Showing posts with label Shamanism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shamanism. Show all posts
Friday, March 11, 2011

The 9th Wave ~ Finding Ourselves & Honoring Wisdom of the Past



So, here we stand, at the beginning of the 9th wave of the Mayan Calendar, which commences on the 9th of March and culminates on the 28th of October. According to the writings of Mayan Calendar authority, Carl Calleman, this will be the most intense period of evolution that the Planet has seen, and will result in Earth finally reaching Cosmic or Universal Consciousness. This is what Archangel Michael has been saying for quite a while, and the webinar/channel that We did with Jim Self on the 21st of December (Solstice) last year was specifically designed to assist people to prepare for this shift into Cosmic and Galactic time waves.

I am always so grateful to Michael for providing the information that we need before the time! At this point, the 9th of March, we will enter a more intense phase of this energy, as forseen by the Maya many centuries ago. I will be doing an online free webinar with my friend Sean Caulfield, in which we will briefly explain the essence of the Mayan calendar and the 9th wave, for those who are not familiar with this, and then do an activation with the Spirit Keepers to align with the incoming energies in a greaceful way that is filled with love and free of fear.

If you would like to join the webinar at 9pm PST on Wednesday the 9th, please go to the Starchild website where you can register.

It is also true, that part of the process that we are passing through in this rapid period of evolution and change, is an integration of the wisdom of the Ancients and the Indigenous peoples. As Michael has said in many channels, this wisdom must be reintegrated into the Collective Consciousness before we can move forward. In our modern culture, we have lost our connection with Nature and with the wisdom of our ancestors, and so we are learning now how to reconnect and integrate this within our sense of Who We Are. It is necessary and it is a part of the "healing" of our Being back into wholeness and "Oneness". But, this morning I was reading through some information about a certain recently prominent teacher who has used the ceremonies and teachings of the Indigenous peoples in ways that some consider to be lacking in integrity. Now, while I do not want to get into that debate, it does occur to me that there is a tendency for people to want to "integrate" the wisdom of the past and of the indigenous peoples by becoming them in some way. In my travels around the Globe, I have encountered "Native Americans" in the Middle East and "Indians" in South America. What is it that makes so many people want to abandon their own culture and become something they are not? Do we imagine that if we dress in the clothes, wear the feathers and beat a drum that will magically make us into a powerful shaman?

In my own view, I think it is a symptom of our disconnection from Nature. In our consumerist culture we have no idea how to get back to nature and our inner connection with nature, and so we "borrow" from cultures that seem to be successful. I say "seem", because most of these cultures are as lost and disconnected as the rest of us, and are also seeking to reconnect with their past and their roots, whether they are Tibetans, Lakotans or Khoi-San in Africa. And so it is that so many of us are drawn into "dressing up" as Indigenous peoples and pretending that we have what they have, or what they had in the past.

I must admit that this was a part of my development as well. I have tried out being "Native American" and "Indian" and "African", and in the process have worked with some incredibly gifted and wonderful people and been taught by people I would call Shamans. I know Shamanic techniques and can use them in healing and ceremony, but I know that I am not an indigenous Shaman. I am a western educated person seeking to reconnect with my inner divinity and power and my connection with nature. And, surely this is what all of us are seeking, no matter what culture we belong to.

The essence of the search seems to me, not wearing the feathers and eating the mushrooms, but finding that deep inner connection in your own way. In a way that resonates with who you are and your connection to the Earth. This is what I have been teaching with Archangel Michael in the Webinar intensive that I am doing right now.

Certainly there are Shamanic teachings that resonate universally, I think. I am not that sure any more. When I do events and we work outdoors, I love creating a fire circle at night, or working with the medicine wheel as a way of introducing people the the concepts of elemental honor and connection. But I was aware, quite recently, of the rather strange energy of trying to introduce a group of Russian Lightworkers to the Medicine Wheel in a St Petersburg forest, just meters from a wooden church structure that represented the wisdom of the Russian ancestors. We did connect with the Elemental energy, we managed to create a thunderstorm that resulted in a power outage in the city of St Petersburg! From that adventure I learnt to be much more careful in working with elemental energies that are unstable, since at that time of the great fires in Russia the elemental energies were in a state of great instability.

What was given to me later, is that the connection with nature resonates most deeply when it is made from within and in a way that honors nature in the Heart. It is about the values of the Indigenous traditions, respect for Nature and honor for all living Beings. It is about learning to live together in Peace and to honor all with whom we share the Planet. In this time, it has become an urgent necessity that we rediscover the values of sustaining the Earth for future generations and not just taking what we need and not thinking of the damage we leave behind in our search for more. And yes, I do believe that doing ceremonies in nature that honor nature is an important part of this reconnection. But I think also that these ceremonies should be ones that we create from our own inner sense of who we are and how we relate to nature in the place where we are. And they should integrate who we are and where we are with a sense of the "now". We are not living in the Stone Age or in Tribes, most of us have to deal with the complexities of modern urban life and social organization as we make our way back to the "Mother"...our connection with Nature.

Certainly, the Shekinah Light, that has been coming to our Planet in increasing intensity in the last year, will bring us closer to the Divine Feminine within and assist our journey inwards to the "self" that is the Divine Flame of Love and Truth. It is within each one of us, and we can find that reconnection within, in the Heart space of Love. In fact, this is the only place that we will find it, and by accepting who we are and why we are here.

To honor the Indigenous ones, we must know that we are the ones we have been waiting for. And that we chose to born where we did and into the social groups that we did. In order to know the Self, we must first embrace who we are and why we are here. That is difficult for most of us if we are low on self worth. It is easier to dress up in a Romantic costume and to pretend to be someone else in another culture. But, sooner or later we will need to come home to ourselves, and be ourselves. And then....we will discover that we are All Things and that we are Connected to All Things.

