Mind Expanding Media Library

How to Operate Your Brain

2008-07-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

A fantastic audio-video, psychedelic, hypnotic, awakening movie, from 1993 !
Turn on, Tune in and Take Charge

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This is an experiment in mind formation, in-formation, forming, controlling, operating your mind and your brain, using digital techniques to overload, scramble, confuse, unfocus your mind.

The natural state of the brain is chaos. We’re dealing with a complexity of in-formation. The first thing to do is to overwhelm your focused mind, your linear mind, by overloading signals, digital patterns, clusters of photons and electrons which produce a pleasant state of confused chaos. This is the state of the brain when it is ready to be informed, that is, to be reprogrammed.

The human brain contains one hundred billion neurons, each neuron is as powerful as a large computer, and each neuron has around ten thousand connections with other neurons. Within our foreheads there is a chaos, inside our brains there is a galaxy of information, which is incomprehensible to our linear minds.

This contrasts and compares perfectly with the chaos without. We’re living in a universe, which has one hundred billion galaxies, each galaxy with star systems, planets, a complexity, again, which to our minds right now is chaotic, incomprehensible.

Chaos is beautiful. Now many times we are afraid because we want order. We can’t deal with the confusion and disorder. We want form. We want rules. Yes, throughout human history there have been people—religious leaders, political leaders—who will give you order. They will give you rules and commandments.

But chaos is basically good. Relax. Surf the waves of chaos and learn how to redesign your own realities. Sit back. Flow. Open your eyes. Turn off your minds. Unfocus, and let the waves of chaos roll over your brain. Float. Drift, Zoom. Design. Create new order, your order, your style from chaos.

Yes. Yes. Chaos. Yes, yes, chaos . . .

The aim of human life is to know thyself. Think for yourself. Question authority. Think with your friends. Create, create new realities. Philosophy is a team sport. Philosophy is the ultimate, the ultimate aphrodisiac pleasure. Learning how to operate your brain, learning how to operate your mind, learning how to redesign chaos.

The religious leaders, the political leaders want to give you orders to run your life, to determine how you think. The basic goal is to operate your own mind. Think for yourself.

Around three thousand years ago, a group of human beings in Athens, Greece, developed a new philosophy, a basic religion of humanity that is called humanism. Socrates said that the aim of human life is to know thyself. Create and design your own order from chaos. Socrates did not give commandments. Socrates did not impose order. Socrates asked questions. He encouraged his friends to speculate, design, to create, to interact their own versions of reality. Socrates said the way to perform philosophy is in small groups, raising questions, learning from each other, changing, changing your mind, growing together, thinking together.

The religious leaders said "You can’t say that, Socrates. The gods are in control. Who are you to say you have a self? How dare you think you can know? The Gods determine. Sacrifice to the gods; obey the gods." Socrates said, "No. Look within." For that, they gave Socrates the hemlock, because he dared to tell people, "Think for yourself. Question authority.”

To think for yourself, you must learn how to reprogram, reform, inform your own brain. To do this, to take responsibility for your brain, it is necessary to question everything that you have been taught, to question authority, to learn to take the brave step of taking responsibility for operating your brain. For designing, redesigning, reforming the chaos within.

Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities—the political, the religious, the educational authorities—who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing—forming in our minds—THEIR view of reality. To think for yourself, you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable open-mindedness, chaotic, confused vulnerability to inform yourself.

Think for yourself. Question authority.

Then came Marshall McCluhan, in the 1950's. McCluhan said, in the Socratic sense, "The medium is the message." The words you use, the modes of communication you use determine the realities you inhabit. Most of our lives, most of us live in realities determined by others, imprinted in our brains by education, by religion, by politics, by the authorities. McCluhan said, "If you want to change your mind, change the medium." Change the words you use. Change the mode of communication. If you change the medium, you change yourself. You change your society.

In the 1960’s, a new mode of communication developed: television. The kids growing up in the 1950’s learned how to tune in, turn on, fine tune, turn off, select, determine what hits your eyeballs. You control your eyeballs and your eardrums. You direct, manage the media that program your brain. McCluhan said, "Who controls the media is programming your mind and programming your brain."

We are using in this tape the new media of digital, multimedia, audiographic overload, attempting to create the state of open-mindedness, pleasant vulnerability in which we will in-form and imprint the messages of The Sponsor: "Use your head. Learn how to operate your brain."

To operate your brain you must understand how to use your eyes. "Oh say, can you see?" Oh say, can’t you see what is being done to your eyes? Who controls your eyeballs, controls your mind, imprints your brain. Oh say, can’t you see that the messages that hit your eyeballs in modern television are creating realities, imprinting messages from the sponsors who are not usually interested in your learning how to design your own realities.

Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning! Who controls your screen controls the programs in your mind. Your eyes are the windows of your brain. The eyes are extensions of the brain. The eyes are made up of hundreds of layers of neurons, rods, cones. Your eyeballs deal with one energy: It’s light. Through your eyes come illumination, vision, perception, enlightenment, illumination. Your eyes are the windows of your soul. Who controls your eyeballs programs your brain. Learn how to dial, fine tune your eyeballs. Learn how to unfocus your eyes, dilate your pupils, learn how to open up to illumination and light, and then refocus and redesign your own inner order, your own designs, your own language.

In the 60’s, we said. "Power to the people." In the 90’s, the digital multimedia 90’s, we say, "Power to the pupil."

Illuminate. Enlighten. Envision. Light waves. Sound waves. Light waves. Open eyes. Open mind. Open your brain. Learn how to send messages using electrons. Your brain loves light. Who controls your eyeballs programs your mind.

We are also passing on, in this demonstration, the message of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the first and probably the greatest American philosopher who said, "Divinity lies within." Don’t look to the churches or to the big marble institutions. Your divinity lies within. You must learn to operate your brain, operate your soul. Learn how to communicate brain to brain, soul to soul with other people. Your divinity lies within.

The brain is designed to design realities. If you operate your own brain skillfully, you can learn to design your own realities, learn how to communicate in the language of the brain: electrons and photons. We are doing this now. We are sending messages from our brains, using the vehicle of electrons and photons, to your eyeballs. As we watch this screen, our minds are bedazzled, our minds are softened, our linear, sharp logical thinking is gentled, and we are communicating brain to brain. We are using the electron, computer circuits, to feed each other’s brains with light.

This is the first paragraph, the first attempt, the first child’s primer in how to communicate using both the orderly left brain and the chaotic, confusing language of photons and electrons. The brain is a photovore. Your brain, my brain, our brains live on light. Just as the body needs air and carbohydrates, our brains are starved for light, for illumination, for revelation.

Use your head. Learn how to operate your brain. The brain is designed to design realities.

Marshall McCluhan made the prophecy. He told us that the aim of evolution was to use media to create what we all want: the global village, the language, which can be understood by every human being, by every brain. The basic language of humanity, the language of the brain, lights, sounds, rhythms, pulsating your bones, moving your body. We all know this language. We can all sing and dance this language of electrons, of radio waves, of rhythms.

Now we have digital communication. We can create our fantasies. We can create our rhythms, design on screen. A new language will develop, a global language, not based on letters, not based on grammars, the language which we all understand, based on clusters of waves of light and sound. We all understand. We all celebrate. We all glory in the light, the illumination, the contact, the intersection, the interaction from around the world, the language of form. We will create a language of international, global brain linkup. Anyone in any culture watching this screen will get the general picture. It’s one global village. It’s one global human spirit, one global human race. As we link up through screens, linked by electrons and photons, we will create for the first time a global humanity, not separated by words or minds or nationalities or religious biases.

Now listen to The Message from The Sponsor: "There is one, global human race."

We're just now learning to communicate brain to brain, soul to soul.

Inner Paths to Outer Space

2008-07-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

Journeys to Alien Worlds through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies
Authors: Rick Strassman, M.D., clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and the author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule.
Slawek Wojtowicz, M.D., medical oncologist working for Daiichi-Sankyo in Edison, New Jersey,
a science-fiction illustrator, and the author of Daydreaming.
Luis Eduardo Luna, Ph.D., coauthor (with Pablo Amaringo) of Ayahuasca Visions and director of Wasiwaska:
Research Center for the Study of Psychointegrator Plants, Visionary Art and Consciousness in Florianópolis, Brazil.
Ede Frecska, M.D., is chief of psychiatry at the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Budapest, Hungary,
and a contributing author to Psychedelic Medicine.

Artwork by: Robert Venosa, Martina Hoffmann, Slawek Wojtowicz, Pablo Amaringo and Karl Kofoed.

An investigation into experiences of other realms of existence and contact with otherworldly beings

• Examines how contact with alien life-forms can be obtained through the “inner space” dimensions of our minds

• Presents evidence that other worlds experienced through consciousness-altering technologies are often as real as those perceived with our five senses

• Correlates science fiction’s imaginal realms with psychedelic research

For thousands of years, voyagers of inner space--spiritual seekers, shamans, and psychoactive drug users--have returned from their inner imaginal travels reporting encounters with alien intelligences. Inner Paths to Outer Space presents an innovative examination of how we can reach these other dimensions of existence and contact otherworldly beings. Based on their more than 60 combined years of research into the function of the brain, the authors reveal how psychoactive substances such as DMT allow the brain to bypass our five basic senses to unlock a multidimensional realm of existence where otherworldly communication occurs. They contend that our centuries-old search for alien life-forms has been misdirected and that the alien worlds reflected in visionary science fiction actually mirror the inner space world of our minds. The authors show that these “alien” worlds encountered through altered states of human awareness, either through the use of psychedelics or other methods, possess a sense of reality as great as, or greater than, those of the ordinary awareness perceived by our five senses.

