Many members here believe in the virtues of respectability. I do too.

Yet after 80 years of propaganda and manipulation, the general “respectability” of Entheogen users within the eye of the public, is near zero. Today, because of this ignorance, horrible things happen:

- Unjust laws thrive
- Gangsters ruin communities
- Ignorant kids hurt and kill themselves
- $83 billion a year is squandered supporting ineffective polices
- And over the past 4 years 35,000 people have been murdered in Mexico

Some members have fairly wondered about me and this odd book I support, “Why do I care?”
Because our situation is literally one of life or death. I have not gone crazy, merely educated, and I want to do something... The public has no idea why it’s laws are unjust. They have no idea that Ayahuasca or DMT even exists!


There are perhaps three general tactics we as individuals (and this forum) may use to address this public ignorance; one of them is passive and two are active. They each have positives and negatives I feel we may freely explore. I believe the Entheogentic community is in a prime position to address this public ignorance.



The Passive Approach: Provide the curious a safe harbor to learn and grow (a web forum)

+ Those “in the know” can find what they seek
+ Hosts many diverse viewpoints, conversations

- Disorganized, hard to find information
- Repeated questions and debates over and over
- Relies on others to spread the word (i.e. "The spirit molecule", and word of mouth)
- Does not communicate with an ignorant public
- Dependent on the beneficence of the Administrator (what if he where to die in a car crash? Or simply wake up one day and say “fuck it”?)
- Cyber and local laws can (and will) change
- May still be a victim: BBB did nothing illegal, yet was raided and fined $902k




Thus, there are Active Approaches...



The Sober Method: Advance Entheogens via scientific and academic research

+ Scientific data
+ Academic standards
+ New medications and therapies
+ Minimal assumptions

- Illegal to research! (rather odd that a "free society" has "illegal knowledge" eh? )
- MAPS and Hefter already do this
- We have no PhD's or MD's

- Forum members don't want to do the work! Only a handful of members working on the CEL eBook remained dedicated on it through May 2010--even then, there was a tremendous turnover. the forum no longer cared.
The End of Human Space had an "Entheogenic Medicine" appendix until the author realized he didn't have enough brain power, or an M.D., to do it. (I would still love to see this happen though.)

- Does not expand the ring of public awareness beyond medical and psychological academics, or those already searching for "good things about DMT." (How might this Sober View be distributed beyond the community? "Hey, stranger, would you like to know why an illegal drug is actually good? Here's an informational pamphlet."



The "Drunk" Method: Embrace the fairies

+ There are many perspectives on DMT: sharing a plurality of them can make this community robust
+ Provides an easy to read, single narrative, which ignorant family members, friends, and the public may explore...
+ May present hypotheses and ideas that exist outside of science or the present culture: Jules Vern led the way for space travel; Hollywood movies led the way for a black president.
+ High marketability to a new audience: 85% of the population is interested in Aliens in some form. "Why is it that most science fiction fans, the very propel who are probably best prepared for contact with Aliens, are not the ones who have visited the alien worlds [of DMT]” (Inner Paths to Outer Space, by Strassman, et al.)
+ Writings are obviously the perspectives of individual authors
+ May present arguments where the intentional use of Entheogens to greet hyperspace Entities is a Constitutionally protected practice! (A perspective science alone cannot offer.)

+ Let me repeat that: Those who believe Entites are independent creatures, are possibly in a position to have their Entheogenic travels protected by the constitution! (its a long argument, and in the book)

- Many assumptions, some of them seemingly wild
- A community must be tolerant and open minded (which is hard to do)
- It may be challenging to accurately express one's views alone; and an author may need to cite others for support or contrast
- These citations are owned by the Administrator, and subject to approval/denial
- People may become afraid to publicly support one another (see the Prisoner's Dilemma)
- “Profiting” off the community




I personally support all three of these Approaches.
Yet a method guaranteed not to work, is fighting to control an "objective narrative." A fight which I suspect makes the DEA drool. ...No single person has read every post on the Nexus, nor will people read the same posts—-there can be no “objective" view of the Nexus. The truth will always sit as a fractured relative idea trapped within a human framework. Math and observation can give insights to this objectivity, but never the whole picture.