We Are all that We Will Ever Need to Be. Right Here and Right Now.

This is the video I made with Sean as we talk about the 9th wave and the incoming energies and working with the Indigenous Peoples in Africa:



© 2006-11 Celia Fenn and Starchild Global http://www.starchildglobal.com - You are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work under the following conditions: You must give the author credit, you may not use this for commercial purposes, and you may not alter, transform or build upon this work. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. Any other purpose of use must be granted permission by author.


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Sunday, March 6, 2011

Shanti Jatra 2011 : Organic Festival Nepal


"Shanti Jatra Full Moon Festival 2011" (3 Days 2 Nights : Nepal - October 11,12,13 - 2011) is back with a brand new avatar. The Shanti Jatra Organic Festival Nepal: October 2011, is all set to be a vibrant and upbeat celebration of music, food, and creativity.

Wonderful things manifest when you are in tune with the ebb and flow of life. Organics is the understanding of this finely tuned structure be it an expression of the arts, food, wine, spirituality, business or environment.

South East Asia's premier alternative electronic music festival is back!

Two years after the untimely demise of one of the founding members which led to the festival being cancelled, the crew took some time off to regroup and thought over to recreate the magic of this wonderful gathering.

The result, an interesting and fresh concept based on organic life style emerged along with supporting Visit Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

Along with the 2 stages, Main (Dance) and Chill, there will be another stage called New Age Arena where there will be Group Shamanic healers from worldwide, Workshops on Organic life style, meditation and group yoga sessions.
Organic food stalls , organic bar and display of organic food grown in Nepal will be the other key areas of this gathering.

As always we will provide an eclectic and diverse lineup for the main stage and chill wherein all the genres and sub genres converge into one. Our motto will and always will be the same, that We are one!

Our aim is to create the colourful setting with the same amazing and friendly vibes, which captivated many imaginations thoughts in our previous editions, in a new and exciting way under the breathtaking landscape of Nepal.

Come join us once again to recreate those magical moments. We welcome you back!


Lineup For Shanti Jatra Organic Festival 2011 ....


LIVE:

ELECTRYPNOSE (2to6 Records, Switzerland)
ENICHKIN PROJECT (Avatar Records, Russia)
HYPER FREQUENCIES (Mechanik Records, France)
PARA HALU (Psylife Music, Hungary)
IMAGINARY SIGHT (Glowing Flame Records,Macedonia)
MALICE IN WONDERLAND (2to6 Records, Austria)
White Wizard (Delhi)
BRAINDROP (Omveda/Occulta Records, India)
VAEYA (Glitchy Tonic/Occulta Records, India)


DJ:

WICKED SOUND SYSTEM (Agartha Records, India)
MASH/Pulse (Omveda Records, India)
COSMIC TANDAV (Omveda/Rudraksh Records, Dubai)

DjKranti Nepal ( Revolution Records, Nepal)
Djane Payal ( Revolution Records, Nepal)
DjVibe Ktm


Chill:

ELECTRYPNOSE (Suntrip Records, Switzerland)
ENICHKIN (Avatar Records, Russia)
YIDAM (Liquid Frequency, India)


More acts to be added..

IMPORTANT : We are aware of the fact that a lot of people had purchased the tickets for the previous edtion and were not issued refunds.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL THOSE WHO PURCHASED THE TICKETS FOR SJ 2009 , will keep the same for this edition and entry will be FREE!

In case you do not wish to participate, please do get in touch with us immediately and we shall refund the amount through the family of Rodney Mathias, who is taking care of the refunds.


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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

DMT : The Spirit Molecule Documentary Movie (2010)


The much awaited documentary film on DMT titled "The Spirit Molecule" is finally out ... with Navigator, Joe Rogan !

The Spirit Molecule weaves an account of Dr. Rick Strassman's groundbreaking DMT research through a multifaceted approach to this intriguing hallucinogen found in the human brain and hundreds of plants, including the sacred Amazonian brew, Ayahuasca. Utilizing interviews with a variety of experts to explain their thoughts and experiences with DMT, and ayahuasca, within their respective fields, and discussions with Strassman’s research volunteers, brings to life the awesome effects of this compound, and introduces us to far-reaching theories regarding its role in human consciousness.










Several themes explored include possible roles for endogenous DMT, its theoretical role in near-death and birth experiences, alien-abduction experiences, and spiritual states, both within Eastern concepts of enlightenment and Western ideas regarding prophecy, and the uncanny similarities in Biblical prophetic texts describing DMT-like experiences. Our expert contributors offer a comprehensive collection of information, opinions, and speculation about indigenous use of DMT, the history and future of psychedelics within the research community, and within the larger social matrix, and current DMT research. All this, to help us understand the nature of the DMT experience, and its role in human culture and evolution.

The subtle stimulating combination of science, spirituality, anthropology, sociology, and philosophy within the film’s approach sheds light on an array of ideas that could considerably alter the way humans understand the universe and their relationship to it.



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Friday, November 19, 2010

Marijuana : A Chronic History Documentary Film


"Marijuana : A Chronic History" is a 2010 History Channel Documentary Film which looks at the strange history of Marijuana in America.

The fight against drug use in America has been going on since the turn of the last century but the term “War on Drugs” only became part of our national dialogue in 1970 when it was first used by President Richard Nixon. The President later formed the DEA and started a push to outlaw drugs of all kinds. Among the most discussed drugs in this war is Marijuana.

Marijuana Chronic History is probably one of the better documentaries, mostly seems pro-cannabis and by far the most pro-cannabis documentary thus far released by the History Channel.













