A Declaration of Psychedelic Studies

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At this inertial juncture in history, I propose the inauguration of Psychedelic Studies as an interdisciplinary academic field. I would like to do this by tapping Queer Studies as a justificatory precedent.

Psychedelia is, properly speaking, queer. David M. Halperin writes that

Unlike gay identity, which, though deliberately proclaimed in an act of affirmation, is nonetheless rooted in the positive fact of homosexual object-choice, queer identity need not be grounded in any positive truth or in any stable reality. As the very word implies, “queer” does not name some natural kind or refer to some determinate object; it acquires its meaning from its oppositional relation to the norm. Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant. There is nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers. It is an identity without an essence. “Queer,” then, demarcates not a positivity but a positionality vis-à-vis the normative…. “Queer”…describes a horizon of possibility whose precise extent and heterogeneous scope cannot in principle be delimited in advance. It is from the eccentric positionality occupied by the queer subject that it may become possible to envision a variety of possibilities for reordering the relations among…forms of knowledge, regimes of enunciation, logics of representation, modes of self-constitution, and practices of community-for restructuring, that is, the relations among power, truth, and desire. (Halperin 62)

 

Recently, the proximity of queer and psychedelic studies surfaced in reference to the Horizons Psychedelics Conference in New York City. An undergraduate administrator at the University of Pennsylvania, responding to my request to bring my students to the conference on a field trip, wrote:

I’m afraid I have to decline to provide funding for this activity. What I had imagined was an academic conference on hallucinogens or on the psychedelic movement seems from the website to be more advocacy than critical reflection…. Although I do not want to impede the critical work you want to lead your students to undertake on a fraught subject, it’s not evident to me how the conference supports it. (“Conference field trip,” italics added)

 

I was initially taken aback by this response — not for the denial of funding, but for the specific rationale. When I attended Horizons the previous year, its hallmark was a focus on legitimate, academic discourse. This was explicitly invoked as of primary significance. Pondering on the disjuncture, it occurred to me that the author might have responded the same way-“advocacy rather than critical reflection” — if he were out of touch with queer studies and received an analogous request. Just because a queer studies conference might focus on the legitimacy of the field, rather than featuring speakers that questioned its right to exist, would that mean that the conference was “advocating” a queer lifestyle?

When I made this connection public, one respondent’s protest echoed many of the detractions I have heard before: “a queer studies conference would have a strong focus on state and social repression and the specific oppression suffered by queer people, which is hardly glorifying, and queer identity is not a lifestyle by choice in the same way that psychedelics are.” But this common reaction embarks on a slippery slope. To essentialize a queer identity or culture as of somehow primary importance to a psychedelic identity or culture, especially grounded in the tenuous concept of free will, undermines the very rights that queer theorists and activists promote:

A liberation movement demands an expansion of our moral horizons and an extension or reinterpretation of the basic moral principle of equality…. If we wish to avoid being numbered amongst the oppressors, we must be prepared to re-think even our most fundamental attitudes. We need to consider them from the point of view of those most disadvantaged by our attitudes, and the practices that follow. (Singer 116)

 

It is counterproductive to argue that some forms of oppression are more egregious than others. How, for instance, is there not strong state and social repression against the use of or interest in psychedelics? How can one be certain that a psychedelic lifestyle is less of an identitarian issue than a queer lifestyle? Many view their psychedelic identities, interests, or religious views as inherent to who they are. Since queer studies is largely about the “queering” of identity and consciousness relative to the normative, we could work collectively to support the validity of all forms of performative identification.

The parallels do not end there. Although I now publicly study Visionary Art and Psychedelic Culture at the University of Pennsylvania, this was not always the case. When I was a freshman undergraduate at Bard College in 2006, I had an experience that changed my life, although it nearly cost me my career. Due in part to lack of information and improper set and setting, I was temporarily kicked out of school after I was introduced to LSD. Graciously, since my school worked on a case-by-case basis rather than with a zero-tolerance policy, I was granted amnesty in exchange for a research paper and a righting of my ways. Although the event receded into the past, it was impossible to forget one of the most enlightening, awe-inspiring experiences of my life. As Jeremy Narby explains in The Spirit Molecule documentary, “there is a growing number of…intellectuals, scientists, artists, movers and shakers, filmmakers…who realize that this stuff is all too interesting…to go on keeping it swept under the rug…. At this point there is no good reason, apart from bad habit, to keep up these barriers” (The Spirit Molecule).

But due to the pervasive cultural and legal taboos, I thought my intellectual interests had to remain implicit, unspoken. I applied to graduate school with a paper reading the philosophies of Friedrich Hegel and Jacques Lacan through the lens of fractal mathematics, with a personal statement directed at mystical and visionary poetry. The ideas were there, but my rationale was absent. It was only after I found out about the scientific psychedelic renaissance — via a New York Times article on the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies’ conference “Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century” — and after I attended Horizons for the first time that I realized there was a community of scholars working openly on these subjects. I decided to plug in, and come out of the closet. This is a common experience among those who, for the first time, find a community where they can speak openly about their interests.

