Black Fire: Women, Tattoos, and the Transformative Power of Body Art

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My fascination with tattoos started early. I was fifteen when I flipped through my first tattoo magazine and found myself captivated by the colorful and intricate tattoo designs, as well as the diverse male and female bodies that wore them. Some of the models were covered from head to toe in tribal-like ink patterns. I remember being most captivated by the female models, and curious what motivated these women to get very elaborate tattoos covering extensive parts of their bodies. I was enthralled by the bravery I imagined it would take to endure the pain and sacrifice involved in having these permanent pieces of art etched across their skin. There was also something very erotic for me about these women. They aroused a kind of primal sexual fascination in me because of how closely they lived to their own skin. There was something fierce and fearless about the way their extensively tattooed bodies challenged me, as a viewer, to enter into a different relationship with the female form. 
 
I got my first tattoo impulsively when I was seventeen; a small butterfly on my lower back. At the time I thought it made me pretty cool and badass. Now I make up for the fact that I got a butterfly tattoo by reminding people that it is a Death Monarch butterfly, and therefore much more badass than the million other butterfly tattoos out there. It helps me sleep at night, as it is the only tattoo I have that I have some regret about getting (I do plan to cover it over with an artistic and consciously thought through tattoo in future).  

Over the course of the following decade, I got four more tattoos. All of them fairly small (on my wrists and the back of my neck), aside from the prominent arm band tattoo that I designed and drew myself and got tattooed on my right arm when I was nineteen. I admittedly didn’t think a lot about the tattoos I was getting over the years, but I did notice every time I had the inspiration to get a tattoo, it coincided with a time in my life when I was going through a major challenge, crisis, or transition. The tattoos signified something for me about change, self-determination, and self-ownership. I also just loved the experience of making my body into its own unique art piece.

This past month, I got my first large scale tattoo done in Nepal, which was by far my most ambitious statement. A torso piece that starts on my lower pelvis, circles like a vine across my stomach and ribs, weaves in spirals up my back, before finally curling itself over the top of my shoulder. The tattoo itself took eight hours to finish, and I refer to it as Black Fire. The piece has multiple layers of meaning for me, some that were conscious when I got it and some that were unconscious and have continued to reveal themselves over the past month. 

As a writer, I naturally wanted to write something about the meaning behind my tattoo and what inspired me to get it. I also wanted to comment on the larger cultural trend of tattooing that has skyrocketed in popularity among young women in the West over the last decade. Therefore, I designed this article to be part historical excavation, part feminist inquiry, part erotic imaginary, and part intimately personal reflection on the many meanings behind tattoos today. My aim is to reach a more nuanced understanding of the place of tattoos on women’s bodies in contemporary culture, and what they have meant historically; including all the contradictions and conflicts they raise about beauty, power, sexual agency, and sexual objectification.

From Ice Men to High Society Women

Tattooing itself is far from a recent phenomenon, but it has risen to an entirely new level of popularity in North America over the last few decades, particularly for women. In 2012 a poll confirmed that, for the first time in history, women in the U.S. were getting tattooed more than men (23% of women compared to 19% of men). This may come as a surprise to those who still equate tattoos with male sailors, underground gangsters, drug dealers, and prison inmates. Tattooing has historically been a male dominated profession with a few female exceptions (particularly if we are speaking of the West), but the practice of tattoos has an elaborate history and goes back centuries, with some form of tattooing tradition found in nearly every culture around the globe. 

The famous “Otzi the Ice Man”, who was discovered on the Otztal Alps between Austria and Italy in 1991, was confirmed the oldest and most well preserved body ever found. Otzi was dated at over 5000 years old and was found to be sporting an impressive 57 tattoos dispersed all over his body, speaking to how far back the practice of tattooing goes. For Pacific cultures, tattooing has had huge significance historically and ritualistically. Polynesian tattooing is considered the most intricate and skilled of the ancient world, as Polynesians believe that a person’s mana, their spiritual power or life force, is expressed through their tattoo. The Egyptians also highly valued tattooing, and elaborate tattoos have been found on mummified remains of ancient Egyptian priests and priestesses. Egyptians also had a huge impact in spreading the practice of tattooing throughout many parts of the world during its third and fourth dynasties. 

