Actually, in the book I refer to it as Factor K. At the time I wrote those chapters, around 1990, I was concerned that publishing on the subject would spur a response from the law enforcement contingent and ketamine would be banned, so I didn't mention it by name. Since then, the rising popularity of K in New York area clubs did indeed lead to ketamine being banned here, part of an absurd Drug Enforcement Agency campaign to position Ketamine as a "date rape drug."

Anyway . . . when I experiment with entheogens, I do it in a very controlled manner. Lilly was seduced by the remarkable properties of Ketamine and began to use it with, perhaps, less attention to set and setting than I generally consider useful. Don't get me wrong, I think his long term and continuous use of K pushed our collective understanding of consciousness beyond its previous boundaries. That's just not the way I go about it.

I was turned on to ketamine in the mid '80s by someone who had read some articles I had published about MDMA. My first reaction was "I've been here before!" Surprise, surprise . . . the trip was the closest thing I had experienced to the NDE I mentioned earlier, with the exception of some very brief moments during Yoga practice or on Nitrous oxide. I had a distinct sense of being in a place above and beyond the normal range of consciousness and, eventually, of existing as a being that was greater and more expansive than my human existence.

Some recent studies have confirmed my reaction -- Ketamine apparently works through the same neurochemical mechanisms as a Near Death Experience, blocking glutamine receptor sites and essentially shutting down the part of the brain that interprets perception.

From there, I began to utilize Ketamine in ritual settings, with some amazing results that I won't repeat here -- some are described at length in FutureRitual. As this progressed, I became very interested in the experience of consciousness as something greater than human and I set about using both ritual and Neuro-Linguistic tools to map out that experience.

I have since succeeded in replicating large portions of that experience through ritual technique alone, without use of ketamine. The Ketamine was a major influence in that process, as was the general exploration of magick. I'll be publishing some of this material very soon.

7. Have you ever experimented with ritualistic dance, such as Dalcroze or the Gurdjieff movements?

My wife, Djenaba, has her own brand of conscious movement that she teaches, and I've participated in some of her workshops. Beyond that and a little bit of Tai Chi, no . . . though I enjoy Gurdjieff's writings.

8. Have you ever experimented with floatation tanks?

Many years ago and only sporadically. It was enjoyable and useful. In the tank, I found that I was able to focus my imagination and do things like mentally plot out lengthy writing projects in a single session.

9. In your opinion, do sound and light machines work? Which have been the most effective?

Sure, they work. It all depends what you want to use them for, though. I've found some interesting ritual applications for them -- those experiments were actually the beginning of the Future Ritual concept.

In 1990, along with brain machine developers Stephen Barry and Nicholas Ross, and with Robert Anton Wilson, I presented the original Future Ritual workshop, which made use of an enormous 30-person light and sound device in a ritual setting.

If you expect the machines to replicate drug or meditation states exactly, you may be disappointed, but if you explore what they actually do first, and then think about how you can use that, you can go pretty far.

I'd rather not recommend any particular brands. I do think it's worth spending a bit more, though, and finding a unit that has programmable, preset, and manual controls, and a variety of different patterns that will run on the lights, rather than just the simple on/off flicker.

On the other hand, even a really basic device like Brion Gysin's "Dreamachine" (which you can build from a large piece of cardboard and an old turntable) can be very useful if you are creative.

10. I'm intrigued about your Near Death Experience (as I've had one as well, as have several other magicians I know). Were you able to get back to the 'place' (altered state of consciousness) where the NDE occurred? Was it different the second time around?

I've been back there many times now, without cracking my skull. The Ketamine experiences mentioned previously are one example. I think that the "place" is the same each time, but the interpretation of it upon returning is what makes any difference. The "place" is, perhaps, "eternity" -- the spacelike dimension that our unconscious minds are always in contact with. I believe that we are always in touch with the infinite, but that to function effectively, in terms of day to day survival, the parts of our brains that interpret perception limit what is within conscious awareness.

It's like the active memory on your computer; RAM can only hold so much at any one time. Magickal or entheogenic experiences expand the scope of our consciousness to include at least part of that connection to the infinite. Even just expanding awareness a little bit beyond the ordinary limits may seem awesome and overwhelming to the conscious mind.

11. What influence has the work and practices of Genesis P-Orridge had on your approach/work?

Gen has had a very direct influence on me. I was a fan of Psychic TV for a long time, and had followed his exploits. In 1990 (seems like a lot happened that year, huh?) Djenaba and I interviewed Gen for Mondo 2000, sitting in the PTV tour bus outside a club called The Chance in Poughkeepsie, New York. I was impressed less with what he was talking about (though that was very interesting, as well) than by the way that he was living his life. His whole being was involved in his art and his magick. Also, his actual presence was incredibly different from his media image; he's a very warm and humorous guy.

It's interesting to note that I was writing FutureRitual at that time, though I didn't discuss it then with Gen. Four years later, we were re-introduced by the late Adam Walks Between Worlds, and Gen offered to write the introduction for the book. Around that same time, I did yet another interview with him for the Web 'zine I edit, Paradigm Shift.