Precedents and rationales aside, the time is ripe for a genuinely interdisciplinary field on psychedelics and their attendant societal repercussions to come to fruition.

At the fourth annual Horizons psychedelics conference in New York City last September, data surfaced from a 2006 psilocybin study at Johns Hopkins University demonstrating that roughly two-thirds of study participants had a mystical experience. Reacting to this cross-circuiting of secular and mystical discourses, author Erik Davis responded by asserting, flatly: “We already knew that.” The study, he claimed, was a secularization and materialization of a spiritual experience-rather than a discovery of a genuinely novel content. Davis continued, “The research model is not sufficient…. Neurology is on a collision course with the full-on [psychedelic] experience” (qtd. in Traveler). While serving a distinct and timely purpose, scientific discourse is by nature unable to exhaust the psychedelic question.

That same weekend, at Alex and Allyson Grey’s Chapel of Sacred Mirrors upstate, Rick Strassman, MD, participated in a panel discussion for the premier screening of The Spirit Molecule, where he remarked:

How to explicate the full meaning…of the psychedelic experience in this current wave of interest in studying these drugs again? … I don’t think that we can solely depend on psychiatry to be the leader in discussing how these drugs work and their effect and their application to everyday life. I think it has to be as multidisciplinary a pursuit as possible, because the full psychedelic experience impacts on everything — it impacts on art, anthropology, music, religion, cosmology, physics, psychology, cognitive sciences, chemistry, everything…. We don’t want to overextend one discipline at the expense of the other[s]. (DMT: The Spirit Molecule – CoSM Premiere)

 

As Alex Grey expressed during the same event, “Now with the gifts of science and scientific research, serious interest is again making it legally possible to discuss these matters” (ibid), but this fortuitous resurgence of activity and attention demands a chorus of new voices, new models and approaches. In part because of these recent conferences and the movements they represent, it is finally an appropriate time to address the question of psychedelics and their continuing impact on culture from multiple critical, academic perspectives — and to confront the issues that have impeded these conversations during the past century.

There is a growing community of younger scholars who are actively focusing their academic work on this field. In mid-January, MAPS announced to attendees of their recent “Catalysts” conference that they would be sponsoring a new listserv for graduate students actively working or writing on some aspect of “psychedelic culture, use, practice, or theory.” Jim Fadiman wrote — in response to students like myself, who found it difficult to locate support and mentorship for psychedelic research — “It’s time to build [an international] graduate student research support network” (Burge and Fadiman). This event is significant both for psychedelic studies-since every major academic subject has networks of a similar kind-and for academia at large, which aspires to but frequently falls short of realizing genuinely interdisciplinary work.

My personal contribution to this movement lies at the cross-sections of literature, philosophy, comparative religion, and art history, and I cite psychedelic philosopher Terence McKenna as my immediate forebear.

In April 2011, I presented a paper at the American Comparative Literature Association’s annual conference in Vancouver, Canada on the concept of “hyperspace” in the context of DMT, or dimethyltryptamine. I explained that since the DMT experience is notoriously difficult to integrate into the terms of “consensus reality,” the concept of hyperspace has emerged as a framing mechanism that enables participants in this field to articulate and co-create an alternative worldview. My thesis was that even if we leave the “real,” ontological status of hyperspace suspended, it functions as a Kantian “as-if” that pertains to a communicable, phenomenological experience.

In researching the term “hyperspace,” I discovered that its etymology is multi-faceted and complex, the result of a rich history with definite relevance to the fields of literature and art history. While the concept of fourth dimensionality extends back to Pythagoras, hyperspace began its heyday in the late nineteenth century, when the concept circled extensively amongst avant-garde and spiritualist circles. The term “hyperspace” proper emerged out of the specialized context of mid-19th-century analytic geometry, satisfying the need for a new word to designate a space of more than three dimensions. But as Jason Chernosky, an English PhD working on literature and hyperspace philosophy, explains, “A change in geometrical theory which carried with it such important philosophical ramifications…gave writers and thinkers a new metaphor…. [H]yperspace mediates between realms of discourse that otherwise would not communicate” (qtd. in Pacchioli). Consequently, Linda Dalrymple Henderson pointed out the tremendous impact of hyperspace philosophy on art history in her 1984 book The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art. Paradigm shifts propagate indiscriminately across multiple domains, and the impact of hyperspace on culture and its means of representation have been both tangible and under-scrutinized.

In the humanities, establishing a historical canon of hyperspatial, interdimensional artists and philosophers creates a concrete discursive context for further investigations. It establishes an aesthetic tradition within which one can include artists ranging from William Blake to the cubists to the interdimensional and visionary painters of the modern day.

