Psychedelics, Science, and WTF

Alternet recently reported on Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics conference that took place in NY last week. I imagine it was an interesting and illuminating event, but of course, and no surprise, we get this nugget:

"In the conference's closing session, [Daniel] Pinchbeck suggested that the current renaissance in psychedelic culture came about because Saturn was at right angles to Pluto. And when one audience member asked who doubted the "official 9/11 story," more than half the crowd raised their hands. Forte then began spouting a mix of 9/11 conspiracy theory and erroneous Holocaust history -- and confessed that Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered the effects of LSD in 1943, had told him shortly before his death that he thought the Jews had been behind the attacks."

The Trans-Spirit message board posted the article and set off a little discussion. I had asked how the rest of the audience responded to
these kind of claims? I asked: Is their a kind of polite acceptance that no
matter how outrageous the claims (eg. Saturn at right angles and
Jewish conspiracy theories) everyone at these things has to be nice to
each other? Don't the serious scientists and researchers protest?

The article, and others like it, always tend to equalize everything,
but put some of these people in the same room as a creationist or an
ID proponent and they would not stand for it. But literal belief in
the phases of the planets affecting human destiny are left standing...

I like Pinchbeck and I am interested in the work he does, and of course Robert Forte is an important figure and his Council on Spiritual Practices does interesting work, but I wonder how their particular claims and ideas really undermine the scientific underpinning of the new psychedelic research. The problem for me is that I believe very strongly that these substances, under the right circumstances, can be efficacious for certain kind of spiritual revelations, but when these things get transmitted outside the experience, the danger of literalism is too great. How can we find a way to talk about spiritual realities without falling in to the trap that all religion's and spiritual practices face, which is the dissolution of mythic language and elevate the concrete. This is the fundamental problem of things like Intelligent Design and creationism, and no matter how you slice it, saying that certain things happen because the planets align in a certain way uses the same categorical language. I would love to hear what Pinchbeck thinks about this. But right now I am going to email Forte and give him a little what for.

Music to listen to when reflecting on consciousness

Robert Wyatt-- Last Straw

Stars of the Lid-- Tippy's Demise

Can-- Mushroom

Gong-- Magick Mother Invocation

Gong-- Master Builder

Steven Reich-- Section 6

Red Krayloa-- L.G.F.

Avro Part-- Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten

Stars of the Lid-- Hiberner Toujours

I recommend reading some David Bohm, Ouspensky, and Alan Watts to get things moving. And then perform self-hypnosis in which you imagine you are descending into the abyss by way of an old elevator. You control the speed of your descent by a brass lever. Once you arrive at the depth you feel most comfortable, take some time to look around at the shadows and the symbols, the sigils and the signs. Take nothing for granted. But don't become to impressed by anything. Then begin to remove the subject from your internal grammar. Highlight the verbs. Rather than "I see the mountain rising up out of the volcanic ash," think, "A mountain rising up is being perceived," or "perception of a mountain rising up is happening." After a time of this, come out of the hypnotic state and then listen to these songs.

At the Mountains of Madness with tiny paint brushes

My beautiful collection of Ral Partha miniatures has long since disappeared with so many other things from my adolescent days, but lately I have been interested in painting miniatures again. I read in Make recently that Cory Doctorow had started up again after a long lapse and was inspired by both his admission and his attempt. But I have disappointed to see that Warhammer seems to dominate the market. Not that their product line isn't cool, but they all kind of look the same after a while. The pre-painted plastic miniature line from Wizards of the Coast are kind of a debacle and take all the real fun out of the hobby. And they have no weight, not like the terrific lead figures from the later 70s and 80s. So I have doing some searching for something a little off the beaten path and what did I discover but a wonderful line of miniatures for Cthulhu/Lovecraft games. Adventurers, vehicles, and of course, gods! And they are dread-tastic!