should not be undertaken lightly and only if you are adept in this area. Common usage of Henbane is in working with increased psychic perception and clairvoyancy. Due to its toxic nature of this herb, it is best used as an incense. The root is the safest part of the plant and as such it can be gathered, dried and worn as an amulet. You can hang bunches of Henbane up to dry by the hinges of outer doors to protect against negative energy. Henbane was used ritually in ancient Scotland, apparently in connection with the dead. In Greek mythology, the dead who wander the shores of the River Styx are crowned with henbane, most likely because of its real life ability to make one forget oneself. Planetary Ruler is Saturn.



This streaming video takes 47 minutes 10 seconds.

Notes from the diary of Dr. Andrew Sherratt.
Category: Lunacy & Psychedelic | Magick & Witchcraft | Movies & TV |


Tuesday, 09. May 2006
Medijate & Skyhaseyes

Medijate - Organic Green Spirit Digital by Larry Carlson.
Very crazy and psychedelic interactive flash movies.

Larry Carlson is a visionary multi media artist. Working with computers he creates artwork that is completely mind blowing. Tech TV called him "The Salvador Dali of the Next Century", and High Times magazine labeled him an "artistic mastermind". What sets his work apart is how he is almost magically able to capture the multi-colored iridescent visions and patterns of the inner psyche.

This is another projekt by Larry Carlson:

Your daily dose of surreal energy. Featuring new and old flash movies, videos, soundtracks, web art, digital and mixed media artworks.

Skyhaseyes

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And this is his main site: Imaginary Places
Category: Lunacy & Psychedelic |


Wednesday, 04. January 2006
Spiritual Healing

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Zu (feat. Okapi) Vs. Dalek:
Spiritual Healing (55MB)

Lavish art/music experience with cut-out medieval stuff. A project delivered to us by 47thfloor. Psychedelic and hallucinating - nevertheless fascinating ...


I put the clip on my faster server because the server at 47thfloor is very slow.


Background-Info:

Zu (feat. Okapi) Vs. Dalek
=
Roman Jazz vs. NY Beats

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Category: Lunacy & Psychedelic | Music & Voices |


Saturday, 26. November 2005
Carlos Castaneda’s Don Juan’s Teachings & Doors of Perception

For your weekend reading: Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan's Teachings - a compilation of Don Juan's teachings. Much reading makes tired? You can also listen to the compilation on 16, 45 minute MP3s. (English)

Who was Carlos Castenada?

Critics say the work is not ethnographically accurate and is a work of fiction.

Castaneda's books are full of stories of magic, sorcery, and out-of-body experiences. His first books hit the market during the late 1960s when LSD guru Timothy Leary was advising the world to "turn on, tune in, drop out." The LSD gurus believe that the chemical changes in their brains, which cause them to perceive the world differently and to perceive different worlds, bring them into a divine realm. Getting high meant opening the doors of perception to a higher reality. Castaneda could not have had better timing for his books.

More by Skeptic's Dictionary. (English)

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Fast reader?

If you're done with Don Juan then here's an online copy of the entirety of Aldous Huxley's 'Doors of Perception'. (English)

It was in 1886 that the German pharmacologist, Louis Lewin, published the first systematic study of the cactus, to which his own name was subsequently given. Anhalonium lewinii was new to science. To primitive religion and the Indians of Mexico and the American Southwest it was a friend of immemorially long standing. Indeed, it was much more than a friend. In the words of one of the early Spanish visitors to the New World, "they eat a root which they call peyote, and which they venerate as though it were a deity."

Category: Books & Magazines | Ethno & Shamanism | Lunacy & Psychedelic |


Wednesday, 02. November 2005
LSD Symposium 2006

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Unter dem Titel «The Spirit of Basel» präsentiert die Gaia Media Stiftung Veranstaltungen zu Phänomenen und Themen des menschlichen Bewusstseins:

LSD - Sorgenkind und Wunderdroge
(German version)


Internationales Symposium zum 100. Geburtstag von Albert Hofmann
13. – 15. Januar 2006, Kongresszentrum Basel

LSD - drei Buchstaben veränderten die Welt. Seit dem 19. April 1943, als der Schweizer Chemiker Dr. Albert Hofmann diese psychoaktive Substanz entdeckte, erlebten Millionen Menschen auf der ganzen Welt wundersame Halluzinationen, tiefgreifende psychologische und spirituelle Erfahrungen, erdachten und schufen alternative Gesellschaftsformen, neue Musik und Kunst, erfuhren Heilung von Sucht oder Depression, erhielten nie gekannte Einsichten in das menschliche Bewusstsein.

Tagesthemen:
Freitag, 13. Januar - Von den Pflanzen der Götter zum LSD
Samstag, 14. Januar 2006 - Das ekstatische Abenteuer
Sonntag, 15. Januar 2006 - Neue Dimensionen des Bewusstseins

Under the motto “The Spirit of Basel” the Gaia Media Foundation presents symposiums and congresses to themes and phenomena
of human consciousness:

LSD - Problem Child and Wonder Drug
(English version)

International Symposium on the occasion of the 100th Birthday of Albert Hofmann

13 to 15 January 2006, Convention Center Basel, Switzerland

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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.

Topics:
Friday, 13 January - From the Plants of the Gods to LSD
Saturday, 14 January - The Ecstatic Adventure
Sunday, 15 January - New Dimensions of Consciousness



UPDATE 09.02.07

A Great Find!
"The Bicycle Ride" is a whimsical depiction of Dr. Albert Hofmann's discovery of LSD. This cartoon was debuted at the recent "LSD Symposium" held in honor of Albert Hofmann's 100th birthday in Basel, Switzerland.



Animation by David Normal.
Category: Events & Meetings | Lunacy & Psychedelic |


Thursday, 13. October 2005
Cyber Meditation

Click the Chakras in accurate order - this will bring you to the temple ...

Huh!

On the one hand jazzy - on the other hand bizarre.

Cyber Meditation by Yolanda

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Category: Lunacy & Psychedelic |


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