About the Author(s) of Inner Paths to Outer Space
Rick Strassman, M.D., is clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and the author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Slawek Wojtowicz, M.D., is a medical oncologist working in the pharmaceutical industry in Edison, New Jersey, a science-fiction illustrator, and the author of Daydreaming. Luis Eduardo Luna, Ph.D., is coauthor (with Pablo Amaringo) of Ayahuasca Visions and director of Wasiwas--Research Centre for the Study of Psychointegrator Plants, Visionary Art and Consciousness in Florianópolis, Brazil. Ede Frecska, M.D., is chief of psychiatry at the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Budapest, Hungary, and a contributing author to Psychedelic Medicine.

Praise for Inner Paths to Outer Space
“The profoundest inquiries into the nature of reality and the mystery of consciousness are made possible by the psychedelics and other spiritual technologies explored in this astonishing, groundbreaking, and utterly revolutionary book. Written by the maestros of the field, it is exactly the right book at exactly the right time. I found it gripping, thought-provoking, incredibly informative, and--on top of all that--a hugely enjoyable read.”
Graham Hancock, author of Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind and Fingerprints of the Gods
“Those who regularly navigate the hyperspatial landscape that some have called the ‘tryptamine dimension’ have long suspected that the portals to inner and outer space may be one and the same. This book, a collaboration of the most cutting-edge shaman/neuroscientists working in this field, boldly explores this concept in a stunning tour de force.”
Dennis McKenna, Ph.D., coauthor with Terence McKenna of The Invisible Landscape

The Federation of Earth

2008-07-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Sounds like the movie I'v been dreaming to produce, they did it...

Watch the trailer here
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This summer, a film will be released out of San Francisco that is the all-encompassing electronic dance music film. Not tagging the subject of the documentary to any one particular genre, the film investigates the ‘experience’ of electronic music and later explores the culture that has emerged out of that experience.

Coming from an outsider’s perspective, the film-maker, award-winning Anthropologist Jeronimo, had no previous experience or knowledge of the culture when he began his research.

“I had never been to a rave, and next thing I know I’m in the middle of the mountains in British Columbia with 10,000 people dancing for 5 days with a camera in hand!” Jeronimo has been touring parties all over North America for two-years, and also parties in Europe and Argentina.

With the tag line of an apocalyptic and revolutionary glint - “In the twilight of human history a global culture will emerge…” We know that this film has more to say of the culture than “It’s just about dancing on drugs….”

“It was altogether inspiring for me to discover a culture based on this self-altering principle that is triggered by an experience practiced by shamans since the beginning of human history.” Jeronimo says.

The film covers everything from the emergence of House Music, to alleged contact with aliens. Interestingly enough, the film doesn’t have a name, it is instead going by a mathmatical, alsmost metaphysical interpretive symbol.

“This culture has encountered problems with terminology and what to call itself. These experiences are beyond language, and should be in a place where it’s kept open-sourced.”

It has been designed with musicians and VJ artists into an ‘experience’ with one section of the film utilizing a hard-hitting baseline and hypnotic visual effects to recreate the trance experience for those in the theaters. The film is due to circulate parties and festivals all over the world before it is released to the general public on the big screen. Just watch for the symbol...

Trance Rituals, Modern and Ancient, healing technologies for the self and the world

2008-04-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I am scrolling through my bibliography to prepare a conference about psychedelic festivals as modern rituals, are you aware of the following works ?

Psychedelic Festivals in the Planetary Era Anthropology Thesis by Ana Flávia Nogueira Nascimento ( neip.info )

Michael Belden McAteer, ““Redefining the Ancient Tribal Ritual for the 21st Century:” Goa Gil and the Trance Dance Experience " (Bachelor of Arts, The Division of Philosophy, Religion, and Psychology, Reed College, 2002).

Udi Pladott , “Meaning, Motion and Gesture In Psychedelic Trance Music” (seminar “Music as Motion, Gesture and Action" Department of Musicology, Tel Aviv University The Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of the Arts),

Christopher B. Larkin, “Turn on, Tune in, and Trance out : The Exploration of Entheogens and the Emergence of a Global Techno-shamanic Ritual ” (Degree in Sociology/Anthropology, Lewis and Clark College, 2003),

Recent elucubrations about Psychedelic Trance Festivals as a Space for Cognitive Liberty

Outstanding Documentary about an African cult

Subtitled version of Jean Rouch's "Les Maîtres Fous" (1955). A documentary about an african sect based on ceremonies during which the members are possessed by the spirits of european colonial entities.
It is worth mentionning that this film was very badly recieved, originally, both by africans shocked by the "savagery" of this ritual, and by europeans shocked by how white men are caricatured in this ritual. Today, this film is one of the most important, and most praised, classics of visual anthropology.

