Psychedelic Adventures at the Edge of the Abyss: The Ideas of Terence and Dennis McKenna
Many disinfo readers have been fascinated, at one time or another, with the psychedelic adventures of the Brothers McKenna (Terence and Dennis). We thought that you’d like to know about this course from Evolver – it should be a fantastic experience if you’re open to some mind expansion…
This Friday, May 20th is the last day to register at the $90 Early Bird rate for ”The Psychedelic Adventures at the Edge of the Abyss: The Ideas of Terence and Dennis McKenna.” Hosted by Dennis McKenna, the course features a special line up of close friends of Dennis and Terence who can speak with rare insight about the brothers’ legacy and their relevance for today: Daniel Pinchbeck, Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna, Ralph Abraham, Marc Pesce, Ralph Metzner, and Erik Davis.
The series has 4 sessions and starts on June 5. You will be in dialogue with these inspirational thinkers, asking them questions, challenging their assumptions.
Dennis and his…
Bored With Your Sex Life?
Marijuana won’t be legalized anytime soon. But that’s OK. Because what I’m about to tell you is going to make weed look like the cheap high it is.
When everyone catches wind of what I’m about to tell you — the establishment will be tripping over themselves to legalize every single drug in the book to keep from losing you as a customer. That’s how powerful this secret I’m about to reveal to you is. . . Your brain produces a chemical known as DMT; one of the most powerful hallucinogens in existence.
Reports of encountering “multidimensional machine elves” are common. And your brain produces this chemical naturally. In fact they say DMT is what makes us dream. Now what if there was a way to release this chemical into your body on demand? It would obviously have to be a form of self-hypnosis; a way of “tricking” your brain into mass-producing and…
Will Miley Cyrus Make Salvia The Next Big High?
Miley Cyrus has one-upped Michael Phelps’s infamous bong-smoking incident by filling hers with the psychedelic plant Salvia divinorum (see video below). Could Salvia become the next hot drug on campus in the U.S.? Comments especially welcome from anyone who has experience with the Magic Mint.
Graham Hancock: The War on Your Consciousness
Mandelbrot Islands of Consciousness. Image: David R. Ingham (CC)
Site editor’s note: This article was originally published as part of the Russ Kick-edited Disinformation anthology, You Are STILL Being Lied To. Hancock’s latest book is a novel dealing with some of the issues presented below titled ENTANGLED: The Eater of Souls.
We are told that the “War on Drugs” is being waged, on our behalf, by our governments and their armed bureaucracies and police forces, to save us from ourselves. “Potential for abuse and harm” are supposed to be the criteria by which the use of drugs is suppressed—the greater a drug’s potential for abuse and harm, the greater and more vigorous the degree of suppression, and the more draconian the penalties applied against its users.
In line with this scheme drugs are typically ranked into a hierarchy: Schedules I, II, and III in the US, Classes A, B, and C in the UK,…
Entangled with Graham Hancock – Disinformation: The Podcast
Disinformation: The Podcast: Episode 15 — Entangled with Graham Hancock
iTunes • Direct Download • RSS
This episode features an interview with Graham Hancock, author of Fingerprints of the Gods, Supernatural, The Sign and the Seal, and the recently released Entangled. We discuss Graham’s influential work in the field of alternative history, 2012, his recent shift from non-fiction to fiction, and his views on the “War on Consciousness.”
Disinformation: The Podcast is a monthly series featuring interviews with authors, artists and filmmakers about topics related to politics, the occult, conspiracy, magick, hidden history, spirituality, fringe science, and much more. Past interviews include Jim Marrs, Douglas Rushkoff, and the legendary Alan Moore.
High Society: Can Dope Give Us Hope?
Graham Hancock recently blogged for boingboing on the recent resurgence of the use of psychedelic drugs in medical research. Now there is an exhibit in London at the Wellcome Collection entitled “High Society.” The official description says:
From ancient Egyptian poppy tinctures to Victorian cocaine eye drops, Native American peyote rites to the salons of the French Romantics, mind-altering drugs have a rich history. ‘High Society’ will explore the paths by which these drugs were first discovered – from apothecaries’ workshops to state-of-the-art laboratories – and how they came to be simultaneously fetishised and demonised in today’s culture.
