Drugs, art, and spiritual entities - Grahan Hancock

[professorpan]

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=2068802005">news.scotsman.com/feature...2068802005</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>GRAHAM HANCOCK is breathless. He's telling me about his first hallucinogenic trip in the Amazon jungle, and he just can't get the words out fast enough. The former journalist and now bestselling science writer spent five weeks living with indigenous Indian shamans in Peru, where he ingested a sacred plant drug known as ayahuasca.<br><br>We pick up the story just after the shaman began the ritual ceremony by singing the icaros, ancient chants which draw the spirits around the circle. Hancock then took a sip of the drug, which he describes as a "vile-tasting liquid, so strong and bitter-sweet and salty, so dark and concentrated as to be repellent". His muscles involuntarily relax, he closes his eyes and then the visions begin.<br><br>"I had a very scary beginning to that trip," he says. "I saw incredible transformations of different animals and beings glowing with light that appeared directly in front of my field of vision. It was a typical scene which many describe as an alien abduction. They were very anthropic, and definitely wanted to communicate with me. It was rather like going to a strange new country, where I had to start learning the rules of communication."<br><br>More at link. <p></p><i></i>

[glubglubglub]

without ayahuasca experience isn't to be taken seriously. Anyone who claims drinking the stuff has given them insight into the matter, however, isn't to be taken seriously either.<br><br>It will be interesting to see what Mr. Hancock concludes from his experiences. <p></p><i></i>

[nashvillebrook]

this is good stuff! lots of very interesting work has been done and much is left unexplored regarding the use of these plants. vibes very well with Jacques Vallee's conclusions about inter-dimensional experiences being behind a lot of crypto anthropology. the best part is that it's not NEW. it's ancient and therefore lots of information exists in the form of myth and legend. <br><br>i'm there! love Hancock! thanks for the linkee! <p></p><i></i>

[glubglubglub]

nothing very surprising in it, really. I'll wait till the book shows up on p2p networks to see its contents, but if there's a nugget or two in there Hancock's not giving it away in the article...<br> <p></p><i></i>

[robertdreed]

There's only so much one can learn from someone else's trip diary.<br><br>I'm wary of people jumping on board the psychedelic bandwagon as a way to gain cred as superior enlightened beings- especially with exotic brews like ayahuasca, which is such a cathartic ordeal experience that most people are content to read reports about it from the comfort of their armchairs. It doesn't help that it's an easy experience to crib from someone else's account. The archetypal motifs of the experience seem to have a commonality for anyone who ingests it, as the content is apparently more about core visionary perception than lucid thought and contemplation. Super-powerful psychedelics are like that. No fooling around with programming languages, they head straight for the assembly code...<br><br>But the overwhelming character of such experiences makes it easy to fake having had them, unlike the case with substances like LSD, where it's comparatively easy to detect false claims of being "experienced." <br><br>I'm also wary of people who trade on their alleged familiarity with exotic psychedelics in order to push their own crypto-archaeological, mystical, and paranormal views. <br><br>I'm a big Terence McKenna fan, by the way, I think he's a brilliant guy, and someone who most definitely did NOT front about his psychedelic experiences. But I wish he was still around, because I find so many of his insights disputable. We could have gotten into some great arguments, I'm sure. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=robertdreed>robertdreed</A> at: 10/13/05 2:03 pm<br></i>

[chillin]

I'm surprised that the article didn't mention McKenna's work, this reporter sounds like a disciple in alot of ways. I wonder if these guys were originally inspired to do their research by Casteneda? Whether his experiences were completely genuine or not, Carlitos sure could tell a good story! Especially the first few books.<br><br>It's interesting how much of what we enjoy today is the result of somebody's altered state of conciousness. This article mentions how the double-helix was discovered on an acid trip, Tesla supposedely got many of his ideas from conversations he had while in a trance state (now I think A/C stands for Altered Conciousness hehe), Jack Parsons was no stranger to Mescalito, etc... <p></p><i></i>