Part1 here :

Psychedelic Festivals in the Planetary Era

2008-04-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

Abstract of Anthropology Thesis by Ana Flávia Nogueira Nascimento

Nowadays, a new social phenomenon known as global psychedelic trance movement has been gaining more and more incomers in the whole world through ritualistic festivities focused on an electronic music style, called psychedelic trance which stimulates dancing and the altered states of consciousness, also integrating psychedelic art, nature and use of psychoactive substances that act in the physical, emotional and spiritual mind.
In this fluid and virtual context that has been reached by the most recent technological discoveries is the Psychedelic Art, which has now been embraced mostly by certain "computerized" youth sector, which makes use of signs and symbols that marks them in the contemporary scenario. The speed of getting information, now accessible through means of communication and their digital technology enables global social spaces related to new informational processes, creating new ways of amusement and interpersonal relations.
This article is the result of a two-year observation process held in the "Psychedelic Festivals" which took place in Brazil between 2003 and 2005. The result is an analysis concerning how in a contemporary society, surrounded by technology, speed, globalization of information and by the permeability of cultures, the experiences in mind expansion relate with cyber culture and with the spread of the Psychedelic Art throughout planet Earth - Planetary Era.

Link to thesis (portuguese)

PEYOTE TO LSD: A PSYCHEDELIC ODYSSEY

2008-04-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

PEYOTE TO LSD: A PSYCHEDELIC ODYSSEY on The History Channel(R)

"Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey" Airing on The History Channel, April 20, 2008 @ 8:00pm. (PRNewsFoto/Gryphon Productions Inc.)

VANCOUVER, BC UNITED STATES

Premieres on The History Channel(R) Sunday, April 20, 8-10pm ET/PT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- From Amazon
jungles to the American Plains, British mental wards, Swiss labs, New York
mansions and Grateful Dead shows, the history of hallucinogenic drugs is as
fantastic as the visions the drugs produce. Wade Davis, is a modern-day
anthropologist, author ("The Serpent and the Rainbow") and protege of one
of psychedelia's most intrepid forefathers -- Richard Evans Schultes. Davis
traces Schultes' life's work as one of the greatest botanist-explorers of
the 20th century and reveals an illustrated history of the world's most
mind-altering plants and substances in: PEYOTE TO LSD: A PSYCHEDELIC
ODYSSEY, premiering Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on The
History Channel(R).

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080402/LAW501)

Winner of the prestigious 2008 CINE Golden Eagle Award, the documentary
follows the career of Schultes, who journeyed into far-flung areas in
search of ritualistic healing medicines known to produce powerful visions:
Peyote, mushrooms, Ayahuasca. Davis, a former student of Schultes at
Harvard and author of Schultes' biography ("One River"), travels to the
exotic locations Schultes once voyaged to, seeking the same experiences.

Along the way, set to the music of the Grateful Dead and featuring
input from experts such as Dead co-founder Bob Weir, plus Dr. Andrew Weil,
and LSD inventor Dr. Albert Hofmann, the documentary reveals how
hallucinogens got from jungle shamans to the hippie generation. Questions
arise about the attitude toward psychedelics: their great potential
benefits versus perceived harmful side effects. Why is it that so many
ancient cultures consider hallucinogenic plants -- a medicine given from
God, while in today's culture they are outlawed, and even reviled. PEYOTE
TO LSD: A PSYCHEDELIC ODYSSEY is a long, strange trip that began decades
ago, but is probably nowhere near its end. Even now, new uses for
hallucinogens are being sought and tested by leading universities and
medical institutions.

PEYOTE TO LSD: A PSYCHEDELIC ODYSSEY is produced and directed by Peter
von Puttkamer of Gryphon Productions Inc. along with producer Sheera von
Puttkamer and co-producer Wade Davis. Executive Producer for The History
Channel is Michael Stiller. An exhibit of Richard Evans Schultes'
photographs will run at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
in Washington, DC, April 16 - November, 2008. See the trailer at
http://www.gryphonproductions.com or on YOU TUBE.

SOURCE Gryphon Productions Inc.

Etats de conscience, sophrologie et yoga

2008-03-06T03:23:00.000-08:00

RÉSUMÉ : Après une définition des différents états de conscience (naturels, altérés et modifiés), les auteurs exposent les applications de la sophrologie et du yoga en relaxation dynamique, en médecine, en développement personnel et en entreprise.

ARGUMENTAIRE : « Connais-toi toi-même », disait Socrate selon Platon. Cette injonction est toujours d'actualité. C'est pourquoi les biologistes étudient « les états de conscience » et se posent maintenant la question de la biologie de la conscience et d'une science de la conscience. Ces états peuvent être classés en trois catégories :

* Les états de conscience naturels (éveil, sommeil, sommeil paradoxal qui correspond le plus souvent à un vécu de rêve).
* Les états de conscience altérés (pathologies mentales et neurologiques, intoxications sous drogues).
* Les états de conscience modifiés volontairement (méditations et relaxations yoga et zen).
Pierre Etévenon, Bernard Santerre

À la suite de l'exposé scientifique de Pierre Etévenon, Bernard Santerre présente la sophrologie qu'il enseigne depuis trente ans ainsi que ses applications en relaxation dynamique, en médecine, en développement personnel et en entreprise. Puis, les différentes voies du yoga sont présentées.