The documentary attempts to educate everyone who still has a Reefer Madness mindset, who still thinks Cannabis prohibition is reasonable and have no idea that widespread cannabis use is relatively harmless compared to alcohol, tobacco, and especially pharmaceutical and other drugs.



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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Terence McKenna : The Alchemical Dream Movie


In the mid-1990's Terence McKenna and Mystic Fire's Sheldon Rocklin teamed up to make this rich and exciting film. Little did they know that this would be their last film. Originally titled Coincidencia Oppositorum: The Unity of Opposites and filmed in Prague with Terence portraying his usual erudite rendition of the Irish Bard, this filmed classic takes us on a journey into the alchemical renaissance of King Frederick V and his wife Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia.

Playing the role of John Dee, court magician for Queen Elizabeth of England, Terence McKenna shows us how the promise of a return to the tradition of alchemy was almost instituted in Europe.

He also shows us that this early attempt at the creation of an alchemical kingdom actually lead to the European Renaissance and the institution of Cartesian science and the beginnings of rationalism within the western mindset. This incredible film is not only beautifully filmed but is Terence McKenna’s finest performance and a worthy eulogy to his genius.



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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Altered States : Drug Cultures Around The World !


"Altered States" is an episode from the Taboo documentary series on NGC, which explores drug cultures around the world where people use drugs to enter an "altered state" of consciousness, sometimes with dangerous consequences. We visit a village in Venezuela where shamans use drugs to contact the spirit world, a festival in Nepal where Marijuana & Hashish is temporarily legalized and a club scene in Amsterdam where drugs have become a focus of both recreational indulgence and scientific inquiry.










Some of the translations and the so called facts presented here are untrue and exaggerated ... You decide what resonates with you as the truth ! :)


~ BoOm Shanti ~

Reference : National Geographic Channel




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Monday, October 4, 2010

Taboo~Drugs : A National Geographic Documentary


'Taboo - Drugs' is a National Geographic Channel presentation, part of the Taboo documentary series highlighting various other taboos of our society. This episode features the San Pedro cactus, Peyote, Coca leaves and Ganja, which have all been part of shamanism in cultures around the world.

This National Geographic documentary compares these cultures and modern day rave culture in which doctors and professionals attest to the validity of this spiritual experience.

You can watch the documentary in parts (1-5) below ...



National Geographic Channel's "Taboo:Drugs" ~ The Full Documentary





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Monday, April 19, 2010

The Psychedelic Experience : Entheogens, DNA & The Double Helix Structure


It's not a widely known fact that Crick was under the influence of LSD when he discovered the double-helix structure of DNA and that this supreme achievement of scientific rationalism, for which he won the Nobel Prize, came to him in an altered, even mystical state of consciousness. Until his death in 2004 Crick remained an atheist, deeply committed to the materialist view of reality.

Nevertheless he was unable to accept that the DNA molecule could have assembled itself by accident. So he came to the idea that perhaps life originated on Earth this way: perhaps billions of years ago on the other side of the galaxy, doomed by a supernova, some ancient alien civilization sought to preserve its DNA, and he suggests that bacteria - perhaps with genetically engineered DNA inside them - were sent out into the Universe in spaceships. Eventually one of those ships crashed into the early Earth, and the bacteria containing that DNA began to reproduce, and the whole story of evolution as our scientists tell it started there. Once we have the DNA, evolution becomes plausible. Until we have the DNA, it's difficult to explain.


The Cosmic Serpent : DNA and the Origins of Knowledge is a 1995 non-fiction book by Jeremy Narby. Narby performed two years of field work in the Pichis Valley of the Peruvian Amazon researching the ecology of the Ash. Moreáninka, an indigenous peoples in Peru.




Investigating the connections between shamanism and molecular biology, Narby hypothesizes that shamans may be able to access information at the molecular level through the ingestion of entheogens, specifically Ayahuasca. Biophysicist Jacques Dubochet criticized Narby for not testing his hypothesis. Narby and three molecular biologists revisited the Peruvian Amazon to try to test the hypothesis, and their work is featured in the documentary film, Night of the Liana.





Watch Part 6 on YouTube ...









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Monday, March 29, 2010

Earth Pilgrims Movie : A Spiritual Adventure


Earth Pilgrims, the new spiritual adventure documentary film, featuring Echan Deravy, Satish Kumar, Graham Hancock, Wade Davis, Nassim Haramein, Coleman Barks & Rumi is about pilgrims, the pilgrim message, and the pilgrim spirit, and how these will carry us through our unfolding evolution.


About The Film ...

From a world swamped in problems, in a global civilization on its last march towards the edge of the cliff, how can we reconnect with a deeper, more meaningful way of life? How can we make a difference?

What happens when 60,000 Quechua Indians gather to give thanks to the vital life force that sustains them? What can we learn from those who put harmony and balance before gain? What is an Earth Pilgrim?

Every person has an image of a pilgrim. In Japan it is probably the image of the ohenrosan in Shikoku. This movie was conceived while the director was actually walking the roads of Shikoku on that pilgrimage. But this is not a movie about that kind of pilgrim. It is a message about the deeper meaning of being a pilgrim in the modern world. It is about the great dangers our planet is now facing and about how the pilgrim spirit can help us all.

Satish Kumar in Earth Pilgrims ...




The film follows director Echan Deravy as he travels in search of the meaning of Earth Pilgrim-a new kind of pilgrim, a pilgrim that we can all become in our hearts. The film was shot on location in Britain, Japan, Israel, the US and Peru as well as Hawaii. It is a documentary which includes the wise advice of several leading thinkers and an astonishing older woman. It is not about saving the world it is about how we change our way of being in the world. We do that by becoming a new kind of human that Echan calls Earth Pilgrims. It is an internationally released 90 min film available on DVD from 23 July, 2009 in English, and later in Spanish and other languages.