Our main enemy is the ignorance of the public, not each other.
I believe this community can make a significant difference in the world--our actions, and inactions, do matter.
Let's please support each other and work to figure things out? This is my only goal.


ideas welcome.

::much love::

Whatever method is used to promote entheogenic liberty, each person needs to be responsible with how they present themselves. If one is an activist, they have to be careful how they present themselves. I don't think the Tim Leary's of the world are a good thing for entheogenic liberty. I once heard Tim Leary talk about how is an enemy of the government and warned that the ways of the west will fall. I was disgusted. I thought, "what the hell did you think would happen, Tim!? Did you think talking to the government like they're an enemy would do you, or your cause any good? What did you think would happen when you told a nation to drop out?" Thanks for helping make psychedelics schedule 1 substances, and virtually CREATING the stereotype that users are drop outs.

I don't think the world needs any extreme, unsubstantiated, unprovable weird theories about psychedelics, and I don't think users should be portrayed outsiders who talk to aliens. Sometimes, activism can be worse than other options. If one does choose to become an activist, they should be careful about how they portray themselves and others, and realize that it is very easy for outsiders to misunderstand the messages being given. Messages to outsiders should probably be given in clear language that is easier for them to understand and relate to.

The problem is that stupid Umbrella word "drugs". yuck!

I just know if I took to the streets, dressed in my best with a sign held high, there'd be a guy next to me with torn pants holding a sign that says "f the system! oh... and legalize pot, MAN!" My agenda and his agenda are completely different, but to the naieve, we're both just users.

Good luck shaking that shit off.

Yes, unfortunately, that is the sad fact of the current situation. Dealing with that reality is difficult and takes a lot of care. That pot user that says fuck the system probably doesn't realize he isn't doing himself or anyone any good, and doesn't realize how others might view him. Sometimes, opening a meaningful dialogue is the first step.

The pot user is the least of the worries. Take a look at the THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of murders taking place on the border with mexico. War waged by drug traffikers. A DRUG WAR. Weather its true or not weather you agree or disagree. what is happening there is bad.

Yep the Umbrella word drugs.

It'd be good if the real benefits and dangers of each drug were taught in school, and were the focus of documentaries on prime time TV. Drugs, although they are a taboo, are still fascinating subjects to those who don't use drugs (from those who I know). Although they don't take illegal drugs, it gives them an opportunity to learn a bit more about them.

The main focus of this should compare drugs against alcohol and tobacco to put it all into perspective for the average person who may not understand how much damage they are causing to themselves. A documentary perhaps would show various drug users and document how people can use drugs responsibly, and in a lot of cases more so than the average joe who drinks themselves stupid every weekend and thinks that is an acceptable good thing.

A documentary or series of documentaries might get away with this, however a school drugs programme is maybe not as likely to be able to show illegal drugs in a positive light as it could send out the wrong message. Perhaps, just stressing the dangers of alcohol and tobacco to kids and stressing the importance of 'everything in moderation' would be enough to get the ball rolling.

"Drugs, drugs, drugs, some are good, some are bad. Drugs, drugs, drugs, ask your mom or ask your dad."

My parents didn't know a goddamn thing about "drugs" (besides a little about cannabis) and I was forced to learn it all on my own. The school, even the doctor, didn't know much either. Other than, "Just say no."

People, especially young people, need to be able to make educated decisions. When I was 14 or 15 and curious about "drugs", how was I to know the difference between cocaine and LSD? Heroin and mescaline?

It is a sad truth that the general public see "drug" users as a single group. You take "drugs", you are a druggie/junkie/loser, whathaveyou. That not only applies to illegal drugs, it applies to people who abuse prescription drugs, chug cough syrup, or use legal entheogens. We need to open the general public's eyes to the reality of drug use, and that psychedelics simply do not fit in the same category as many other illegal drugs.

I really hate that umbrella term as well, "drugs". It's such a generalization. I'm constantly starting debates about it. What constitutes a "drug"? People will say things like, "Drugs are the ones that fuck you up, that make you addicted, that ruin your life, etc." So I bring up cigarettes and alcohol. "But those are different, they're legal." So I name a few legal entheogens, and how they wouldn't cause near as much harm if they replaced tobacco and alcohol. "Yeah, but those are for those weird hippie people, normal people don't like those."

