Ascension, Entheogens & Inter-dimensional Exploration: The RS Retreat

Down the Rabbit Hole

I'm pretty certain that most who attended The Supernatural: Exploring Other Dimensions -- the retreat held at the Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch in Southern Utah this October --didn't quite know what they were getting themselves into (or out of).  I was one who, as the fool, had stepped merrily off the cliff and glided down the rabbit hole without any expectations but to enjoy the desert and get to meet the Reality Sandwich crew.  What I got was so much more. 

With three main presenters at the retreat, the participants could just about be divided into three equal camps: those who love Graham Hancock, those who love Lisa Renee, and those who love Daniel Pinchbeck.  Though Daniel is what motivated me to drive 11 hours into the desert, all three inspired my journey home. I floated away with renewed energy and inspiration, feeling awakened on a deep level, alert, and armed from the heart-center for mastering the 2012 transition.

Michael Robinson, Lisa Renee, Daniel Pinchbeck, Jonathan Phillips, and Graham and Santha Hancock

The Supernatural Retreat was billed as an exploration of "dimensional shifts, veiled realms accessed through altered states of consciousness, ancient myths and sacred sites, and intergalactic communication."  Um, OK, whatever that means . . . perhaps to keep from fully freaking out my left-brained, rational, quantitative partner, who was holding down the fort while I took passage into the unknown, I didn't even begin to consider where the creators of this adventure might be going with that statement, nor suspected where it might lead me . . . "I'm going to network, Sweetie, I'll see you in a few days. Ta-ta!"

Days before The Supernatural was to begin came the first change of plans.  Daniel was going to miss the first three days of the five-day gathering because he'd been summoned to Jackson Hole, WY.  As a leading "expert" on 2012, along with John Major Jenkins and Lawrence Josephs, he had been invited to present a more positive interpretation of 2012, one of conscious transition, during the press release of Sony Picture's upcoming film 2012, a disaster epic of unparallel proportions.  Without Daniel's presence, Graham Hancock and Lisa Renee were scheduled more time to share their material, the first of many schedule tweaks with which the participants flowed.

Recovering Our Heritage 

First, Graham Hancock presented his theories on lost civilizations, as expounded in his best selling book Fingerprints of the Gods.  As a lover of archeology, anthropology, and primeval civilizations, who was not yet familiar with his incredible research, I was thoroughly captivated.  By linking together the mystery of ancient maps which depict with uncanny accuracy landmasses that had not yet been "discovered" at the time of the maps' creation, the evidence of now underwater cities off the coasts of Japan and India, and the layouts of the Sphinx and Pyramids at Giza which relate to exact star patterns from thousands of years before they were supposed to have been built, Hancock made a compelling argument for the existence of a lost civilization capable of highly advanced technology. 

Hancock diligently supported his theory that there was a great flood over 10,000 years ago that ended a "golden age" of humanity, evidence of whose existence has been lost, or hidden from all but a select few. I found myself agreeing that there was more to the history of the Earth, and humans, than I'd previously considered.  After all, I hardly know where my family comes from just a few generations back -- who was I to say what humankind had been up to for millennia.

Time to Galactivate 

Beginning the pattern of gathering late into the night, Lisa Renee launched her presentation under the full glory of the stars above.  For city dwellers, the night sky of the desert is a rare gift, a tapestry of radiant light that is equally as awe inspiring as the canyons brought to life by high-noon sunbeams. Earlier that day, I'd confessed to Sally, a fellow retreater and Lisa Renee admirer, that I had never heard of Lisa before and wondered what she was all about. After attempting in tongue-tied vain to sum up her work, Sally simply said, "She can explain it much better than me.  You'll just have to wait and see." And now it's my turn to give it a go, (deep breath), well, let's just begin then, shall we?   

Lisa Renee, founder of Energetic Synthesis, claims to be an Awakened Starseed and a Sirian Walk-in.  Several years ago, after a kundalini awakening and "dark night of the soul," Lisa Renee began to receive what she calls "downloads" from Planetary Ascended Masters on her soul purpose, the history of the human race on Earth (and galactically), the role of extra-terrestrials in humanity's evolution, and the mission of They (the Power Elite), who use mass mindcontrol to keep us from remembering who we are and owning our divinity and personal power. 

According to Lisa, each chakra corresponds to a frequency and dimension. Most of humanity operates from the third chakra level (3D).  Currently, as the 2012 transition revs into high gear, many are beginning to awaken to 4 and 5D reality, but latent in us all is a possibility for 12D reality.  The blueprint of our DNA is to live in 12 dimensions, and in fact our DNA is made up of 12 stands, but through genetic manipulations we have been programmed to operate at a much lower level and run the cycle of our lives unaware of our true potential and birthright.  In order to begin to move from 3 to 4D, we must begin to feel instead of think, to live from the heart (4th chakra), to "go green," and integrate the realms of science and spirit. By learning to embody the truths of the wisdom traditions, and use our own intuition and internal (feeling) guidance, we will begin to awaken to our soul paths. One goal of moving to 4D reality is to be an anchoring point for higher vibration on the planet and thus help in guiding humanity's ascension.