Western culture was somewhat late to embrace tattoos as an acceptable cultural practice. Although the early Greeks and Romans dabbled with tattoos (having learned the practice from the Persians), as Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire tattooing gradually fell out of favor. A slew of Popes forbade tattooing of any kind and the practice became virtually unknown for centuries. Surprisingly, one of the major resurgences of interest in tattoos in Europe occurred among 19th century high society Victorian women (as well as men), after British explorers encountered tattooed cultures on their voyages to the South Pacific and brought back the practice to Britain. Feminist art critic, Margot Miffin, in her fascinating book Bodies of Subversion: The Secret History of Women and Tattoos, explains how tattooing became an upper class social fad during the 19th century and gave women a way to subtly challenge prevailing Victorian ideals of feminine purity, as tattoos had long been associated with deviance in the West. Tattoos gave Victorian women an experience of power and self-ownership in a time when they had little sexual or political agency.

The tattoo craze grew during the 19th century, and even Winston Churchill’s mother had a tattoo of a snake eating its tail (the symbol of eternity) on her wrist. Queen Victoria was also believed to have had a tattoo of a Bengal tiger fighting a python. From Victorian Europe, the craze spread to America. In 1897, Miffin says that an estimated 75% of American society women were tattooed, usually in places that could be easily covered.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries some of the first women appeared with tattoos covering their entire bodies, performing in freak shows and circus acts where women could make more money than men doing “flash shows”. These women were mostly of lower class who performed as a way to make a living. They submitted themselves to getting entire body suit tattoos that were done by hand needle by male tattooists (this was before the time of machine tattoo guns–ouch!). Some of these women felt oppressed and exploited by the experience, while others felt liberated and empowered by the chance to act outside of traditional feminine roles and occupations and continued modeling their tattoos even after retirement.

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Lady Viola, also known as “the Most Beautiful Tattooed Woman in the World.” She was tattooed by Frank Graf in the 1920s and worked with the Ringling Bros circus and in dime museums. She also did some tattooing during the winter. She continued to work in circuses and model her tattoos until she was 73. 

 

The Mark of Tattoos on the Feminist Sexual Revolution

After the second world war, tattoos lost their appeal for nearly everyone as they became associated with concentration camps (Jews having been tattooed by the Nazis). It wasn’t until the 1960s and 70s, with the emergence of the second wave feminist movement and the sexual revolution that there was a sudden resurgence of interest in tattoos among women. As Miffin notes, tattoos emerged at the forefront when issues surrounding women’s bodies were in the public limelight with the arrival of the Pill, debates about abortion rights, sexual harassment, as well as the feminist sexual revolution, all raising questions about who owned women’s bodies. Some women chose to get tattoos as a statement of ownership of their own bodies and/or to fight against the stigma of being sexually available.

For second wave feminists who chose to get inked, I imagine tattoos would have posed a useful double challenge to both Victorian notions of women’s sexual purity, as well as Freudian psychoanalytic notions of passive femininity, the latter of which had dominated cultural ideas about women’s sexuality in the post-war era. Despite the common contemporary misconception that second wave feminists were anti-sex, in reality sex was arguably the central pivot point on which second wave feminism turned. As Jane Gerhard points out in her illuminating book, Desiring Revolution: Second Wave Feminism and the Re-Writing of American Sexual Thought, a concern with re-inventing sexuality, claiming the female body as sexual agent, and freeing female sexuality from confined Freudian definitions of passive femininity was central to the political and personal agenda of second wave feminism. Ideas about what sexual liberation meant were incredibly diverse among second wave feminists, but tattoos could have easily been seen by many women of the time as a complimentary “accessory” to their goals of sexual revolution. 

It was also during this time that women began entering the male dominated profession of tattooing, and opening their first tattoo shops. Where women in the West had historically been the models and muses of male tattoo artists, women were now taking up tattooing as a medium of creation and self-expression. Some of the earliest female tattooists offered to do tattoos free of charge on other women as an expression of solidarity.

Tattoos and the Paradox of Empowerment

Tattoos became increasingly accepted into mainstream culture in the 80s and 90s, as tattoo art became a way for women to express their inner lives and tell their stories on their bodies. Tattoo culture also underwent a distinct shift at this time as their popularity arose in parallel with the rise in cosmetic surgery and the mainstreaming of pornography in the 80s and 90s.  

