Love: the precious thread between us

There is a precious thread holding all of this together.  Some see it as the vine.  I like that analogy, too.  Regardless, I recognize this scandent form as a cohesive force worth becoming entangled and enraptured in.  How heavy is your heart on the scales of Truth?  We can all use a little more Forgiveness and Love to tip them in our favor, no?  I've been to a deep, dark place where these are all that matter, and everything else fades away into the void of non-existence.  What a treasure it is that lies bound deep in the heart cave, waiting to be brought forth into the light of day.

The Eye of the Serpent and the Blood Red Moon

Is it becoming more evident to others?  Are we really approaching the recently-contrived point of TMK's singularity..?  Or are we gravitating toward something much different..?  Does it feel like we are emerging into the light of global enlightenment amidst an escalation in warfare, poverty, extinction.. and suffering? Are things becoming seemingly less or more polarized?  I contemplate these things as I look around me.  In talking with people, there seems to be somewhat of a mixed bag.  I believe the current state of affairs reflects something much deeper.  It is almost as if this story has been told before.  Are you familiar with the story of Babylon, when humankind was at its peak and everyone spoke the same language, and a tower was built to M____k by decree of Nimrod in direct defiance of the G_d of Abraham?  With our current cultural milieu-wasteland of newage sewage: self-deification, decadence, and hubristication et. al., is it possible that we have lost our way and have a day of reckoning in store for us on the horizon?   I wonder..

A tryp through the Eastern World

On a lighter note than my most recent posts, I am sharing some images from the Eastern world which have captured the same mystical means of reaching an illuminated state of consciousness as those I have also shown through those images relative to Judeo-Christianity in previous posts.  Ancient chinese folklore recounts that mushrooms were thought to appear in places where lightning struck the land, as spores were invisible to the naked eye (and mycelium typically thrives in cool, darker places such as under the duff layer and in rotting wood), and yet the fruiting bodies of fungi would emerge atop the earth's surface after the storm.  The results of a four-year study carried out at Iwate University in northern Japan on ten species of mushrooms has demonstrated that a bolt of electricity carrying the same amount of electricity as a bolt of lightening can more than double mushroom crop yields.

Notice the early renditions of Thor's (the Norse god of Thunder) hammer, Mjollner, as it seems to allude, in form, to this same idea.  Some historians even trace Mjollner's etymology to the proto-Russian and Welsh words for lightning..

In Hindu/Indo-Iranian mythology, the Ninth Mandala of the Rig Vedas (Soma Pavamana) is dedicated to the god Soma, who was revered as an entheogenic plant, which was pressed and drunk by both men and gods wishing to experience spiritual ecstasy.
      
          The Rigveda (8.48.3, tr. Griffith) states,

a ápāma sómam amŕtā abhūmâganma jyótir ávidāma devân

c kíṃ nūnám asmân kṛṇavad árātiḥ kím u dhūrtír amṛta mártyasya

We have drunk Soma and become immortal; we have attained the light, the Gods discovered.

Now what may foeman's malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, mortal man's deception?

Soma is also revered as the third highest (deva) in the Hindu pantheon of gods, just under Vishnu and Indra (who also drank Soma.)  Here is more information on Soma for those of you who are interested.  I found this source pretty awesome in making connections between my own direct experience and what is written relative to Soma.. Maybe you, too, can relate.

Most religious historians, students of Buddhism, and scholars of eastern thought generally agree that Buddhism has no easily recognizable ingestible sacraments which conferred an altered state of consciousness like it's Hindu counterpart.  However, upon closer inspection, some peculiarities begin to emerge.  One striking example was the Buddha's last supper.  The Buddha's (Siddharta Gautama) last meal was... (drum roll please ;) a dish of mushrooms put before him by a group of monks.  A last meal of epic proportions, no?  If you take the time to look through the artwork inside the temples at Angkor Wat, it becomes pretty apparent that altered states were part of the 'process.'  Whether or not a consciousness-altering substance was involved is up for speculation (although, the picture of the Buddha riding the horse-drawn Chariot of the Moon holding psilocybe 'chattras' seems to indicate that perhaps they were.)   Nonetheless, in Buddhism, adherents are allowed to morn for their dead only 49 days, no more..  That is because after 49 days, they believe the soul has reincarnated; therefore, morning after an individual beyond this point is pointless, as the soul has moved on to another persona.  The interesting parallel is that 'medical science,' a new religion of sorts, has proven that a fetus, on the 49th day, assumes both it's gender and it's pineal gland inside the womb.  IT GAINS CONSCIOUSNESS and IDENTITY(gender) on the 49th DAY!!  This reaffirms the fact that mystics/shamans have known for centuries what scientists are only re-discovering today.  Now, to try and bring this full circle..  DMT is an analogous tryptamine cousin of both an indole of the same tryptamine family, psilocybin, and its alkaloid brother, psilocin.  Psilocin is the converted form of psilocybin which is able to be used by the human body...   DMT is produced by the human/amphibian pineal gland as well as by other bodily tissues during normal metabolism.  Rene Descartes referred to this part of the human brain as the "seat of the soul," contending that it was the mediating mechanism between the intellect and the body.  In some amphibians (various birds and reptiles), it is so highly developed that it even physically resembles the 3rd eye within the center of the brain (just under the pituitary gland), complete with a retina and a cortex to boot. Psilocin, on the other hand, is found only within Psilocybe mushrooms.  Let's take a look at how similar the molecular structure of DMT (top) is to it's close cousin, Psilocin. (bottom)..