Nassim Haramein on the Ark of the Covenant ...




Director's Message ...

In my culture, the Celtic culture of Scotland and Ireland we have the story of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. They had to go on a quest to find the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is a symbol of higher understanding. In this movie I go in search of a higher understanding by asking people as I travel on a world pilgrimage to give me advice. I meet people in very different fields such as anthropology, ecology, shamanism, physics and plant healing. I do two major pilgrimages. One in Shikoku was 1300km and the one in Peru was not long at all. It was high. We climbed to 5 thousand meters in the Andes with 60,000 native people to film the Qoyllur Rit'i pilgrimage. Rumi, my favourite poet speaks to us throughout the movie to remind us of our spiritual life as pilgrims. The film is a quest to answer the riddle of our times. Why is the Earth falling apart? The answer lies in the heart of each person.

The answer may be in our all becoming Earth Pilgrims ...





Reference : Earth Pilgrims


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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Peyote : The Last Of The Medicine Men Movie


An investigation into the dramatic and mysterious world of the Huichol of Mexico – where perhaps the most traditional community of North America gave Benedict Allen the rare privilege of ritually taking their peyote, the hallucinogenic cacti, to bring him at last “face-to-face” with the gods.

One of Britain's leading adventurers, Benedict Allen, is particularly known for his television programmes - occasionally made with the help of a film crew but more typically without. He paved the way for the current generation of TV adventurers.

Uniquely in television, his philosophy is to genuinely immerse himself in extreme or alien environments, going alone and learning from indigenous people. As The Sunday Times put it: “Filming whatever actually happens, without all the hidden paraphernalia of a film crew, and whether in danger or lonely or undergoing various exotic rituals, he has effectively taken the viewers’ experience of adventure as far as it can go.”

However, most of his more challenging journeys – depicted in his first five books – in fact took place before he began filming his exploits. “I belonged to the last generation that might pass through a wilderness for months on end and not encounter a single person of my own culture. It was a privileged time: never in all those years can I remember coming across a single other foreigner, whilst out on a trek.” Such isolation seems inconceivable today.




Reference : Benedict Allen

Download Movie (Torrent)

You could also check out the post 'Psychedelic Torrent on Books, Movies & Documentaries on Drug Awareness' !

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Friday, March 5, 2010

500 Nations : A Documentary On The Native American History


500 Nations is an eight part documentary on the Native Americans of North and Central America. It documents from pre-Columbian to the end of the 19th century. Much of the information comes from text, eyewitnesses, pictorials, and computer graphics. The series was hosted by Kevin Costner, and directed by Jack Leustig. It included the voice talents of narrator Tom Jackson, Wes Studi, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Eric Schweig, Michael Horse, Gordon Tootoosis, Graham Greene, and Tantoo Cardinal. "500 Nations tries to crystallize the sweeping events that reshaped North America- one of the largest and most pivotal stories in human history - a story we feel is widely unknown. Often painful, sometimes shocking, but in the end it is simply about understanding."

- Kevin Costner









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Friday, February 19, 2010

Babongo of Gabon : The Iboga Ritual Film


The Babongo of Gabon used to be known as pygmies. They're still treated as second-class citizens by their neighbours. But their expertise and knowledge of the forests is unique and their use of Iboga, a powerful hallucinogenic which lies at the heart of Babongo culture, makes them famous throughout Gabon.

In this video, part of the BBC Series called Tribe presented by Bruce Parry who lives with the Babongo of Gabon and gets initiated into the ritualistic use of the sacred African root, Iboga, the holy sacrament of the Bwiti religion.

The Babongo follow Bwiti, an animistic religion based on a belief in spirits which started in the forests thousands of years ago. More recently Bwiti, influenced in curious ways by Christianity, has become one of Gabon's official religions - there are Bwiti churches, ceremonies and initiations in the capital, Libreville, and the first President was an initiate. In the city, the Bwiti drug Iboga is taken almost as Catholics take the host at Mass, and festivals follow the Christian calendar. But out in the forest, the original form of the religion is still practiced, in all its potency.



The Babongo cultivate the drug Iboga for their ceremonies, and worship it as the source of spiritual knowledge. Some Bwiti scholars believe it is the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden. It comes from the bitter root of the Iboga tree, and is a powerful psycho-active drug - something like LSD, mescaline or amphetamines. Taking Iboga brings a sense of anxiety, extreme apprehension and visual hallucinations - effects which can be made stronger by darkness, ambience and suggestion. It makes you violently sick, can lead to a state of lethargy lasting four to five days and, in extreme doses, it can kill.



When Bwiti shamans eat Iboga, they are granted the power to see the future, heal the sick and speak with the dead. The Babongo use it as a stimulant before hunting and during initiation ceremonies. They believe that Iboga frees your soul to leave your body and go on a great journey, to speak with the spirits of animals and plants.



The three-day initiation ceremony is used for spiritual or personal development, and to become a man. First the initiate eats the sliced root of the Iboga tree over a period of hours, monitored by his Bwiti father, and the visions begin. The Iboga allows him to see into his true self and vividly revisit the consequences of his past actions. After 24 hours of this, the initiate is taken to the river by the men.

They lift him through a construction of twigs shaped like a vulva suspended over the water, then wash him with water soaked with leaves. The men pull a sapling of the sacred matombi tree from the forest, and plant it outside the Bwiti temple - it represents the initiate as a child. Throughout the day the elders feed him small pieces of Iboga, and the whole village perform, dancing in vivid costumes, in a way designed to bring on further hallucinations.