Une synthèse de ces deux méthodes qui se révèlent complémentaires est enfin proposée par les deux auteurs, entre la sophrologie du Dr Caycedo et le yoga intégral de Sri Aurobindo. L'accent est aussi mis sur les pratiques de la sophrologie et du hatha-yoga.

Cet ouvrage ne prend pas parti. Il reste scientifique et pose des questions ouvertes. Celles-ci interpellent à la fois notre désir de savoir et notre expérience intérieure personnelle vers une réduction du stress quotidien et un mieux-être individuel, que chacun vivra à son gré.

The Re Invention of the Use of Ayahuasca in Urban Centres

2008-03-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

A REINVENÇÃO DO USO DA AYAHUASCA NOS CENTROS URBANOS

Beatriz Caiuby Labate

Publisher: Editora Mercado de Letras, Campinas/SP - Brazil

ANPOCS (National Post-secondary Association of Social Sciences) Prize for best Master’s Thesis in Social Sciences in 2000.

Summary:

From its beginnings, the phenomenon of the Brazilian ayahuasca religions has involved strong intercultural transits, with constant migratory flows leading to fusions of northeastern traditions with the Amazonian universe, where beliefs and practices of indigenous populations were creatively retranslated by diverse types of “forest peoples,” from the rubber tappers to modern environmentalists.

The work of Bia Labate emphasizes this fact, showing that the inventive possibilities of the use of ayahuasca are extensive, and marked by the dissolution of boundaries between indigenous and white, rural and urban, forest and city, tradition and modernity or old and “neo.” Labate tells us how, in the practice of urban neo-ayahuasqueiros these domains interpenetrate one another, using examples in which art, therapy, political intervention, play, magic, and religion commingle through the use of ayahuasca, a drink that seems to operate here as a mediator or communicator of diverse perspectives, perceptions, experiences, and sensations. Known variously as Cipó, Daime, or Vegetal, it permits the translation and resignification of different cultural practices from the point of view of the “other.” That is what A Reinvenção do Uso da Ayahuasca nos Centros Urbanos makes clear, thus highlighting the right to alterity, the fundamental principle of anthropology.

In pointing to the new modalities of ayahuasca use, the author ends up questioning monopolies on legitimacy, putting in focus the priority of certain types of uses above others, or of privileges pertaining to this substance belonging to groups, cultures, and subjects. She analyzes how these new uses, despite their originality, are inserted into a “Brazilian ayahuasca field,” expressing its logic and motivating many of its elements. The author notes that the diversity of practices in the ayahuasca field do not imply disorder, but to the contrary, manifests forms of control proper to this religious universe. Thus, through Labate’s work one sees that “ritual” and the “religious” can assume innumerable faces and forms, involving a dynamic process of transformation, or, in other words, of invention and reinvention. At the same time that it makes a lucid criticism of religious intolerance, the book is in implicit dialogue with the premises of anti-drug policy, indicating that informal and cultural controls of the uses of psychoactive drugs tend to be more effective than external controls based only on state and legal standardization

Six years since her research began, empirical reality confirms many of the hypotheses put forward by the author. We witness a proliferation, in Brazil’s large cities, of new modes of consuming this drink of Amazonian origin, always inserted within the logic identified by the author. The dimensions and varieties assumed by the ayahuasca field seem to be a signal that, instead of the death of religion, as some have predicted, we are witnessing an extension of the sacred to dimensions previously unimaginable, and a multiplication of the possibilities of ritualization of contemporary life (Translated to English by Matthew Meyer).

Contact in Brazil: livros@mercado-de-letras.com.br

Foreign contacts: Livraria Pontes – compras@livrariapontes.com.br

http://www.mercado-de-letras.com.br

THE RITUAL USE OF ‘POWER PLANTS’

2008-03-04T18:48:00.000-08:00

O USO RITUAL DAS PLANTAS DE PODER

[THE RITUAL USE OF ‘POWER PLANTS’]

Editors: Beatriz Caiuby Labate, Ph.D candidate in Social Sciences at UNICAMP, MA in Anthropology from Unicamp (2000 ANPOCS prize for best thesis in the Social Sciences), Researcher with NEIP (Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Psychoactives) and Sandra Lucia Goulart, Ph.D in Social Sciences from Unicamp, MA in Social Anthropology from USP, Researcher with NEIP.