Marisa Kakoulas, a New York Lawyer and tattoo model speaks to the huge change she witnessed in tattoo culture from the 80s and 90s to the new millennium. She laments how tattoo magazines moved from their early focus on body art, where models of different ages, both male and female alike, exposed their body art in diverse ways to be photographed (these were the magazines I used to peruse in my teens), to what became a focus on a singular model of the “sexy woman” at the turn of the millennium. Tattoo magazines learned that they could sell more copies if they constantly featured sexy naked tattooed young women in the same suggestive poses on their covers. This was part of a much larger trend towards “sexiness” aimed at young women that was taking place in nearly every corner of the culture–from music videos to Halloween costumes. Thus, slowly, tattoo magazine culture shifted from focusing on the diversity of body art tattoos, to an increasingly narrow representation of one kind of sexy tattooed female body. The more tattoos became mainstream and fashionable, the more their original deviant erotic appeal became commodified and sold to the masses. 

Despite the conflicted messages commodified tattoo culture is giving to young women today, I still believe in the power of tattoos as an empowering art form for women, if done consciously. I also need to say that choosing not to get a tattoo can be an equally empowering choice for a woman. The most common reasons cited by women for why they get tattoos are: a) to feel empowered, b) to feel sexy, c) to reclaim their body after sexual abuse, trauma, or cancer, d) to mark an important milestone in their life, e) to enact a form of rebellion. Tattoos are as diverse as the women who wear them, and they have the ability to uplift us as much as they do to degrade us. Looking back at my own journey with tattoos over the past 13 years, I would say that my own motivations for getting tattoos were a mix of all these themes at different points in my life. 

It’s undeniable that I was influenced by the culture around me in my teens, and that a desire to be seen as sexy and rebellious played a role in my choice to start tattooing myself. I carried a genuine creative impulse in my desire for tattoos, but it was more immature and dis-embodied in my late teens; it was less connected to that fearless sense of self-possession and sexual agency that I had wanted to emulate in the tattoo models that I idolised. My relationship to tattoos gained more dimension and depth as I got older. My tattoos came to express more of my mature erotic and artistic side, and displayed my “rebellion” against conventional standards of feminine beauty that I had always felt confined by. I had never strongly identified with being feminine (even though I look quite feminine) or masculine in the conventional sense. Tattoos were my way of disrupting any comfortable gendered dichotomies or expectations the culture or others might impose on me. Despite the many mixed motivations that were involved for me from the beginning, tattoos have always been a way that I worked toward discovering my own personal power, a way I confronted and challenged gender assumptions in the culture around me, and a way that I uncovered my own erotic and spiritual depths, through trial and error. 

From Butterflies to Black Fire: A Rite of Passage

From as early as I can remember my life journey has been marked by a fire walk through the dark side. I’ve written elsewhere about some of the traumas that impacted and fragmented the formation of my self-identity as a young child, and the unique and dangerous journey through madness and mysticism that I underwent in my twenties as a result. I’ve also written elsewhere about my relationship with the Liminal, which I define as an in-between space of darkness, ambiguity, and creativity, that has been central to my inspiration as an artist and to my identity as a nomadic traveler. Black Fire, my latest tattoo, represents, for me the unique soul print I carry as a result of this precarious and difficult path I’ve taken through the dark side in this lifetime, and the untamable creativity that has emerged in my life as a result of that crucible. 

The tattoo also marks a major milestone and turning point in my life, and I experienced the process of getting it as a ritualistic rite of passage. Perhaps also part of turning 30 this year. Over an eight hour period of getting the tattoo, where I endured a lot of physical pain at different points, I found myself spontaneously entering into different forms of meditation. Sometimes I would fall into a natural rhythm of matching my breath with the breath of my tattoo artist for hours; my mind completely peaceful and emptied of all content. At other times, painful memories, images, emotions, and body traumas came to the surface. Many uncomfortable energies of pain, anger, fear, loss, disappointment, and resentment that I’d held onto subtly and unconsciously for years in my body rose to the surface to be felt. I experienced some of these energies as very visceral, ancient, and preverbal; as if I had descended into the underworld where symbols and words no longer made sense to my conscious mind. As feelings, images, and memories surfaced, I found myself spontaneously inviting them into my heart, filling them with light, and then releasing them with love on my out breath, without trying to make any story about them. The experience was very deep and guttural, and intensely painful. I had to be with the pain fully, in tandem with the physical pain of getting the tattoo, and release the emotional energy on its own terms through a state of surrender and without a story. It was a kind of surrender to love that is as evicerating as it is liberating. 