Jake Wallis Simons reviews the exhibit for the Telegraph:
…this Thursday, the Wellcome Trust will open the doors on High Society, an exhibition exploring the history of mind-altering drugs. In keeping with the Wellcome ethos, the exhibition blends a scientific and cultural approach, with curiosities such as a 20 metre opium pipe – an installation by the…
EsoZone Portland 2010 Starts This Weekend
EsoZone Portland is back for another year! Once it again, the event is an unconference — an event in which the schedule is set by the participants on the fly at the event. Anything can happen, but some of the possible subjects include:
Outsider Art • Discordia • SubGenius
The Occult • Satanism • Conspiracy Analysis
Life Extension • Intelligence Enhancement
Space Migration • Psychedelic Futurism
Consciousness Expansion • R/evolutionary Living
Renegade Metaphysics • Radical Psychotherapy
Aliens • Neo-Shamanism • Temporary Autonomous Zones
Body Modification • Alternative Sexuality • Fringe Culture
Human-Dolphin Communication • DIY Media
Cybernetics and Systems Theory • Pranks
Atheism • Zen • Martial Arts • Recession Hacking
There will also be performances by artists such as Cult of Zir and Ogo Eion and Psychetect in the evenings.
Terence McKenna 101: “The Future is Mental”
As more time passes, the research and conclusions postulated by philosopher and modern psychonaut Terence Mckenna (November 16, 1946 – April 3, 2000) are proving themselves to be fact rather than fiction. His eloquent observations on the mind-body connection and in turn the human relation to the environment are essential to anyone who feels the growing disconnect between the western way of life and the natural/ecological world.
Also poignant is the political aspect of his talk, drawing the parallels between the dissolving of the soviet system to the eventual deterioriation of the western system
This is a fantastic 1991 presentation where he outlines the basic tenets of the Archaic Revival and the psychedelic experience and it’s place in the western modern technological world.
Evolver the Podcast: Sacred Psychedelics and Their Transformative Power
Chris Hopkins writes on Alterati:
In this episode of Evolver the Podcast we have discussions with two amazing individuals about their journey and transformation with psychedelics.
First up we have Evolver co-founder Jonathan Talat Phillips interviewing Reality Sandwich contributor Adam Elenbaas about his new book, Fishers of Men: The Gospel of an Ayahuasca Vision Quest. Adam discusses his journey from being a “hell-damning” fundamentalist Christian to recovering from drug addiction and healing himself and his family line through ayahuasca ceremonies in the Amazon. He shares his encounters with mystical beings and inter-dimensional creatures during his adventures with this shamanic brew, as well as his thoughts on why Jesus was the social activist version of the Buddha, how there is nothing to fear in the entire cosmos, and ways we might redeem modern Christianity.
Next up I interviewed Isabella Stoloff who is the Evolver Regional coordinator for Evolver Orange County. She is also a practicing Shaman and heads up…
Using Psychedelics To Treat Depression
Ecstasy (MDMA)
It’s been a long struggle, more or less since the days of Timothy Leary and Albert Hofmann in the ’60s, but doctors and scientists are finally being allowed to treat depression with some of the most effective drugs known to them: psychedelics. Anne Harding reports for CNN/Health.com:
Pamela Sakuda, 57, was anxious and depressed. After two years of intensive chemotherapy for late-stage colon cancer, and having outlived her prognosis by several months, she’d finally lost hope. She was living in fear and was worried how her impending death would affect her husband.
Sakuda’s doctor prescribed antidepressants, but they didn’t do any good. So, at her wits’ end and feeling that she had nothing to lose, Sakuda volunteered for an experimental depression treatment being studied at UCLA.
In January 2005, with a pair of trained therapists at her side, Sakuda took a pill of psilocybin — a hallucinogen better known as the active…
Machine Elves 101, or Why Terence McKenna Matters
Terence McKenna’s continuing cultural influence is demonstrated in Daniel Moler’s essay for Reality Sandwich. As a side note, here at disinformation we included a documentary look at McKenna on the DVD release of our film 2012: Science or Superstition:
If anyone ever wanted to get to know me (i.e., what makes Daniel tick) the first thing I would have to tell them is, “Read Terence McKenna.” In online forums and real life scenarios alike, I quote McKenna like Jules Winnfield quotes Ezekiel in Pulp Fiction. Passionate. With conviction. My armor and weapon when I’m ready to blast the meandering monotony of day-to-day living. However, most people ask, who is this guy? What exactly is the Terence McKenna circus? And, what makes him so important?
A few weeks ago my friend Michelle suggested I write a “Terence for Dummies” piece. So, since “For Dummies” is under copyright, here’s my bent on the McKenna legacy.