Publisher: Editora Mercado de Letras, Campinas/SP - Brazil

Press release:

This volume brings together fourteen chapters by collaborators from five countries to fill a void in the Social Sciences around the theme of drugs or psychoactive plants. Through its focus on the ethnology, anthropology, history, and ethnobotany the book analyzes the various contexts in which psychoactive substances are consumed. Subjects include the various snuffs used by Amazonian indigenous peoples, roots such as the northeastern Brazilian jurema and Gabon’s iboga, coca leaf in the Andes and Amazonia, Cannabis in Afro- and indigenous contexts, ayahuasca from the Peruvian jungle to Brazil’s large cities, and other, lesser-known species. The book highlights the ways the consumption of such “power plants” is linked to the organization of cosmological systems, the rise of rich syncretic religions, the assertion of social identity, the management of religious or tribal conflicts, artistic creation, and self-knowledge, among other things. The use of these substances implies an articulation among various areas of life, such as politics, curing, shamanism, aesthetics, and culture. The analysis of the various agents and contexts makes explicit continuities and discontinuities between various modes of usage, from religious to profane, modern to traditional, and between natural and artificial substances, thus rupturing dichotomies of little use to reflections about “drugs.” While the book emphasizes the ritual and religious uses of psychoactives substances practiced in different cultures and historical moments, it is also useful for thinking about the consumption of drugs in contemporary society, indicating alternatives to the merely prohibitionist policies linked to the illicit market that simply disseminate ever greater levels of violence, misery, exclusion, and war (Translated to English by Matthew Meyer).

Contact in Brazil: livros@mercado-de-letras.com.br

Foreign contacts: Livraria Pontes – compras@livrariapontes.com.br

http://www.mercado-de-letras.com.br

THE RITUAL USE OF AYAHUASCA

2008-03-04T18:44:00.001-08:00

O U S O R I T U A L D A A Y A H U A S C A

[THE RITUAL USE OF AYAHUASCA]

Editors: Beatriz Caiuby Labate, PhD candidate in Social Science at UNICAMP (Awarded best master thesis in Social Science by ANPOCS, 2000) and Wladimyr Sena Araújo, PhD candidate in Social History at UNICAMP.

Publisher: Editora Mercado de Letras, Campinas/SP - Brazil

Summary:

This collection consists of 26 articles written by authors from 7 different countries. It represents the most important effort at reflection undertaken in Brazil until today on the consumption of ayahuasca, the “vine of the dead”, an age-old sacred drink made from two Amazonian plants: the vine Banisteriopsis caapi and the shrub Psychotria viridis. The book offers a combined panel on the spectrum of the ritual uses of this psychoactive substance in South America. The first part deals with its uses by indigenous populations and rubber-workers in Amazonia. The central part of the work deals with the original and quite controversial Brazilian ayahuascan religions, popularly known as Santo Daime, União do Vegetal and Barquinha. These religions extrapolate the limits of their origin, having been exported to the major urban centers of the country and even abroad, currently including more than ten thousand followers. This rich and dynamic cultural phenomenon is contemplated in dialogue, also, with the debate over the utilization of psychoactive substances in our society. Finally, the last part of the work brings together the perspectives of medicine, psychology, and ethnopharmacology on these diverse ritual uses of the substance. The volume presents a focus that is both comparative and multidisciplinary, providing a panorama that is impressive for its wealth of information and perspectives, including both the opinions of diverse academic specialists and the point of view of ayahuasca users themselves. The work is of interest to Anthropology, History, Religion, Psychology, Philosophy, Law and the new area called Entheobotany, or the study of sacred plants (Translated by Robin Wright).

Contact in Brazil: livros@mercado-de-letras.com.br

Foreign contacts: Livraria Pontes – compras@livrariapontes.com.br

http://www.mercado-de-letras.com.br

Music and Sound in the Healing Arts by John Beaulieu

2007-12-12T14:05:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of reading it...

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Richly illustrated with pictures, stories, and the author's experience as composer and therapist, this book explores the history and practice of healing sound from ancient philosophies to the practical applications of therapy, religion, and art: mantra, toning, voice evaluation, tuning forks, and music listening. It also contains guidelines and exercises for teaching and an evaluation of music therapy today.

Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within by Rod Mann

2007-09-26T02:43:00.000-07:00

Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within is a feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within.

The film examines the re-emergence of archaic techniques of ecstacy in the modern world by weaving a synthesis of ecological and evolutionary awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic compounds. Within a narrative framework that imagines consciousness itself to be evolving, Entheogen documents the emergence of techno-shamanism in the post-modern world that frames the following questions: How can a renewal of ancient initiatory rites of passage alleviate our ecological crisis? What do trance dancing and festivals celebrating unbridled artistic expression speak to in our collective psyche? How do we re-invent ourselves in a disenchanted world from which God has long ago withdrawn? Entheogen invites the viewer to consider that the answers to these questions lie within the consciousness of each and every human being, and are accessible if only we give ourselves permission to awaken to the divine within.