Our perception of "drugs", psychedelics/entheogens in particular, needs to drastically change. These plants and substances have great potential for change, for evolution as a species, while the things we're doing now are keeping us in a rut.

I'm also interested in the *embrace the faries* approach. I've often wondered about certain semi-celebrities in the spiritual/alien field that talk about Atlantis, the Nephilim, extra-dimensional beings and occult phenomena like it was as normal and known as say the tides or the day-night cycle. A lot of times these people seem to have a very positive agenda behind all the whacky stuff they put out there. Things like overcoming fear and ego-driven, self-serving habits, better communication and collaboration, environmental awareness, sustainability and peace both internal and external, as well as personal growth or development.
I've often wondered if these people use the concepts of aliens as some kind of future archetype of the unkown or ineffable to evoke certain feelings in us, in order to get their messages through. Perhaps there is some psychological benefit in it. At least for me, I've found these kind of theories to be very helpful in my own development, without ever believing them. But simply indulging and imagining them has been psychedelic for me.

So perhaps there is some merit in this approach.

cheers&love
Enoon

I would argue that the last statement would be right if it were rephrased as "Yeah, but those are for shamans, normal people don't like those." Which would be all nice and well with me.

The problem I see is that the role of the shaman in our society is non-existent (not widely acknowledged and accepted), therefore people who are drawn to psychedelics because of their shamanic traits are considered anomalies.

If society could somehow acknowledge the value of the shamanic role, then it would be more acceptable if some (not all!) members of society chose this path, in order to work for others.

The thing is...it seems as though you are likening users of entheogens to shamans. While there may be some similarities, I would never claim to be a shaman. There's so much training and cultural rituals/rites of passage associated with becoming a shaman in those cultures that to have them, that to label yourself a "shaman" solely because of your use of these substances seems, imo, to detract from those who actually practice "true" or "culturally sanctioned" shamanism.

It seems more is illegal than just knowledge in this context. Since not all mind-altering substances are illegal, e.g. alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, it would seem that it's not the mind-altering that's illegal at all, but the specific way in which the mind gets altered with these substances, or even the states of consciousness that are accessed via these substances themselves. It is illegal to research these states whether from the inside or the outside.

I think this is a big issue, something we need to understand better - what the implications are, and why this is so. I personally don't think advocating or informing people about psychedelics specifically is the way to go. This seems to be a broader subject that involves the one thing that is so large we have failed to acknowledge or address it properly in our systems, our machinations, habits, governments, communities and conducts: our consciousness, its states and its levels. I think we lack a sense of clarity on this matter because consciousness itself is rarely an issue, is rarely practised or put into play, and we are rarely really fully aware of it.

So what if we look at our world at the moment - the systems that are in place to govern man kind seem to have been successful to a certain degree. If there were a demi-god-being cultivating humans on this planet, and it possessed no foresight, it would to it look as though it had done a great job. Human population has flourished and exploded over the past centuries, so it looks like the conditions for survival and growth are somewhat ok. However with a bit of foresight and extrapolation it would soon come to the conclusion that with the given way that resources are being used (or misused) things could not continue for very much longer and the earth that provides living conditions for humans would soon cease to sustain the population.
So we can probably agree on that what we have now, while not being the best system possible, has served its purpose at least, which is/was ensuring the survival of humanity. What else was the system made for? Generally I think all systems of government aim at perpetuation and prosperity - of the system. It's not meant to bring prosperity to the individual. So in most cases it doesn't.
So the question is - what led to this system, why is it failing, and what could be changed (and how would these changes aid the situation)

To bring the topic back to its origin - consciousness (it will tie back into psychedelics eventually) - my assessment of the system that is in place at the moment is that it was created by humans that lacked a sense of clarity. With this I mean all humans, not some conspiracy. I think what he have now is a manifestation of our inner states, our obscure nature, and our fears. The obscurity of what we are and could be (obscure because we have not properly investigated and/or understood it yet), for what we have the potential, as opposed what we seem to be has (IMO) led to a need to control, or guide or conduct first (historically but also in the development of each individual human being) directly and later indirectly by way of guiding the economy and the opinions / minds of the population which drive the machinery of the system. It has led to the idea of the system being more important than the life that is its foundation - because life or consciousness was and is not understood and not brought forward into action. It is irrelevant in the eyes of the system. Humans it seems could be cogs or components of a machine in the view of this system. The only important thing to it is perpetuation (which could be a problem in itself since change is inherent in the world and perpetuation of a system is resisting this change). But being human to me seems like it is more than just surviving.