The Background
Terence Kemp McKenna (November 16, 1946 — April 3, 2000) was born under the auspices of…
Daniel Pinchbeck Interviews Stan Grof (Video)
Reality Sandwich presents a fascinating interview from the new movie 2012: Time For Change:
In this video, the psychologist and author Stanislav Grof. Grof discusses with Daniel how psychedelics helped him create an expanded cartography for the psyche, with a new emphasis on what he calls the “paranatal” and transpersonal consciousness. We need to raise up from our self imposed biological cubicles, that is the next level of consciousness. Evolve to Solve!
Occult of Personality With Jeremy Vaeni
Occult of Personality — Podcast Episode #85 — Jeremy Vaeni
Website • iTunes • Direct Download • RSS
In podcast episode 85, we’re joined by Jeremy Vaeni. Jeremy is a writer, director, podcaster, and experiencer of high-strangeness. He hosts and produces the successful and popular Culture of Contact and Paratopia podcasts.
Jeremy’s unique perspective on UFOlogy and the paranormal have earned him fans as well as critics, but he speaks his mind with frankness and a sense of humor that’s refreshing. We begin the interview hearing about his early experiences with UFOs and alien abduction. Based on these contacts, he’s led to understand that UFOs and aliens are not necessarily what many may believe, in that they serve to try to rouse humanity from its waking dream.
From there, we delve into what Jeremy calls his “I AM” experience. I think you’ll agree that his story is quite compelling, rather extreme, absolutely fascinating, brutally honest, and undoubtedly controversial.
Don’t miss…
Modern Psychedelic Scientists Find Data in Countercultural Past
From Wired:
A sprawling Holiday Inn by the San Jose Airport does not seem like the right place for a conference on the new science of psychedelic drug therapies.Yet, last week, the stucco-walled hotel played host to a mèlange of playful scientific researchers, serious drug self-experimenters, and roving bands of hippies in handmade-looking clothing. The scene was as strange as you’d expect at a conference called “Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century.”
Scientists and doctors studying the medical uses of psychedelics are trying to figure out what to do with the cultural heritage of their drugs. There is a lot of baggage associated with LSD, for example, that new pharmaceuticals don’t carry: There are no Jay-Z songs about Zoloft. On the other hand, the vast numbers of experiences drug users have had with psychedelics could be a dark dataset that, with the right filters, helps aid the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
For the…
U.S. Loosens Rules On Experimenting With Psychedelics
For many years the United States government has classified more or less all psychoactive drugs, many of them plants sacred to indigenous peoples around the world, with so-called “hard” drugs, making it extremely difficult for researchers to study their mental health benefits. Graham Hancock has written on this topic extensively, including in his essay “The War on Consciousness” included in the disinformation® anthology You Are STILL Being Lied To, and that issue will be at the heart of his first novel, Entangled, which will be published in the fall. Now the New York Times is reporting that policy may be changing:
As a retired clinical psychologist, Clark Martin was well acquainted with traditional treatments for depression, but his own case seemed untreatable as he struggled through chemotherapy and other grueling regimens for kidney cancer. Counseling seemed futile to him. So did the antidepressant pills he tried.
Nothing had any lasting effect until, at the age of 65, he had his first psychedelic experience. He left his home in Vancouver, Wash., to take part in an experiment at Johns Hopkins medical school involving psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient found in certain mushrooms.
Scientists are taking a new look at hallucinogens, which became taboo among regulators after enthusiasts like Timothy Leary promoted them in the 1960s with the slogan “Turn on, tune in, drop out.” Now, using rigorous protocols and safeguards, scientists have won permission to study once again the drugs’ potential for treating mental problems and illuminating the nature of consciousness…
Carey Grant: The First Star To Promote The Wonders Of LSD
Who was the first mainstream American celebrity to espouse the virtues of psychedelic drugs?
Carey Grant, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars of the ’30s through the ’60s, who had his “life transformed” by LSD and “arguably, created more interest in LSD than Dr. Timothy Leary who was largely preaching to the converted.” The blog of New York’s WFMU radio examines the crazy saga of Carey Grant and LSD:
I learned many things in the quiet of that room … everything is or becomes its own opposite … You know, we are all unconsciously holding our anus. In one LSD dream … I imagined myself as a giant penis launching off from earth like a spaceship. — Cary Grant
When Ladies Home Journal and Good Housekeeping interviewed him, the topic of conversation wasn’t Cary’s favorite recipe or “the problem with youth today.” Instead, Cary Grant was telling happy homemakers that LSD was the greatest thing…