Stan Grof, Marilyn Schlitz, Ralph Metzner, Alex Grey, Terrence McKenna, John Markoff, Daniel Pinchbeck, and Kat Harrison among others, postulate how the disenchantment of the modern world may be remedied by summoning the courage to take the next leap in the evolution of planetary consciousness.

Ibogaine : Rite of Passage by Ben de Loenen

2007-09-26T02:36:00.000-07:00

Ibogaine is a substance that is derived from the root of an African plant that grows in Gabon. This plant is originally used during initiations of the Bwiti culture, but in the sixties the anti-addictive properties of this psychoactive substance were discovered by Howard Lotsof. Ibogaine is surrounded by controversy. The decisions about the use of Ibogaine in the treatment of addiction appear to be made on political and economical, rather than rational basis.

Despite the results that show the efficacy of Ibogaine, the pharmaceutical companies and the government show no interest and stay sceptical. Ibogaine has provided us with more insight in the mechanisms of addiction and the question if it needs to be used for treating this huge western problem gets more and more acknowledgement.

Cy (34) has been using a mixture of heroine and amphetamine for about 11 years, but his three children and his ambitions are more valuable to him. Kicking his addiction is a tough job for him. It reveals all his suppressed emotions.

Moussavou (22) lives in the village Mitoné in Gabon. For her the traditional African initiation is part of healing process. She suffered from an illness for more than a year and she hopes that eating the holy plant will be the starting point of a new phase in her life.

This 50 minute documentary shows the different aspects of this special substance by means of personal experiences and explanations of ex-addicts, treatment providers and experts.

The Way of Trance by Dennis R. Wier

2007-09-26T02:22:00.000-07:00

Don't hesitate to contact me for further info about the book or the Trance Research Fundation.
Love !

::The Way of Trance by Dennis R. Wier

This book is a great introduction into the realm of trance. According to the author, trance covers a much wider spectrum than the cliché of ritual ecstatic trance, and it definitely has more to do with our daily thought processes and social interactions. One could define it as a cognitive processing mode, a kind of "reality filter". From this viewpoint, people go in and out of multiple trances a day, most of them without even noticing it. The central thesis in Wier's book is that outside influence changes our destiny by altering the way we perceive or process information; trance techniques are being extensively used by salesman, artists, politicians, cult leaders... “Trance is really a way of modifying energy in our heads, so you can think in different ways”. When practised willingly with loving compassion, it can be a powerful source of healing, inspiration and self-realization. When practised in secrecy, for selfish purposes and hidden agendas, trance can lead victims into delusion, illness and addictions of all kind. The author refers to this as "Trance Abuse".

The main goal of this book is to promote "trance awareness" on a personal level, through the practice of meditation which is presented as a specific kind of trance. Since trance and meditation are words which have a strong tendency to be associated with esoteric frameworks, it has to be noted that the author is not calling upon any kind of mysticism and is not asking the reader to believe in anything except themselves. Meditation is referred to as a personal training to self-observation and introspection. It can be done by a wide variety of methods and the author is not advocating the use of a specific one. He strongly invites the reader to create their own experiments and proof: "you have to do it personally yourself, I can't do it for you", this is to me one of the greatest strength of his approach.

The author, in his previous book, developed a "Trance Model" which he describes in mathematical detail. The current book is intended for a wide audience and describes several types of trance, sometimes referring to the Trance Model, but no mathematical notions are required nor is it required to have read the previous books. Repetition is at the core of trance. Repetition is at the core of trance. One of the key features of the Trance Model is that repetition always results in the disabling of some cognitive functions such as critical judgment and short term memory. Different kinds of trance can be skilfully created using various features of the Trance Model and many of these features are examined throughout the book.

I already mentioned Meditation as a one kind of trance. Addiction is seen as a mutual lock between three trances, which suggests why it is so hard to break. A trance therapy based on this approach is under development by the Trance Research Fundation. Charismatic trance, characterized by strong ego-mania and total disconnection from reality is also being exposed. The chapter on invasive trance deserves full attention since it describes techniques, some of them already operating, which allow influencing people on a mass scale in a very invasive and often un-noticeable way. Their use ranges from vending machines in Japan to the Gulf war and offers a frightening glance into the future. Ethics is indeed a central point to be considered when using trance techniques. Without proper ethics and without trance awareness, can democracy really work in a land of sleepwalking citizens hypnotized by television and lacking critical judgement?

A full chapter is dedicated to ecstatic trance, which corresponds to what many people are referring to when using the word trance. This chapter is of special relevance for the trance music community. Wier asks very smart questions such as “what is so disturbing to social order about the ecstatic trance and what is its evolutionary function?” which is well reflected by the global climate of party repression. What is indeed so bad about experiencing deep states of joy and bliss together? Since it plays a great role in trance rituals from Morrocan Gnawa to psychedelic Goa trance, a section is dedicated to trance music. Sounds indeed "have subtle and profound meaning within a trance". The effects of beats per minute (BPM), frequencies, dissonances and use of verbal material are analyzed in detail. According to Wier, "if enough minds and bodies agree to do the same thing, the collective reality of those involved can be changed, or a new one created". This emphasizes the self-transformative potential of a collective trance ritual and the need for careful preparation in order to "design effective magical positive parties and celebrations".