Despite the deeply personal processing I was undergoing, I also found the experience of getting my tattoo incredibly relational. My tattoo artist and I co-designed the piece together, and we worked out the lines literally as he was drawing them on my body. I experienced the artistic process as much more intimate and co-creative than tattoos I’ve gotten in Canada, but that may have also been a result of the scale of the tattoo itself. The design pattern was abstract and emergent and had to be strategically wrapped around my body at every step, so it required a lot of team work to execute well.  

 
 Vanessa tattoo1  VanessaTattoo2  tattoo4
 
Black Fire, done in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo by Anica James.
 
My intense eight hour initiation of getting the tattoo was then followed by a month of healing and integration. For those who have gotten tattoos, you know that a tattoo has a distinct healing phase where it scabs up and then flakes off over a period of two to three weeks. The tattoo gets quite ugly as all the dead skin and scabs fall off, finally revealing the smooth pigmented skin underneath. For a large scale tattoo like mine, the healing phase is quite intense and disruptive to ones everyday activities. You can’t get the tattoo wet, sleep on it, or sweat too much. I spent a lot of this time in contemplation. I experienced more layers of subtle energies and past memories surface over that month. Past wounds and lingering knots came forward to be witnessed, but this time the experience was softer and gentler and filled with more sadness and grieving. I spent a couple days crying at different points, but it felt like a very natural if difficult release. 

Close to the end of the healing process of the tattoo, my energy started to feel more focused and channeled. I’ve always been a very creatively charged person, but I started to feel a bit like lightening, literally. Most importantly, I felt like channeled lightening, with less like scattered energy and attention. Certain distractions and negative thought patterns naturally became dimmer and fell to the background, and certain difficult decisions and boundaries I had needed to make in my life for a long time I finally started to make. By the time the month of healing for my tattoo was over, I felt subtly but distinctly different. I felt stronger and humbler, more embodied and more fiercely committed to my own voice and creative fire. I experienced more spaciousness from the holds of my past and more intimacy in my own skin in the present. I felt the tattoo itself had taken my life journey and my crucible through the dark side and transformed it into a unique meditation; an expression of beauty and strength that would be forever displayed on my body. 
 
The Evolving Culture of Tattoos

Despite the ancient practice of tattooing, the culture surrounding tattoos is ever evolving and innovating. This past month, I was able to attend a tattoo convention in Kathmandu featuring tattoo artists from around the world who were showcasing their work as part of a public exhibition. Every country had a stand set up at the convention with tattooists from each country tattooing people live, as well as showcasing photographs of their past work. It was an amazing opportunity to see the innovations in technique, color, and quality of tattoos that have occurred over the past decade, and to contrast the different art forms that were favoured in different countries and cultures. I found myself most drawn to the artwork coming out of Japan, Nepal, and Thailand, which tended to be much more intricate work with a lot more abstract designs crafted seamlessly with the contours of the body. I found most of the tattoo art coming out of the U.S and UK to be quite pictoral and blunt (like hanging a picture on someone’s body), whereas the Asian art was much more “in movement” and in tune with the body’s natural lines. I was also impressed to see that for every country in attendance at the convention there was an equal number of female tattoo artists as men.

Perhaps interesting to note is that modern interpretations of tribal-like pattern designs (like the one I got in Nepal) are starting to become more popular in the West as well. More women are starting to opt for large scale tattoos rather than small flowers or butterflies, the latter of which have been the most popular among women in the recent past. In our modern Western culture where the importance of ritual practices and sacred rites of passage for girls have been downplayed or forgotten, it is perhaps unsurprising that a resurgent interest in tribal-like tattoo patterns– patterns that give a modern flare to the ancient themes of our ancestors–is coming increasingly into vogue. 

Tattoo culture will continue to evolve in the years to come, and women’s unique place in tattoo culture will likely continue to transform. The most important advice I would give to a young woman (or anyone) who is considering getting a tattoo is to really do your research. Equip yourself with deep knowledge about tattoos and what is involved in getting one. Make sure you go to places that are safe and clean; and most importantly, really think about why you are getting a tattoo and what it means to you. Statistics show that women have a higher percentage rate of tattoo regret later in life than men do. So if you are getting a tattoo just to be cool, it is more likely you will regret it later. Understanding our own personal motivations as best we can, as well as knowing the historical, social, political, and spiritual dimensions that intersect at the site of tattoos on women’s bodies, will hopefully support new generations of woman to make more empowered choices when it comes to getting (or not getting) a tattoo for themselves. 