Is it possible, as some mycologists and scientists claim, that spores are intergalactic; capable of traversing interstellar space in self-contained life vessels (spores) for a period of 45-55 million years?  If they are, in fact, the first terrestrial organisms to 'happen' upon the earth, and began munching the rock surface of the earth in order to provide a foundation for plant and animal life to flourish, then the implications are astounding!  Interestingly, scientists today have proposed a new 'super-kingdom' (Opisthokont) joining both the animal and fungi kingdoms due to their inherent similarities.  Is it possible that the same 'phenomena' providing for our physical nourishment could also provide naturally growing plant and fungi entheogens for our spiritual/conscious nourishment as well?  It is interesting to note that the consciousness altering plants and fungi are those which are the most highly scheduled (Schedule I) by both the United States and our world government (the UN).  Talk about paranoid..  Take a look at some of these pictures of various sculptures, bas-reliefs, etc. from the ancient Buddhist world and let me know what you think..

A Tryp through the East

We live in such a tryptamine-rich environment, including the temple of our own human bodies.  DMT is present in all fifty states in numerous plants (such as Reed Canary Grass) as well as a host of animals, and as aforementioned, is naturally-occurring in humans.  For these essential alkaloids of nature to be declared illegal is not only ridiculous, but is, in my opinion, a conspiracy against both the earth and humanity.  Just as the scribes and pharisees did in the days of old, so today do our 'masters' continue to hold the keys of heaven and do no enter, nor do they allow us to enter.  As Terence McKenna so eloquently stated.."If the words 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on."  Just think about the implications of controlling consciousness..  But that is food for thought for another post.  Thank you for taking the time to read my musings.  Peace and Blessings to you all.  Keep seeking..

Seek and you will find :)

Foraging through time and space

Most of these are from the illuminated manuscripts, created during the Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance periods (1000-1550 C.E.)  The fifth kingdom (or hidden kingdom) abounds in these works of art if you know what to look for..  There seems to be a hyphae-like common thread permeating these pieces..no?  Perhaps the artists were.. illuminated?

Shiitakes!

My shiitake logs are fruiting! I innoculated them using alder from Grant Gibbs' farm early June of last year.

seek and you will find

For nearly five years now, I have been amassing a collection of information and images from illuminated manuscripts, stained glass windows, bas reliefs, hieroglyphs, etc. in search of evidence suggesting that many cultures around the world, seemingly separated by time and space, have revered certain mushrooms for their divining and healing properties.  Evidently, (and I would definitely encourage you to check this out for yourself) there is an abundance of art (and information) out there to suggest that people have been ingesting these sacred allies for millenia.  Modern-day fungal pioneer and mycologist Paul Stamets acknowledges this.  Is it really that difficult to imagine..?  I must agree with Dr. Andrew Weil's assertion that it is an innate human tendency to want to alter our own consciousness.  In fact, we produce psilocybin's analogous cousin, Dimethyltryptamine, within our own human brains and tissue.. the most powerful naturally occurring psychedelic on the planet!  Doesn't it seem a little paranoid that a naturally-occurring tryptamine within our bodies is currently classified as a Schedule I drug by the U.N., and subsequently by the U.S., yet the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline can slightly alter this naturally occurring chemistry with a methanesulfonamide in position-5 (a cosolvent and general acid catalyst to make it organic again) and put it in a prescription medication for migraine headaches (going for $70 a pill) and a host of other conditions?  Legally, a drug of Schedule I classification has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.. 

I would like to share some images with you, with the hope that you may find something peculiar in them yourself, and perhaps take a trip down your own rabbit hole of self-discovery.  I'm not promoting the use of psychedelics to anyone, just trying to get some information and awareness out there.. you know, sow the seeds. I will be posting more images in the not-so-distant future from other cultures, but I figured I'd start with the presiding one here since it seems relevant to many, including myself.  There's an old adage that goes, "seek and you will find.  knock and the door will be opened."  ..right on so many levels.. Peace and love to you all.

Forbidden Fruits