This is just one example of the manifold ways that psychedelic discourse pertains and responds to questions of philosophy, creativity, imagination, religion, culture, and language. The crucial step now is to bring these conversations into the open.

One necessary component of this involves developing critical rationales and precedents for investigating issues like hyperspace entities within a mainstream academic conversation. Thought experiments, acknowledged as such, could be encouraged rather than taboo. Rick Strassman, MD writes in Inner Paths to Outerspace:

The only explanatory model that held itself out as the most intuitively satisfying, yet the most theoretically treacherous, involved assigning a parallel level of reality to these experiences. In other words, I engaged in a thought experiment…. I had to accept their reports as descriptions of things that were “real.” I allowed myself, at least theoretically, to accept that under the influence of DMT, these things do happen-in reality, although not in a reality we usually inhabit. (Strassman 75)

 

If we are able to remain unattached to the particularities of such thought experiments, they can help us to overcome the anachronistic privileging of the seen over the unseen. In the words of Terence McKenna, “I would prefer a kind of intellectual anarchy where whatever was pragmatically applicable was brought to bear on any situation; where belief was understood as a self-limiting function” (McKenna 39).

Literary studies can make a significant contribution to psychedelic studies by providing the infrastructure for creative explorations within this domain. As an extension of the “absurdist philosophy” known as ‘pataphysics, “pataphor” is a term referring to a metaphor gone cataclysmic, seeking to “describe a new [and] separate world, in which an idea or aspect has taken on a life of its own” (“‘Pataphysics”). Using the concept of pataphor, we can explore the internal potentials for a concept like hyperspace without committing ourselves to limiting beliefs. Similarly, “psychotic knowledge” is described as the result of “ripping apart the fabric of consensual reality.” It is only psychotic “from the perspective of the hegemonic paradigm that cannot permit multiple realities” (Shunyamurti), encouraging the retention of sanity while remaining open to new horizons of possibility. Thus, alien intelligence, vine spirits, and eschatologies are ideas that can be played with, in ways that don’t depend on absolute truth values for intellectual significance.

In addition to what literary and cultural studies can do for psychedelia, the latter needs to be accounted for by the former in any comprehensive description of modernity. The term “visionary culture” references a network of interrelated movements that are growing exponentially beyond the purview of academia and the mainstream media. Considering their scope-hundreds of thousands of people around the world are actively involved — and the intellectual, aesthetic, and political significance of these movements in relation to many of the most pressing issues of our time, they have received extraordinarily limited scholarly attention.

The rise of visionary culture is a landmark event within the history of aesthetics and philosophy. At the most fundamental level, it offers an alternative to the postmodern discourse that still preoccupies many scholars of the humanities across disciplines, despite a search for new alternatives. Notably, a Google Books search for “after postmodernism” produces over 8,500 results. Although a definition of postmodernism is difficult to pin down, due in part to an emphasis on difference and the rejection of its label by many of its most influential thinkers, it is often predicated on an absence of perspectival view and an ironic coexistence of temporalities.

According to the editors of After Postmodernism: An Introduction to Critical Realism, “A buzzword which began as an emerging, radical critique became, by the 20th Century’s end, a buzzword for fracture, eclecticism, political apathy and intellectual exhaustion.” They continue, “[A] new and different intellectual direction must come after postmodernism…because [it] is inadequate as an intellectual response to the times we live in. The realization of this has been growing for some time now without it yet being clear just what this new perspective will be” (López and Potter 4).

My work at the university has centered on developing an alternative to the outdated notion of a secular, ironic postmodernism within which the academy is still entrenched. “Performatism” is a word coined by German scholar Raoul Eshelman in his book Performatism, or the End of Postmodernism, and I have expanded his definition: although heterogeneous, performatism is antithetical to the ironic conception of postmodernism described here. Performative works create their own temporalities and perspectives. They create worlds and ways of seeing: performances in and of context. As an important instance, visionary art and culture is a performative approach to the conscious construction of a sustainable, aesthetically-inspired worldview. In opposition to secular irony, the visionary art of Alex Grey, Amanda Sage, Michael Divine, Adam Scott Miller and others is spiritual, optimistic, and performative-which is to say it aims to do something, to introduce new symbolic frames and create ritualistic spaces wherein personal and collective identities can be consciously shaped and refashioned.

Finally, there is a long list of “buzzwords” associated with psychedelic discourse that leads to immediate disqualification from being taken seriously in an academic setting, including “spirit,” “destiny,” “prophecy,” “psychic,” “aliens,” “channels,” et cetera. This is a large reason why Terence McKenna, possibly the greatest psychedelic philosopher of our time, is completely absent from university syllabi, where he definitely belongs. The ideas that he champions have consequences reaching far beyond the psychedelic community, which has ultimately been his sole audience. The media philosopher Marshall McLuhan, whom McKenna greatly admired and who championed very similar ideas, has nearly been relegated to the same fate.