In the last phase, the initiate is called upon to see the Bwiti visions. Fire dancers sprint the length of the village to entice the Macoi spirits from the darkness of the forest. The initiate must tell the elders what he has seen; this is sacred knowledge, known only to them, and through it he becomes a man. The villagers meanwhile plant a forest around the matombi tree, to represent the problems to be faced in adult life. Together, the men break up the trees branch by branch to symbolise the removal of all his problems.







As well as influencing religious belief across Gabon, Iboga is also of increasing interest to Western medicine. One of its active ingredients, ibogain, has been used to treat heroin addicts, alcoholics and people who have been traumatised in childhood. Advocates say its particular powerful effects allow those who take it to move on from their previous lives and habits.


Source : BBC


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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Know Your Mushrooms Documentary


Ron Mann, the director of the famous Grass Documentary is back with another marvelous documentary, this time on Shrooms, the Magical Fungus, titled 'Know Your Mushrooms' !

Mushrooms ... we put them on our pizza and steaks and in our soups and salads, we marvel at their variety and are sometimes repelled by their grotesque beauty when encountering them in the bush. And yeah, some have even sampled their more exotic possibilities and asked the question: “Do mushrooms come from a far away planet?”

Still, others have asked: “Can mushrooms save the planet?”



The world of fungi and their integral relationship with the health of the planet have only recently been appreciated. The oldest and largest living organisms recorded on Earth are both fungi. And their use by a new, maverick breed of scientists and thinkers has proven vital in the cleansing of sites despoiled by toxins and as a “clean” pesticide among many other environmentally-friendly applications.

Inspired by a chance conversation with fellow filmmaker and mushroom buff Jim Jarmusch, Mann set off to the annual Telluride Mushroom Festival in Colorado. It was there he encountered the unique sub-sub-subculture surrounding fungi that includes an unlikely assortment of nerds, nuts, hipsters, tripsters, artists, chefs, musicians, foodies, foragers, and seekers all paying homage to the mighty mushroom.

'Know Your Mushrooms' follows uber myco visionaries Gary Lincoff and Larry Evans (two of the more expert and unforgettably mercurial characters in the community) as they lead us on a hunt for the wild mushroom and the deeper cultural experiences attached to the mysterious fungi.

Combining material filmed at the Telluride Mushroom Fest with animation and archival footage along with a neo-psychedelic soundtrack by the Flaming Lips, KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS opens the doors to perception, takes the audience on a longer, stranger trip and delivers them to a brave new world where the fungi might well guide humanity to a saner, safer place… with extra cheese…

CONSUMER WARNING : Don’t Go Into The Forest Without This Movie !

Source : Sphinx Productions


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Thursday, December 3, 2009

Entheogenic Shamanism : Ancient Astronauts


'Entheogenic Shamanism Ancient Astronauts' is a brilliant documentary connecting the ancient use of entheogens, the shaman's vision quest into non ordinary states of awareness helping the Shaman tune into a transpersonal realm of the spirit world bringing back knowledge to serve the community and heal it's people.




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Friday, November 20, 2009

Plants Of The Gods : Sacred Healing Powers Of Peyote


Outlining a brief history of Peyote here is an excerpt from "Plants of the Gods - Their Sacred, Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers" by Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann, Healing Arts Press (Vermont) 1992 !

Ever since the arrival of the first Europeans in the New World, Peyote has provoked controversy, suppression, and persecution. Condemned by the Spanish conquerors for its "satanic trickery", and attacked more recently by local governments and religious groups, the plant has nevertheless continued to play a major sacramental role among the Indians of Mexico, while its use has spread to the North American tribes in the last hundred years.

The persistence and growth of the Peyote cult constitute a fascinating chapter in the history of the New World - and a challenge to the anthropologists and psychologists, botanists and pharmacologists who continue to study the plant and its constituents in connection with human affairs.

We might logically call this woolly Mexican cactus the prototype of the New World hallucinogens. It was one of the first to be discovered by Europeans and was unquestionably the most spectacular vision-inducing plant encountered by the Spanish conquerors. They found Peyote firmly established in native religions, and their efforts to stamp out this practice drove it into hiding in the hills, where its sacramental use has persisted to the present time.

How old is the Peyote cult? An early Spanish chronicler, Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, estimated on the basis of several historical events recorded in Indian chronology that Peyote was known to the Chichimeca and Toltec at least 1890 years before the arrival of the Europeans. This calculation would give the "divine plant" of Mexico an economic history extending over a period of some two millennia. Then Carl Lumholtz, the Danish ethnologist who did pioneer work among the Indians of Chihuahua, suggested that the Peyote cult is far older. He showed that a symbol employed in the Tarahumara Indian Peyote ceremony appeared in ancient ritualistic carvings preserved in Mesoamerican lava rocks. More recently, archaeological discoveries in dry caves and rock shelters in Texas have yielded specimens of Peyote. These specimens, found in a context suggesting ceremonial use, indicate that its use is more than three thousand years old.

The earliest European records concerning this sacred cactus are those of Sahagún, who lived from 1499 to 1590 and who dedicated most of his adult life to the Indians of Mexico. His precious, first-hand observations were not published until the nineteenth century. Consequently, credit for the earliest published account must go to Juan Cardenas, whose observations on the marvelous secrets of the Indies were published as early as 1591.