This all reminded me of Joshua David Stone's Ascension series that I had read years ago in college, but had moved away from when the logistics of adulthood began to take hold.  I'd found that the idea of ascension had begun to elicit an irritated feeling in me.  As a yoga instructor, Buddhist meditator, and lover of the Tao, I'd started to resonate more with the idea of "be here now" rather than "let's get up there."   Still, I felt Lisa's words contained truths for me and I was interested in learning more.  In the light of the next day's dawn, though, I processed Lisa's talk like a bad hangover. From what self-inflated sense of ego was I going to truly believe I was a Starseed, an Indigo Child capable of living in 12D reality? I mean, come on. Then a few lines from Our Deepest Fear, a poem by Marianne Williamson, rang through my head, "Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.  Your playing small does not serve the world."  I thought better of dismissing my own ascension just yet.

Entheogens, Art, and Aliens, Oh My!

After two days of hiking through the Grand Staircase and Escalante National Monuments, of winding through canyons, unique rock formations, and cliff terraces to view ancient pictographs, I was eager to hear Graham Hancock’s distinct take on cave art, and how it relates to shamanism, the use of entheogens and alien abduction. 

Hancock’s most recent book, Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind, is a serious attempt to solve the riddle of how it was that humans scuttled around for five million years, and indeed “until less than 50,000 years ago we had no art, no religion, no sophisticated symbolism, no creative and innovative thinking, and quite possibly no language. Then, a dramatic and electrifying change overtook our ancestors in every part of the globe, and all the skills and qualities that we value most highly in ourselves today appeared suddenly, already fully formed, as though bestowed on us by hidden powers."

For Hancock, the missing link was the use by our ancestors of psychotropic substances in their various plant forms.  Through drawing parallels between prehistoric pictographs, with the art and personal accounts of Risk Straussman’s DMT experiment participants, Dr. John Mack’s research into UFO abductees, medieval art and mythical stories of fairies and mushrooms, and finally Hancock’s own use of ayahuasca, DMT, psilocybin and Iboga, the extraordinary origins of humanity’s genius were given solid ground.  Hancock is a humble master researcher who doesn’t espouse knowing the answer, he simply asks us to question the history we’ve been given.  It is through this questioning and self-study that he hopes we are able to regain power over our own consciousness and assume responsibility for our personal, global and intergalactic journey.

What's 2012 Got to Do With It? 

Finally, Daniel, the fulcrum, arrived. A roundtable discussion that Saturday night between Daniel Pinchbeck, Lisa Renee, and Graham Hancock showed our Quetzalcoatl to be the bridge I had been seeking between Hancock’s theories on our ancient legacy and Lisa’s ideas on where we are headed.  For Daniel, the time is now. 

As discussed in Breaking Open the Head and 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, psychedelic experiences opened Daniel to a lot of other options for seeing and being in the world than are presented in our Western mainstream society.  Recognizing that our current way of living with the Earth is unsustainable on so many levels, we have no alternative but to change. As espoused by the Hopi, the Maya, the Inca, and in Hinduism, we are at the end of the Fourth World Cycle.  This peak moment, or “tipping point,” is a great opportunity for catalyzing a shift in society and global consciousness.  But how?  Look no further than within, the seed for change is in us all.  Responsible, compassionate individuals make for an advanced collective.  Like Lisa’s 4D, 4th chakra reality, the Fifth World is predicted to be one of unity consciousness, and the new paradigm will included the integration of ancient and modern knowledge, just as Hancock is attempting to do with his work.

Daniel doesn’t pretend to know what exactly will happen in 2012, but he does believe that no one person has all the answers, and that we each need each other.  How perfect it was that Lisa, a self-proclaimed ET and Sirian Walk-In, was graciously sharing space with Graham, who doesn’t believe in the “nuts and bolts” actuality of aliens, but sees them as a metaphor from our collective unconscious. Welcome to a both/and world.

Blast Off

Oh, and did I mention Scotty Soltronic’s Solar Saucer that provided thumping campfire grooves late into the night; or Harlan Emil’s Amethyst Portal, a 17 foot high stellated dodecahedron housed with a Quasar Wave Transducer for shifting frequencies and raising the veil; or the hands-on chakra healing workshop with Reiki Master Jonathan Phillips; or our lesson in sacred geometry by acclaimed visual artist Michael Robinson; or the daily yoga classes; or the bonus, extrasensory hike into Wolverine Canyon with Daniel and Graham?  

This retreat was like a holistic surge of high octane awakening, and I greatly look forward to the next one. Kudos to Reality Sandwich and Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch for having the courage to launch this group of Voyagers into the inner-dimensions and trigger the release of unlimited potential and possibility.

Photos are courtesy of Mike Quinn.

Marisa Smith is a yoga instructor and writer residing in Boise, ID.  She holds a BA in Psychology and an MA in Transpersonal Studies and is currently working on completing her first book, a memoir of self-actualization.  Marisa is also involved in international retreats which blend Toltec ritual and wisdom with the transformative power of yoga.  For more information, please visit her website.