In his essay, “The Humanities in the Electronic Age,” McLuhan highlighted the radical character of the epochal shift facing humanity, arguing that the transition from the “mechanical” to the “electric age” requires a corresponding transformation in the nature and function of the humanities. He writes:

[T]he discovery of the twentieth century [is]…the discovery of the process of insight itself, the technique of avoiding the automatic closure of involuntary fixing of attitudes that so easily results from any given cultural situation. The technique of open field perception…is a method of organized ignorance[,]…the means of abstracting oneself from the bias and consequences of one’s own culture…. [T]he technique of the suspended judgment…means, not the willingness to admit other points of view, but the technique of how not to have a point of view. (McLuhan 8; 10; 11)

 

McLuhan, who saw the university’s potential to promote and explore this capacity, is explaining a notion similar to McKenna’s description of “resetting your operating system,” a function that McKenna associates with psychedelic use. These two figures — along with Jacques Derrida, who is also disparaged but highly regarded in the academy — are aware of the inability of existing constructions to account for future developments or even contemporaneous alternatives, and they are interested in how the knowledge of ideological contingency influences existing ideological structures.

There is much to be learned from a conversation blending absolute alterity with boundless creativity, and the future of the humanities depends on the uninhibited cooperation of these different strands of thought. In Inner Paths to Outer Space, Rick Strassman, MD writes:

Within traditional Western academic settings, anthropology is the field that has focused attention on psychedelic plant use and the role of these plants in the societies that use them. More than any other field, it has maintained the flame of interest in these plants and drugs over several hundred years of Western suppression of all information about them. Within the last sixty to seventy years, however, it has been within the medical-scientific framework, primarily psychiatry, psychology, and the neurosciences, that our culture has viewed and understood psychedelic drugs. (Strassman 13)

 

It is now time for the false iron curtain to fall. I hereby inaugurate Psychedelic Studies as a post-disciplinary field. Let the games begin.

 

Works Cited

Burge, Brad, and Jim Fadiman. “Message to Attendees of Catalysts: The Impact of Psychedelics on Culture…” Message to the author. 19 Jan. 2011. E-mail.

“Conference field trip.” Message to the author. 23 Sept. 2011. E-mail.

DMT: The Spirit Molecule – CoSM Premiere. Dir. Richard Grove. Prod. The Tragedy and Hope Online Community. Perf. Mitch Schultz, Rick Strassman, Alex Grey, and Allyson Grey. YouTube. 10 Jan. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMOC44vby9g>.

Halperin, David M. Saint Foucault: Towards a Gay Hagiography. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1997. Print.

López, José, and Garry Potter. “After Postmodernism: The New Millenium.” Ed. José López and Garry Potter. After Postmodernism: An Introduction to Critical Realism. London: Athlone, 2001. 1-18. Print.

McKenna, Terence. “Psychedelic Society.” Hallucinogens: A Reader. By Charles S. Grob. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2002. 38-46. Print.

McLuhan, Marshall. “The Humanities in the Electronic Age.” Marshall McLuhan – Unbound. Ed. Eric McLuhan and W. Terrence Gordon. Vol. 7. Corte Madera, CA: Ginko, 2005. Print.

Pacchioli, David. “Deflating Hyperspace.” Research/Penn State Dec. 1995. Research/Penn State. Pennsylvania State University. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. <http://www.rps.psu.edu/dec95/hyper.html>.

“‘Pataphysics.” Wikipedia. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/’Pataphysics>.

Pike, Fredrick B. The Politics of the Miraculous in Peru: Haya De La Torre and the Spiritualist Tradition. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1986. Print.

Shunyamurti. “The Ascendance of Psychotic Knowledge.” Reality Sandwich. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. <https://realitysandwich.com/node/78438>.

Singer, Peter. “All Animals Are Equal.” Ethics in Practice: An Anthology. Ed. Hugh LaFollette. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1997. 107-16. Print. Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies.

The Spirit Molecule. Dir. Mitch Schultz. 2010. DVD.

Strassman, Rick, Slawek Wojtowicz, Luis Eduardo Luna, and Ede Frecska. Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies. Rochester, VT: Park Street, 2008. Print.

Traveler, Jedi Mind. “Psychedelics and Human Destiny: Notes from the Horizons Conference.” Reality Sandwich. 11 Nov. 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <https://realitysandwich.com/node/69500>.

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Ne?e Lisa ?enol is a doctoral graduate student of visionary art and psychedelic culture at the University of Pennsylvania and writes the news column “This Week in Psychedelics“.  

Image by Patrick Hoesly, courtesy of Creative Commons license. 

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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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