I think the first step to changing the system is to dissolve the obscurity within us, making us first transparent to ourselves and then to others. This means introspection. Secondly - and this is tied together tightly with the first step - is to become more conscious of consciousness itself - how it feels at any given moment, how it is present, pervasive and how it changes. Once we are aware of it the next step would be to not only be aware of it but make it part of our every action. Being in a constant state of awareness of consciousness and clarity.

The exploration of consciousness is essential for any and all of these steps. Psychedelics are one way to explore, my personal preferred way. But the real important part is after or in between the explorations when we are interacting with our surroundings and surrounding beings, or basically when we are in action, that we act in an aware manner. Aware of our fears, of our state and stage of development etc. And finally we need to devise a system of *government* in which this awareness, the state and the stage of development play a role in how we interact and feed back into the system. (A system that is about propagation not perpetuation.) A system that interacts directly with the multi-layered thing that is the human consciousness, and not just with the biological resource-human.

So I think essentially if we focus on psychedelics alone we will get nowhere because most humans are practising a mode of thinking and thereby creating a reality in which they (psychedelics) have no place. I think a general change in the way humans think and interact with the world around them has to come about, before the value of psychedelics can be understood by a more general public.

my 2c

cheers & love
Enoon

I wouldn't call myself a shaman either. But it may be only because I am a seed which fell on a stony ground. In an accepting culture, a shaman is selected and grown until he can fulfill his role. In a culture like ours, people with shamanic traits may remain on the level of "weird hippies" or interested explorers of consciousness, and they may never realize for their entire lives what their true calling was. They become stuck at a level of their development, and can't understand - or justify - the tormenting feelings they have inside, when they try to balance between the norms and requirements of modern society and their shamanic calling. This may result in a considerable sense of guilt - I should be like others but I cannot do that, and everything I know from my culture points to the conclusion that I am wrong.

(from Realms of the Human Unconscious)

Awesome post Enoon!! A very wise analysis I would say

I would like to add the importance of education too. If we are working on ourselves and struggling for this awareness, I think its natural that the light spreads to others around. But it costs a lot for people to look at themselves and face their weaknesses. One has to sacrifice much to improve him/herself, and the fact that people have 'vested interest in the ongoing game' creates resistances.

But if we work for the base that there arent these resistances and barriers in the first place, it will make the changes more fluid, natural. Kids are still more open to influence and if they are given the opportunity to see another possibility of existance, surely at least some of them will carry this on.

So I think through an education that helps kids having a more autonomous conscience and awareness, developing critical thinking, is an essential part in guaranteeing that any changes positive changes will be maintained in long term. If education makes kids question and reflect, instead of giving arbitrary ready-answers that they must reproduce, then they will naturally be more prone to searching for awareness themselves, as well as pressuring governments (or exerting influence in their social/work circles) to establish the changes necessary for the human development.

I agree with you totally. This idea was sort of contained in my idea of putting consciousness into practice, since this would spread to every level of life and society hopefully... However I have no real ideas as to how to change education (which is why I didn't elaborate on it). Do you have any models for schools or teaching in general that you suppose would work in this way? Would you suggest extra subjects to be divulged or simply changing the way the present subjects are taught, or both? How would you deal with the problem of the teachers - because obviously they would have to be on a certain level of openness and consciousness to bring this way of being into the schools and to the children?

Nah, I don't like the argument of population. Even human slaves were capable of flourishing for thousands of years. People can live in absolute hell and sqaulor and still survive. But to what kind of life? A "Matrix" like life where people are batteries and machines? It's a horrible way to live. Can we say that cows and bulls have it good in their mass production farms where the cows spend their lives in stables so small they can't even turn around? But because their numbers continue to grow, can we say cows are flourishing? No.