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4-AcO-DMT Guide: Benefits, Effects, Safety, and Legality
This guide tells you everything about 4 AcO DMT & 5 MeO DMT, that belong to the tryptamine class, and are similar but slightly different to DMT.

How Much Does LSD Cost? When shopping around for that magical psychedelic substance, there can be many uncertainties when new to buying LSD. You may be wondering how much does LSD cost? In this article, we will discuss what to expect when purchasing LSD on the black market, what forms LSD is sold in, and the standard breakdown of buying LSD in quantity.   Navy Use of LSD on the Dark Web The dark web is increasingly popular for purchasing illegal substances. The US Navy has now noticed this trend with their staff. Read to learn more.   Having Sex on LSD: What You Need to Know Can you have sex on LSD? Read our guide to learn everything about sex on acid, from lowered inhibitions to LSD users quotes on sex while tripping.   A Drug That Switches off an LSD Trip A pharmaceutical company is developing an “off-switch” drug for an LSD trip, in the case that a bad trip can happen. Some would say there is no such thing.   Queen of Hearts: An Interview with Liz Elliot on Tim Leary and LSD The history of psychedelia, particularly the British experience, has been almost totally written by men. Of the women involved, especially those who were in the thick of it, little has been written either by or about them. A notable exception is Liz Elliot.   LSD Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide, or just acid is one of the most important psychedelics ever discovered. What did history teach us?   Microdosing LSD & Common Dosage Explained Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing LSD.   LSD Resources Curious to learn more about LSD? This guide includes comprehensive LSD resources containing books, studies and more.   LSD as a Spiritual Aid There is common consent that the evolution of mankind is paralleled by the increase and expansion of consciousness. From the described process of how consciousness originates and develops, it becomes evident that its growth depends on its faculty of perception. Therefore every means of improving this faculty should be used.   Legendary LSD Blotter Art: A Hidden Craftsmanship Have you ever heard of LSD blotter art? Explore the trippy world of LSD art and some of the top artists of LSD blotter art.   LSD and Exercise: Does it Work? LSD and exercise? Learn why high-performing athletes are taking hits of LSD to improve their overall potential.   Jan Bastiaans Treated Holocaust Survivors with LSD Dutch psychiatrist, Jan Bastiaans administered LSD-assisted therapy to survivors of the Holocaust. A true war hero and pioneer of psychedelic-therapy.   LSD and Spiritual Awakening I give thanks for LSD, which provided the opening that led me to India in 1971 and brought me to Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharajji. Maharajji is described by the Indians as a “knower of hearts.”   How LSD is Made: Everything You Need to Know Ever wonder how to make LSD? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how LSD is made.   How to Store LSD: Best Practices Learn the best way to store LSD, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long LSD lasts when stored.   Bicycle Day: The Discovery of LSD Every year on April 19th, psychonauts join forces to celebrate Bicycle Day. Learn about the famous day when Albert Hoffman first discovered the effects of LSD.   Cary Grant: A Hollywood Legend On LSD Cary Grant was a famous actor during the 1930’s-60’s But did you know Grant experimented with LSD? Read our guide to learn more.   Albert Hofmann: LSD — My Problem Child Learn about Albert Hofmann and his discovery of LSD, along with the story of Bicycle Day and why it marks a historic milestone.   Babies are High: What Does LSD Do To Your Brain What do LSD and babies have in common? Researchers at the Imperial College in London discover that an adult’s brain on LSD looks like a baby’s brain.   1P LSD: Effects, Benefits, Safety Explained 1P LSD is an analogue of LSD and homologue of ALD-25. Here is everything you want to know about 1P LSD and how it compares to LSD.   Francis Crick, DNA & LSD Type ‘Francis Crick LSD’ into Google, and the result will be 30,000 links. Many sites claim that Crick (one of the two men responsible for discovering the structure of DNA), was either under the influence of LSD at the time of his revelation or used the drug to help with his thought processes during his research. Is this true?   What Happens If You Overdose on LSD? A recent article presented three individuals who overdosed on LSD. Though the experience was unpleasant, the outcomes were remarkably positive.

