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LoveCraft's Adjectives
Joined: 08/14/01
Posts: 247
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I've been reading 'Supernatural' by Graham Hancock, the guy who wrote 'Heaven's Mirror'. Here:
"As part of his research for 'Supernatural', Graham Hancock traveled to the Peruvian Amazon to drink the powerful plant hallucinogen Ayahuasca with indigenous shamans. Such visionary experiences, Hancock argues, were fundamental to the unprecedented and astonishing evolutionary leap forward achieved by our species during the past 40,000 years and provided the inspiration for the earliest art and religious ideas of mankind. It is difficult for those who have not experienced Ayahuasca, or other related shamanic hallucinogens, to visualise the strange parallel realities into which these substances bring us. Fortunately, however, a number of shamans in the Amazon are also gifted artists and have made paintings of their own visions. Through these paintings it is possible for all of us to get some glimpse of the Ayahuasca Otherworld – which, mysteriously, is not a different place for each different individual who drinks Ayahuasca. On the contrary, whether experienced by an Amazonian shaman, or an American lawyer, or a European businessman, or a Japanese fashion designer, the Ayahuasca realm is always recognizably the same place, inhabited by the same intelligent beings with the same mission to teach us important truths about ourselves and the nature of the universe. The Peruvian shaman Pablo Amaringo is the most famous and gifted of Ayahuasca artists working today.
'Supernatural contains b&w reproductions of the work of this artist Pablo Amaringo, He's awesome. Here's a sample of his work under the influence of Ayasuasca:
You can find a lot more here:
http://www.grahamhancock.com/gallery/supernatural/
here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=pablo+amaringo&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
"the Ayahuasca realm is always recognizably the same place, inhabited by the same intelligent beings with the same mission to teach us important truths about ourselves and the nature of the universe."
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Sonic Wallpaper
Joined: 05/22/01
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 1266
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RE: pablo amaringo
Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 9:31 AM
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wow - amazing artwork!
It's very interesting that the trips people have on that substance are related. The same is said of DMT experiences - which are quite amazing to read.
Technology will provide alternatives to these drugs - we'll have nanobots in our bodies that will modify what our nervous system experiences, and mix it with visual stimulation that is being modulated by our own movements, emotional responses, and previous experiences using the system. If you want a purple and orange jungle experience where you feel like you are moving through water and seeing circular patterns form from movements that turn into fish that chant like monks... no problem!
Thanks for sharing - I checked out the other pieces of art - very cool artwork
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LoveCraft's Adjectives
Joined: 08/14/01
Posts: 247
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RE: pablo amaringo
Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 11:10 AM
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"If you want a purple and orange jungle experience where you feel like you are moving through water and seeing circular patterns form from movements that turn into fish that chant like monks... no problem!
"
Well, that's something to look forward to! Hey, speaking of DMT, the day the library got me Supernatural they also got me a book called DMT: The Spirit Molecule. I haven't started to read that one yet, still completely immersed in the Hancock book. He really is an amazing character.
Here's a review of Spirit Molecule from Amazon:
This is a report of the author's clinical research into the psychedelic substance DMT, a plant derived substance that is also produced by the brain. The volunteers reported a variety of positive mystical or frightening hallucinatory experiences including encounters with intelligent entities.
The research connects DMT with the pineal gland and the esoteric belief that the pineal, connected as it is with the crown or sahasrara chakra, eases the spirit's movement into different states of consciousness or different dimensions of existence. It is clear from the book that further DMT research could lead to major progress in the study of consciousness.
Part One deals with psychedelic substances in science and society, describes the chemical qualities and molecular structure of DMT and discusses the pineal gland and its role in the psychedelic experience. Part Two relates the history of the author's research, from the actual research proposal and the process of obtaining permission; this section may be skipped by the average reader.
Part Three describes the process of selecting volunteers, obtaining DMT and the first experiments, whilst Part Four details the case reports: what the volunteers said and did, their behaviour, etc. This makes for strange and fascinating reading. Some experiences were positive and illuminating like genuine mystical experiences obtained during meditation, others were eerie or deeply unpleasant.
Pat Five takes stock of the experiences and considers the question of whether it was worth it for each individual. There is an attempt to determine the ultimate benefit derived from the experience for the individual concerned. Definitions come into play but it seems to me that the experiments did benefit each individual in some or other way.
Part Six is a very interesting discussion of the psyche and different states of consciousness. It would seem that spontaneously occurring psychedelic experiences are mediated by elevated levels of endogenous DMT. This spiritual molecule thus provides access to unknown parts of the psyche. If the analogy of brain as receiver may be used, the substance finetunes the brain so that the individual consciousness moves beyond familiar awareness into invisible realms, most of which are inhabited.
There is a difference between this expanded awareness and normal dreaming and the current psychological methods do not satisfactorily explain the phenomenon or the peculiar experiences, especiall as regards the entities encountered. This leads to a speculative discussion on cosmology, the possibility of parallel universes, a multiverse and dark matter, with reference to David Deutsch's book The Fabric Of Reality.
The author concludes this brilliant work with a discussion on the practical use of psychedelics as therapy, to stimulate creativity or as entheogens. In this regard I would like to recommend Huston Smith's Cleansing The Doors Of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogentic Plants and Chemicals, William James' Varieties Of Religious Experience, Stephan Hoeller's The Gnostic Jung And The Seven Sermons To The Dead and the book Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness by Abraham, McKenna and Sheldrake.
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