Nothing to do with psychedelics really, I just don't buy the argument that since population is increasing, people are doing ok. Population is increasing the fastest in the poorest, most disease ridden war torn countries in Africa, despite very high murder rates, infant mortality rates, and widespread hiv and unimaginable government corruption. But that is no standard of living I would aspire to. Population growth does not equal "successful" society. I can only agree with the statement, "the system that are in place to govern man kind seem to have been successful to a certain degree". Yes, a certain degree. I'm just saying, don't let that "certain degree" of success allow justification of terrible acts, failed and damaging policies. You probably realize this, just making the point.

Apoc, I agree, it#s not something I think is good either. I just think that we developed (we the collective human consciousness) this system to ensure survival. And survive we did. Quality of life was more secondary IMO to what we established, at least this is what it looks like. So now that we have established survival we can move on to transform our systems and make life more liveable. I think this first step of establishing survival however was necessary, if perhaps a bit drawn out.

Now we face different problems like sustainability and well the quality of life, however you want to define that. There is always room to grow and improve and that's what we have to aim for. I'm not justifying the atrocities of our times (or times past); I think we have to overcome them completely eventually. But a) we can't change what is and what has been, or at least I don't know how - so we have to work with what is there, and by looking at it negatively I think we will only hinder ourselves in moving forward. If we see it as a process of which we now are a part towards something better I think we can get much further.
And b) ... I forget what b was.

cheers

I think the problem is the way in which Entheogens can change a person's way of thinking into something that can really go against the grain of what mass society has been conditioned to believe in. I'm sure many of you have seen this Richard Alpert interview, but he essentially describes what I'm getting at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hW6Dm_m5t4

This way of thinking is certainly perceived to be dangerous by the government - after all they want to stay in power and keep the mechanics of the society they govern moving in the same direction, allowing them to be able to continue to maintain that control. I mean, the government here in the UK flat out sacked Prof. David Nutt simply for valuating certain drugs to be less harmful then others, (namely alcohol - the accepted form of intoxication):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8334948.stm

Of course, this government opinion filters into education and the mass media - for example the Sun newspaper's fairly recent article about DMT, (no longer available to view on their website), but from what I remember it likened DMT to crystal meth, and dubbed it a 'Mind Busting Jungle Drug', voicing concerns that drug smugglers are attempting to flood the market! The worst thing about that article is that the Sun is one of, if not the, most popular newspaper in Britain, therefore the majority of people reading that will instantly have a negative opinion of DMT which is now next to impossible to shift!!

I'm only really talking about the way things are here in the UK as it's where I'm from, though I'm sure it's the same in many other countries.

I guess one way to help shift the general public's perception of people who use certain drugs is to give examples of people that can be perceived to be successful in some way. For example, I've taken great pleasure in explaining to a couple of people in the past who were damning the effects of cannabis - assuming that it changes all users into lazy drop-outs - that I in fact smoked a fair amount of cannabis throughout my years at University, I studied hard, rarely missed a lecture or seminar, and came away with a first class degree. However, many fellow students who took to drinking heavily on a regular basis struggled, many of whom ended up dropping out, and many others only achieved 2:2 or worse.

I apologise if I'm talking absolute rubbish here - I'm getting married tomorrow and haven't been able to sleep at all last night because of nerves... Aaaiiieeeee!

What's funny is that guy beside you and about 20 others like him will be the only ones that will appear on the news. Just like what they do to the teaparty people, they focus on at protests, the few that have either racist signs, mispelled signs or otherwise idiotic signs. And then you will have the small group of "anarchists" destroying property while the police let them, then the police start beating and tear gassing everyone there.

I see many people standing at the entrance to my university with stalls and pamphlets about various religions, alcohol awareness, mental health & well-being groups, fair-trade groups etc. I'm planning to start an initiative... a philosophical initiative inspiring looking at the world differently. A part of it will be to raise awareness (non-bias information) of entheogens. If muslims can peddle their ideologies at the entrance to education centres then so can I.

As soon as you say something is controversial you imply that you 'know it is bad' in some way. No tolerance to ignorance. I'm going to ease it in, no persuasion...