Sahagún's writings are among the most important of all the early chroniclers. He described Peyote use among the Chichimeca, of the primitive desert plateau of the north, recording for posterity: "There is another herb like tunas [Opuntia spp.] of the earth. It is called Peiotl. It is white. It is found in the north country. Those who eat or drink it see visions either frightful or laughable. This intoxication lasts two or three days and then ceases. It is a common food of the Chichimeca, for it sustains them and gives them courage to fight and not feel fear nor hunger nor thirst. And they say that it protects them from all danger."

It is not known whether or not the Chichimeca were the first Indians to discover the psychoactive properties of Peyote. Some students believe that the Tarahumara Indians, living where Peyote abounded, were the first to discover its use and that it spread from them to the Cora, the Huichol, and other tribes. Since the plant grows in many scattered localities in Mexico, it seems probable that its intoxicating properties were independently discovered by a number of tribes.

Several seventeenth-century Spanish Jesuits testified that the Mexican Indians used Peyote medicinally and ceremonially for many ills and that when intoxicated with the cactus they saw "horrible visions". Padre Andréa Pérez de Ribas, a seventeenth-century Jesuit who spent sixteen years in Sinaloa, reported that Peyote was usually drunk but that its use, even medicinally, was forbidden and punished, since it was connected with "heathen rituals and superstitions" to contact evil spirits through "diabolic fantasies".

The first full description of the living cactus was offered by Dr Francisco Hernández, who as personal physician of King Philip II of Spain was sent to study Aztec medicine. In his ethnobotanical study of New Spain, Dr Hernández described "peyotl", as the plant was called in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs: "The root is of nearly medium size, sending forth no branches or leaves above the ground, but with a certain woolliness adhering to it on account of which it could not aptly be figured by me. Both men and women are said to be harmed by it. It appears to be of a sweetish taste and moderately hot. Ground up and applied to painful joints, it is said to give relief. Wonderful properties are attributed to this root, if any faith can be given to what is commonly said among them on this point. It causes those devouring it to be able to foresee and to predict things…."

In the latter part of the seventeenth century, a Spanish missionary in Nayarit recorded the earliest account of a Peyote ritual. Of the Cora tribe, he reported: "Close to the musician was seated the leader of the singing, whose business it was to mark time. Each had his assistants to take his place when he should become fatigued. Nearby was place a tray filled with Peyote, which is a diabolical root that is ground up and drunk by them so that they may not become weakened by the exhausting effects of so long a function, which they begin by forming as large a circle of men and women as could occupy the space that had been swept off for this purpose. One after the other, they went dancing in a ring or marking time with their feet, keeping in the middle the musician and choir-master whom they invited, and singing in the same unmusical tune that he set them. They would dance all night, from five o'clock in the evening to seven o'clock in the morning, without stopping nor leaving the circle. When the dance was ended, all stood who could hold themselves on their feet; for the majority, from the Peyote and wine which they drank, were unable to utilize their legs."

The ceremony among the Cora, Huichol, and Tarahumara Indians has probably challenged little in content over the centuries; it still consists, in great part, of dancing.

The modern Huichol Peyote ritual is the closest to the pre-Colonial Mexican ceremonies. Sahagún's description of the Teochichimeca ritual could very well be a description of the contemporary Huichol ceremony, for these Indians still assemble together in the desert 300 miles northeast of their homeland in the Sierra Madre mountains of western Mexico, still sing all night, all day, still weep exceedingly, and still so esteem Peyote above any other psychotropic plant that the sacred mushrooms, Morning Glories, "Datura", and other indigenous hallucinogens are consigned to the realm of sorcerers.



Most of the early records in Mexico were left by missionaries who opposed the use of Peyote in religious practice. To them Peyote had no place in Christianity because of its pagan associations. Since the Spanish ecclesiastes were intolerant of any cult but their own, fierce persecution resulted. But the Indians were reluctant to give up their Peyote cults established on centuries of tradition.

The suppression of Peyote, however, went to great lengths. For example, a priest near San Antonio, Texas, published a manual in 1760, containing questions to be asked of converts. Included were the following: "Have you eaten the flesh of man? Have you eaten Peyote?" Another priest, Padre Nidolas de Leon, similarly examined potential converts: "Art thou a soothsayer? Dost thou foretell events by reading omens, interpreting dreams or by tracing circles and figures on water? Dost thou garnish with flower garlands the places where idols are kept? Dost thou suck to blood of others? Dost thou wander about at night, calling upon demons to help thee? Hast thou drunk Peyote or given it to others to drink, in order to discover secrets or to discover where stolen or lost articles were?"

During the last decade of the nineteenth century, the explorer Carl Lumholtz observed the use of Peyote among the Indians of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, primarily the Huichol and Tarahumara, and he reported on the Peyote ceremony and on various kinds of cacti employed with "Lophophora williamsii" or in its stead.

However, no anthropologist ever participated in or observed a Peyote hunt until the 1960s, when anthropologists and a Mexican writer were permitted by Huichols to accompany several pilgrimages. Once a year, the Huichols make a sacred trip to gather Hikuri. The trek is led by an experienced "mara'akame" or shaman, who is in contact with Tatewari (Our grandfather-fire). Tatewari is the oldest Huichol god, also known as Hikuri, the Peyote-god. He is personified with Peyote plants on his hands and feet, and he interprets all the deities to the modern shamans, often through visions, sometimes indirectly through Kauyumari (the Sacred Deer Person and culture hero). Tatewari led the first Peyote pilgrimage far from the present area inhabited by the nine thousand Huichols into Wirikuta, an ancestral region where Peyote abounds. Guided by the shaman, the participants, usually ten to fifteen in number, take on the identity of deified ancestors, as the follow Tatewari "to find their life".

