trance-formers

Really enjoyed Willie's report this afternoon on trance, globalization, exopheremones, the doors of perception, animism... There's no question we'd be less apt to blow up mountaintops if we came (as a civilization) to harbor greater respect for life and all its planetary supports and expressions.

I happen not to believe that everything has a separable animal spirit, and I'm pretty sure "Gaia" is more metaphor than actual organism. But if a shift of consciousness will bring us into more respectful relations with the rest of nature, those are good fruits by which to know her-- and finally know ourselves.

Terence McKenna has interesting ideas. I'll bet they, along with this repetitive video wallpaper, seem even more trenchant when consumed under the influence of the right chemical "key" (as Kevin quoted Tim Leary).


(The salvia gardener definitely hasn't found the right key. Miley either. I really hope she isn't buying her Dad's folk wisdom about the temptations of the evil spirits.)

McKenna's surely right when he say we're too often missing "peace of mind in the felt experience of the moment." Maybe "trance" is a place for some to begin. I still just want to see how to connect the dots: how can we transform such exceptional personal experiences into constructive, collective environmental action? How do you turn trance into transformation?

higher

In honor of Kevin's mind-expanding report this afternoon on consciousness, shamanism, psychedelia, Terrence McKenna, ancient wisdom, "bad trips," spiritual transcendence, and better living through chemistry... a page from Timothy Leary's and Ram Dass's Psychedelic Experience.




"Turn on, tune in, drop out," right? But Kevin's claim today was that this is all in service of transcendence with a social conscience, intending ultimately to protect people of the future and help save the world. I still wonder if such good intentions can so readily be translated into constructive, sustained, impactful acts, when you're in the middle of a 20-hour mental sabbatical from Planet Earth. I do hope so. 


Tim's really out there now, sorta, according to this report:

Seven grams of Leary's ashes were arranged by his friend to be buried in space aboard a rocket carrying the remains of 24 other people including Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Trek) and others. A Pegasus rocket containing their remains was launched on April 21, 1997, and remained in orbit for six years until it burnt up in the atmosphere.

Far out.