"Highly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" once said Arthur C. Clarke. Wier defines the wyrd as the energy that gives its power to various trances; in that regard, magic is simply smart us of the wyrd. And so can tremendous changes of destiny occur through the skilful use of trance. The wyrd is the only fuzzy concept which is being referred to in this book; I feel that each reader shall interpret it according to its ontology of the world. It can be thought of as analogous to the eastern notions of chi and prana but it call also fit well with modern cognitive theories of consciousness.

The link between divine states and intoxication is well pointed out. Many ancient traditions have used intoxication as an aid to enter powerful trances. Entheogens - meaning awakening the divine within - offer a very relevant example of it and are surrounded by a tremendous taboo in our culture. Modern humans and especially western people have been separated from mother Nature and their divine nature. In that regard, trance appears not less that an alchemical process, a great tool for self-transformation on your own way towards unity.

The book is generally well-written and organized. The first sections can seem a bit long and repetitive but they then appear necessary for the good understanding of the authors point. Moreover he himself makes subtle use of some of the techniques he describes, especially repetition and it definitely helps to understand quicker and better integrate. Each section features some practical exercises and a series of questions, encouraging the reader to cognitively link what he has just read with his everyday life. I find this book unique and innovative; it provides a very good summary of the topic. It makes a lot of sense in the light of frameworks such as Grof's transpersonal approach or Tononi's information integration theory of consciousness. Promising research directions, fundamental as well as applied are pointed out and urgently need to be carried out.

I really recommend this book which is relevant for a wide spectrum of readers. I think the original background of the author contributes a lot to its intelligibility. More than a book, this is a practical manual to change your destiny: you can learn to detect when and how you are getting "entranced" by the external world and you can train to navigate and influence the inner realm on your way of love and compassion.

::About the author

Dennis Wier is indeed a retired computer systems analyst who has been heavily practising meditation and hypnosis. He has already written books about his model of trance, meditation as well as trance music composition. He is the founder and executive director of the Trance Research Fundation : a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote trance awareness. This fundation financially support scientific trance research projects as well as education through the Trance Institute.

::For further information

www.tranceresearch.org
www.trance.edu
"The Way of Trance" can be ordered online at www.lulu.com/trance.

Zig Zag Zen, edited by A.H. Badiner & A. Grey

2007-07-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

Review : I am currently reading this book...
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Editors : Alan Hunt Badiner
Year : 2002
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Synopsis :
While Buddhism and psychedelic experimentation share a common concerm, the liberation of the mind, Zig Zag Zen is both a celebration, and a cautionary tale.

With a foreword by renowned Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor and a preface by historian of religion Huston Smith, along with numerous essays and interviews, Zig Zag Zen is a provocative and thoughtful exploration of altered states of consciousness and the potential for transformation.

Accompanying each essay is a work of visionary art selected by artist Alex Grey, such as a vividly graphic work by Robert Venosa, a contemporary thangka painting by Robert Beer, and an exercise in emptiness in the form of an enso by a 17th-century Zen abbot.

Packed with enlightening entries and art that lie outside the scope of mainstream anthologies, Zig Zag Zen offers eye-opening insights into alternate methods of inner exploration.

Psychedelic Perceptions by James Joseph

2007-07-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

Review : I am currently reading this book...
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Author : James Joseph
Year : 2006
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Synopsis :

There exists within our world a unique category of medicines, unparalleled in their ability to heal the human mind.

Utilized by our ancestors for thousands of years, these consciousness-altering plant derivatives effectively suspend the psychological defense mechanisms and egoic mind, allowing a 4 to 12 hour internal revelation into the origins of our own addictions, neuroses, fears, personality disorders, and patterned behavior. Invaluable as this mind-revealing encounter may be, there is no doctor able to prescribe this therapeutic method, as it has been deemed by our legal system to be devoid of any medical value.

There exists within our world a revered class of sacraments, unequaled in its effectiveness to initiate a direct experience of transcendental knowledge.

Applied in ritualized ceremony for hundreds of generations, these special plants hold the potential to generate the biochemical requisite necessary to attain the highly sought Mystical Experience. Yet, there exists no priest, rabbi or minister permitted to facilitate this method of direct knowing to the congregation, as it has been judged by authorities to posses a high potential for abuse.

Psychedelic Perceptions is a multi-perspective examination of how — and more importantly why — the substances which produce vital access to non-ordinary states of consciousness have been unjustly portrayed, legally forbidden, and misunderstood in our society.