The Peyote hunt is literally a hunt. Pilgrims carry tobacco gourds, a necessity for the journey's ritual. Water gourds are often taken to transport water back from Wirikuta. Often the only food taken for the stay in Wirikuta is tortillas. The pilgrims, however, eat Peyote while in Wirikuta. They must travel great distances. Today, much of the trek is done by car, but formerly the Indians walked some two hundred miles.

The preparation for gathering Peyote involves ritual confession and purification. Public recitation of all sexual encounters must be made, but no show of shame, resentment, or jealousy, nor any expression of hostility, occurs. For each offense, the shaman makes a knot in a string which, at the end of the ritual, is burned. Following the confession, the group, preparing to set out for Wirikuta - an area located in San Luís Potosí - must be cleansed before journeying to paradise.

Upon arriving within sight of the sacred mountains of Wirikuta, the pilgrims are ritually washed and pray for rain and fertility. Amid the praying and chanting of the shaman, the dangerous crossing into the Otherworld begins. This passage has two stages: first, the Gateway of the Clashing Clouds, and second, the opening of the Clouds. These do not represent actual localities but exist only in the "geography of the mind"; to the participants the passing from one to the other is an event filled with emotion.

Upon arrival at the place where the Peyote is to be hunted, the shaman begins ceremonial practices, telling stories from the ancient Peyote tradition and invoking protection for the events to come. Those on their first pilgrimage are blindfolded, and the participants are led by the shaman to the "cosmic threshold" which only he can see. All stop, light candles, and murmur prayers while the shaman, imbued with supernatural forces, chants.

Finally, Peyote is found. The shaman has seen the deer tracks. He draws his arrow and shoots the cactus. The pilgrims make offerings to this first Hikuri. More Peyote is sought, basketfuls of the plant eventually being collected. On the following day, more Peyote is collected, some of which is to be shared with those who remain at home. The rest is to be sold to the Cora and Tarahumara Indians, who use Peyote but do not have a quest.

The ceremony of distributing Tobacco is then carried out. Arrows are placed pointing to the four points of the compass; at midnight a fire is built. According to the Huichol, Tobacco belongs to fire. The shaman prays, placing the Tobacco before the fire, touching it with feathers, then distributing it to each pilgrim who puts it into his gourd, symbolising the birth of Tobacco.

The Huichol Peyote hunt is seen as a return to Wirikuta or Paradise, the archetypal beginning and end of a mythical past. A modern Huichol "mara'kame" expressed it as follows: "One day all will be as you have seen it there, in Wirikuta. The First People will come back. The fields will be pure and crystalline, all this is not clear to me, but in five more years I will know it, through more revelations. The world will end, and the unity will be here again. But only for pure Huichol."

Among the Tarahumara, the Peyote cult is less important. Many buy their supplies of the cactus, usually from Huichol. Although the two tribes live several hundred miles apart and are not closely related, they share the same name for Peyote - Hikuri - and the two cults have many points of resemblance.

The Tarahumara Peyote dance may be held at any time during the year for health, tribal prosperity, or for simple worship. It is sometimes incorporated into other established festivals. The principal part of the ceremony consists of dances and prayers followed by a day of feasting. Oak and pine logs are dragged in for a fire and oriented in an east-west direction. The Tarahumara name for the dance means "moving about the fire", and except for Peyote itself, the fire is the most important element.

The leader has several women assistants who prepare the Hikuri plants for use, grinding the fresh cacti on a metate, being careful not to lose one drop of the resulting liquid. An assistant catches all liquid in a gourd, even the water used to wash the metate. The leader sits west of the fire, and a cross may be erected opposite him. In front of the leader, a small hole is dug into which he may spit. A Peyote may be set before him on its side or inserted into a root-shaped hole bored in the ground. He inverts half a gourd over the Peyote, turning it to scratch a circle in the earth around the cactus. Removing the gourd temporarily, he draws a cross in the dust to represent the world, thereupon replacing the gourd. This apparatus serves as a resonator for the rasping stick: Peyote is set under the resonator, since it enjoys the sound.

Incense from burning copal is then offered to the cross. After facing east, kneeling, and crossing themselves, the leader's assistants are given deer-hoof rattles or bells to shake during the dance.

The ground-up Peyote is kept in a pot or crock near the cross and is served in a gourd by an assistant: he makes three rounds of the fire if carrying it to an ordinary participant. All the songs praise Peyote for its protection of the tribe and for its "beautiful intoxication".

As with the Huichol, healing ceremonies are often carried out. The Tarahumara leader cures at daybreak. He first terminates dancing by giving three raps. He rises, accompanied by a young assistant, and circling the patio, he touches every forehead with water. He touches the patient thrice, and placing his stick to the patient's head, he rasps three times. The dust produced by the rasping, even though infinitesimal, is a powerful health- and life-giver and is saved for medicinal use.

The final ritual sends Peyote home. The leader reaches toward the rising sun and rasps thrice. "In the early morning, Hikuli had come from San Ignacio and from Satapolio riding on beautiful green doves, to feast with the Tarahumara at the end of the dance when the people sacrifice food and eat and drink. Having bestowed his blessings, Hikuli forms himself into a ball and flies to his shelter at the time."

Peyote is employed as a religious sacrament among more than forty American Indian tribes in many parts of the United States and western Canada. Because of its wide use, Peyote early attracted the attention of scientists and legislators and engendered heated and, unfortunately, often irresponsible opposition to its free use in American Indian ceremonies.

It was the Kiowa and Comanche Indians, apparently, who in visits to a native group in northern Mexico, first learned of this sacred American plant. Indians in the United States had been restricted to reservations by the last half of the nineteenth century, and much of their cultural heritage was disintegrating and disappearing. Faced with this disastrous inevitability, a number of Indian leaders, especially from tribes re-located in Oklahoma, began actively to spread a new kind of Peyote cult adapted to the needs of the more advanced Indian groups of the United States.