The Ayahuasca Experience
Ayahuasca is both a medicine and a visionary aid. You can employ ayahuasca for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual repair, and you can engage with the power of ayahuasca for deeper insight and realization. If you consider attainment of knowledge in the broadest perspective, you can say that at all times, ayahuasca heals.

 

Trippy Talk: Meet Ayahuasca with Sitaramaya Sita and PlantTeachers
Sitaramaya Sita is a spiritual herbalist, pusangera, and plant wisdom practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition.

 

The Therapeutic Value of Ayahuasca
My best description of the impact of ayahuasca is that it’s a rocket boost to psychospiritual growth and unfolding, my professional specialty during my thirty-five years of private practice.

 

Microdosing Ayahuasca: Common Dosage Explained
What is ayahuasca made of and what is considered a microdose? Explore insights with an experienced Peruvian brewmaster and learn more about this practice.

 

Ayahuasca Makes Neuron Babies in Your Brain
Researchers from Beckley/Sant Pau Research Program have shared the latest findings in their study on the effects of ayahuasca on neurogenesis.

 

The Fatimiya Sufi Order and Ayahuasca
In this interview, the founder of the Fatimiya Sufi Order,  N. Wahid Azal, discusses the history and uses of plant medicines in Islamic and pre-Islamic mystery schools.

 

Consideration Ayahuasca for Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Research indicates that ayahuasca mimics mechanisms of currently accepted treatments for PTSD. In order to understand the implications of ayahuasca treatment, we need to understand how PTSD develops.

 

Brainwaves on Ayahuasca: A Waking Dream State
In a study researchers shared discoveries showing ingredients found in Ayahuasca impact the brainwaves causing a “waking dream” state.

 

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a pro cannabis Peruvian Shaman.

 

Ayahuasca Retreat 101: Everything You Need to Know to Brave the Brew
Ayahuasca has been known to be a powerful medicinal substance for millennia. However, until recently, it was only found in the jungle. Word of its deeply healing and cleansing properties has begun to spread across the world as many modern, Western individuals are seeking spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. More ayahuasca retreat centers are emerging in the Amazon and worldwide to meet the demand.

 

Ayahuasca Helps with Grief
A new study published in psychopharmacology found that ayahuasca helped those suffering from the loss of a loved one up to a year after treatment.

 

Ayahuasca Benefits: Clinical Improvements for Six Months
Ayahuasca benefits can last six months according to studies. Read here to learn about the clinical improvements from drinking the brew.

 

Ayahuasca Culture: Indigenous, Western, And The Future
Ayahuasca has been use for generations in the Amazon. With the rise of retreats and the brew leaving the rainforest how is ayahuasca culture changing?

 

Ayahuasca Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
The Amazonian brew, Ayahuasca has a long history and wide use. Read our guide to learn all about the tea from its beginnings up to modern-day interest.

 

Ayahuasca and the Godhead: An Interview with Wahid Azal of the Fatimiya Sufi Order
Wahid Azal, a Sufi mystic of The Fatimiya Sufi Order and an Islamic scholar, talks about entheogens, Sufism, mythology, and metaphysics.

 

Ayahuasca and the Feminine: Women’s Roles, Healing, Retreats, and More
Ayahuasca is lovingly called “grandmother” or “mother” by many. Just how feminine is the brew? Read to learn all about women and ayahuasca.

What Is the Standard of Care for Ketamine Treatments?
Ketamine therapy is on the rise in light of its powerful results for treatment-resistant depression. But, what is the current standard of care for ketamine? Read to find out.

What Is Dissociation and How Does Ketamine Create It?
Dissociation can take on multiple forms. So, what is dissociation like and how does ketamine create it? Read to find out.

Having Sex on Ketamine: Getting Physical on a Dissociative
Curious about what it could feel like to have sex on a dissociate? Find out all the answers in our guide to sex on ketamine.

Special K: The Party Drug
Special K refers to Ketamine when used recreationally. Learn the trends as well as safety information around this substance.

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

Ketamine vs. Esketamine: 3 Important Differences Explained
Ketamine and esketamine are used to treat depression. But what’s the difference between them? Read to learn which one is right for you: ketamine vs. esketamine.

Guide to Ketamine Treatments: Understanding the New Approach
Ketamine is becoming more popular as more people are seeing its benefits. Is ketamine a fit? Read our guide for all you need to know about ketamine treatments.