The Kiowa and Comanche were apparently the most active proponents of the new religion. Today it is the Kiowa-Comanche type of Peyote ceremony that, with slight modifications, prevails north of the Mexican border. This ceremony, to judge from the rapid spread of the new Peyote religion, must have appealed strongly to the Plains tribes and later to other groups.

Success in spreading the new Peyote cult resulted in strong opposition to its practice from missionary and local governmental groups. The ferocity of this opposition often led local governments to enact repressive legislation, in spite of overwhelming scientific opinion that Indians should be permitted to use Peyote in religious practices. In an attempt to protect their rights to free religious activity, American Indians organised the Peyote cult into a legally recognised religious group, the Native American Church. This religious movement, unknown in the United States before 1885, numbered 13,300 members in 1922. Membership of the Native American Church at the present time is claimed to be a quarter of a million Indians.

Indians of the United States, living far from the natural area of Peyote, must use the dried top of the cactus, the so-called mescal button, legally acquired either by collection or purchase and distribution through the United States postal services. Some American Indians still send pilgrims to gather the cactus in the fields, but most tribal groups in the United States must procure their supplies by purchase and mail.

A member may hold a meeting in gratitude for the recovery of health, the safe return from a voyage, or the success of a Peyote pilgrimage: it may be held to celebrate the birth of a baby, to name a child, on the first four birthdays of a child, for doctoring, or even for general thanksgiving. The Kickapoo held a Peyote service for the dead, and the body of the deceased is brought into the ceremonial teepee. The Kiowa may have five services at Easter, four at Christmas and Thanksgiving, six at New Year. Especially among the Kiowa, meetings are held only on Saturday night. Anyone who is a member of the Peyote cult may be a leader or "roadman". There are certain taboos which the roadman, and sometimes all participants, must observe. The older men refrain from eating salt the day before and after a meeting, and they may not bathe for several days following a Peyote service. There seem to be no sexual taboos, as in the Mexican tribes, and the ceremony is free of licentiousness. Women are admitted to meetings to eat Peyote and to pray, but they do not usually participate in the singing and drumming. After the age of ten, children may attend meetings but do not take part until they are adults.

Peyote ceremonies differ from tribe to tribe. The typical Plains Indian service takes place usually in a teepee erected over a carefully made altar of earth or clay; the teepee is taken down as soon as the all-night ceremony is over. Some tribes hold the ceremony in a wooden round-house with a permanent altar of cement inside, and the Osage and Quapaw Indians often have electrically lighted round-houses.

The Father Peyote (a large "mescal button" or dried top of the Peyote plant) is placed on a cross or rosette of sage leaves at the center of the altar. This crescent-shaped altar, symbol of the spirit of Peyote, is never taken from the altar during the ceremony. As soon as the Father Peyote has been put in place, all talking stops, and all eyes are directed toward the altar.

Tobacco and corn shuck or blackjack oak leaves are passed around the circle of worshippers, each making a cigarette for use during the leader's opening prayer. The next procedure involves purification of the bag of mescal buttons in cedar incense. Following this blessing, the roadman takes four mescal buttons from the bag which is then passed around in a clockwise direction, each worshipper taking four. More Peyote may be called for at any time during the ceremony, the amount consumed being left to personal discretion. Some peyotists eat up to thirty-six buttons a night, and some boast of having ingested upwards of fifty. An average amount is probably twelve.

Singing starts with the roadman, the initial song always being the same, sung or chanted in a high nasal tone. Translated, the song means: "May the gods bless me, help me, and give me power and understanding."

Sometimes, the roadman may be asked to treat a patient. This procedure varies in form. The curing ritual is almost always simple, consisting of praying and frequent use of the sign of the cross.



Peyote eaten in ceremony has assumed the role of a sacrament in part because of its biological activity: the sense of well-being that it induces and the psychological effects (the chief of which is the kaleidoscopic play of richly colored visions) often experienced by those who indulge in its use. Peyote is considered sacred by native Americans, a divine "messenger" enabling the individual to communicate with God without the medium of a priest. It is an earthly representative of God to many peyotists. "God told the Delawares to do good even before He sent Christ to the whites who killed him…" an Indian explained to an anthropologist. "God made Peyote. It is His power. It is the power of Jesus. Jesus came afterwards on this earth, after Peyote…. God (through Peyote) told the Delawares the same things that Jesus told the whites."

Correlated with its use as a religious sacrament is its presumed value as a medicine. Some Indians claim that, if Peyote is used correctly, all other medicines are superfluous. Its supposed curative properties are responsible probably more than any other attribute for the rapid diffusion of the Peyote cult in the United States.

The Peyote religion is a medico-religious cult. In considering native American medicines, one must always bear in mind the difference between the aboriginal concept of a medicinal agent and that of our modern Western medicine. Primitive societies, in general, cannot conceive of natural death or illness but believe that they are due to supernatural interference. There are two types of "medicines": those with purely physical effects (i.e., to relieve toothache or digestive upsets); and the medicines, "par excellence", that put the medicine man into communication, through a variety of hallucinations, with the malevolent spirits that cause illness and death.

The factors responsible for the rapid growth and tenacity of the Peyote religion in the United States are many and interrelated. Among the most obvious, however, and those most often cited, are: the ease of legally obtaining supplies of the hallucinogen; lack of federal restraint; cessation of intertribal warfare; reservation life with consequent intermarriage and peaceful exchange of social and religious ideas; ease of transportation and postal communication; and the general attitude of resignation toward encroaching Western culture.


Source : www.peyote.org


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