Ketamine Treatment for Eating Disorders
Ketamine is becoming a promising treatment for various mental health conditions. Read to learn how individuals can use ketamine treatment for eating disorders.

Ketamine Resources, Studies, and Trusted Information
Curious to learn more about ketamine? This guide includes comprehensive ketamine resources containing books, studies and more.

Ketamine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to ketamine has everything you need to know about this “dissociative anesthetic” and how it is being studied for depression treatment.

Ketamine for Depression: A Mental Health Breakthrough
While antidepressants work for some, many others find no relief. Read to learn about the therapeutic uses of ketamine for depression.

Ketamine for Addiction: Treatments Offering Hope
New treatments are offering hope to individuals suffering from addiction diseases. Read to learn how ketamine for addiction is providing breakthrough results.

Microdosing Ketamine & Common Dosages Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing ketamine.

How to Ease a Ketamine Comedown
Knowing what to expect when you come down from ketamine can help integrate the experience to gain as much value as possible.

How to Store Ketamine: Best Practices
Learn the best ways how to store ketamine, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long ketamine lasts when stored.

How To Buy Ketamine: Is There Legal Ketamine Online?
Learn exactly where it’s legal to buy ketamine, and if it’s possible to purchase legal ketamine on the internet.

How Long Does Ketamine Stay in Your System?
How long does ketamine stay in your system? Are there lasting effects on your body? Read to discover the answers!

How Ketamine is Made: Everything You Need to Know
Ever wonder how to make Ketamine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how Ketamine is made.

Colorado on Ketamine: First Responders Waiver Programs
Fallout continues after Elijah McClain. Despite opposing recommendations from some city council, Colorado State Health panel recommends the continued use of ketamine by medics for those demonstrating “excited delirium” or “extreme agitation”.

Types of Ketamine: Learn the Differences & Uses for Each
Learn about the different types of ketamine and what they are used for—and what type might be right for you. Read now to find out!

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

MDMA & Ecstasy Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to MDMA has everything you want to know about Ecstasy from how it was developed in 1912 to why it’s being studied today.

How To Get the Most out of Taking MDMA as a Couple
Taking MDMA as a couple can lead to exciting experiences. Read here to learn how to get the most of of this love drug in your relationship.

Common MDMA Dosage & Microdosing Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing MDMA.

Having Sex on MDMA: What You Need to Know
MDMA is known as the love drug… Read our guide to learn all about sex on MDMA and why it is beginning to makes its way into couple’s therapy.

How MDMA is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make MDMA? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how MDMA is made.

Hippie Flipping: When Shrooms and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Explore the mechanics of hippie flipping and how to safely experiment.

How Cocaine is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make cocaine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how cocaine is made.

A Christmas Sweater with Santa and Cocaine
This week, Walmart came under fire for a “Let it Snow” Christmas sweater depicting Santa with lines of cocaine. Columbia is not merry about it.

Ultimate Cocaine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
This guide covers what you need to know about Cocaine, including common effects and uses, legality, safety precautions and top trends today.

NEWS: An FDA-Approved Cocaine Nasal Spray
The FDA approved a cocaine nasal spray called Numbrino, which has raised suspicions that the pharmaceutical company, Lannett Company Inc., paid off the FDA..

The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Bioavailability
What is bioavailability and how can it affect the overall efficacy of a psychedelic substance? Read to learn more.

Cannabis Research Explains Sociability Behaviors
New research by Dr. Giovanni Marsicano shows social behavioral changes occur as a result of less energy available to the neurons. Read here to learn more.

The Cannabis Shaman
If recreational and medical use of marijuana is becoming accepted, can the spiritual use as well? Experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Hamilton Souther, founder of the 420 Cannabis Shamanism movement…

Cannabis Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to Cannabis has everything you want to know about this popular substances that has psychedelic properties.

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a procannabis Peruvian Shaman.

CBD-Rich Cannabis Versus Single-Molecule CBD
A ground-breaking study has documented the superior therapeutic properties of whole plant Cannabis extract as compared to synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), challenging the medical-industrial complex’s notion that “crude” botanical preparations are less effective than single-molecule compounds.

Cannabis Has Always Been a Medicine
Modern science has already confirmed the efficacy of cannabis for most uses described in the ancient medical texts, but prohibitionists still claim that medical cannabis is “just a ruse.”

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