The Immanence of Myth

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James Curcio is currently collecting submissions for an anthology entitled The Immanence of Myth (click the following link for submission guidelines).  In the article below (a version of the anthology's introduction), he lays out the ideas that will frame the anthology — particularly concerning the evolving role of mythology in our post-industrial, highly technologized, capitalist society.

 

I first presented some of the following ideas in "Living The Myth," my contribution to the Generation Hex anthology (Disinfo, 2005). As I've collaborated with other artists over the past decade, I have come to realize that I wasn't at all alone in a mythic approach to art.  In this article, I present an admittedly abstract perspective on the nature, and the importance, of myth.  I also hope to relay some of the difficulties and considerations that go into creating an anthology containing diverse views on myth. Although we will be editing the essays in the anthology, we will attempt to preserve the authors' various ideologies rather than ensure that everything coheres into a single system. As you will quickly discover, that approach would be entirely contrary to our very position.

 

What is Myth? 

It may seem that the word "myth" has entirely lost its meaning to us as a psychological or spiritual term. A myth has come to mean something that is generally accepted but untrue. "It is a myth that reading by flashlight ruins your eyesight." The popular television show on the Discovery Channel, Myth Busters, uses this definition, attempting to disprove "myths" with something vaguely resembling science. The myths of antiquity are looked upon as quaint stories, despite the fact that they shaped our cultural history, and remain at the center of the bloody stage of modern religious and ideological conflicts. 

The fact that the word myth has become synonymous with untruth belies an underlying shift in our epistemological focus over the past several thousand years. To generalize: we have become, as a culture, a great deal more concerned with verifiable facts and less concerned with the existential truths which have a different relation to fact. This progression ties not only into the Enlightenment focus on rationality and the scientific method, but, perhaps more pervasively and certainly more recently, we can see this following from the needs of industrialization. Fundamental business principles rely on actions that are easy to reproduce, and which produce similar if not identical results with each reptition. This promotes an economy of scale that is absolutely necessary for so-called big business. 

The dual meaning of myth seems to come as a by-product of the industrialist-capitalist worldview, and provides a certain cultural insight. In its proper sense, myth has no necessary relation to fact whatsoever. It is true insofar as it renders a psychological effect, and false insofar as it doesn't. This is not to say that fact has no bearing on myth. Far from it. That the inner and outer life appear as mirror images of one another, separated by what appears to be a vast divide, is another issue that we must contend with, as it has mythological repercussions. 

To anyone who winces at the thought of a story being "just fiction," this common definition is more than unfortunate, for myths have been the lifeblood of culture since the birth of civilization. This common, or modern, definition is not at all what we mean when we say "myth" here. However, the common definition defines our cultural stance against spirituality, our dependence upon fact as our only source of psychological nourishment. (It also defines our misunderstanding of the purpose of symbols.) If we take the premise that myth is something vital to our nature, then an absence of it, or an absence of the ability to recognize it, would be a deep cultural and existential crisis. A quick glance at current events makes it clear enough that we are in just such a position, even though no clear connection between the two has yet been drawn. 

The most obvious conclusion of "modernity" is that we have no unifying myth, as Georges Bataille proposes: we live in a myth which is an absence of myth. Bataille's "absence of myth" must not be mistaken with Ayn Rand's. To Baitaille, the absence of myth is itself a myth. However, the most obvious conclusion is often not the most poignant one. We do have myths, though they exist in media that we don't surround with the aura of the sacred. We find our myths in movies, books, our mutually created narratives on the Internet, even on television. We relate to these stories differently than did those who lived in a world before the computer, television or typewriter. I believe there has been a sort of archetypal uprooting — a disconnection from the power of the forms that informed the mythic processes of the past. Thus, though we haven't lost our myths, we have lost our connection to their purpose. They often don't strike modern audiences as strongly because they are "just" stories, or movies. When one is finished with them, one can literally change the channel. In a capitalist society, myths too take on a capitalist bent. Further, they serve its ends. They are often more readily consumed than engaged with.

At the same time, in the case of those myths that do resonate with large groups of people, many of them are mere echoes of myths from thousands of years ago, catalyzing existential fear, hate, or desire. This alchemy produces poisonous splinter factions, fundamentalist groups that produce many of the illnesses our cultures otherwise exhibit in concentrated form. These "splinter groups" also have the potential to overcome the whole of a culture in crisis times, as the Nazis did after World War I. However, myth as a whole cannot be considered a result of such use. Nor can myth be "killed," in any event. It can be a healing as well as a destructive force. 

I realize I'm leaving many stones unturned here: you might be wondering, "Fine, then what is the purpose of myth?" or "If myth has a different meaning than the commonly accepted one, then what is it?" In the final reckoning, myth is a process of creative participation in reality, and so there is no way to cleanly dissect it, label its parts, and offer it up for scientific analysis. 

 

The Function of Myth in the 21st Century 

Mythology isn't just Bulfinch's; far less is it Frazier's Golden Bough. It is the living, breathing story of humanity. Myths deal with the questions we all face in our lives, propose ways of being in the world which put us in accord or conflict with those various common dilemmas, and ultimately structure our worlds. Our myths deal with the things that would be difficult if not impossible to approach in any other manner. Thus, it is almost as if we need to explore all of the connective tissue linking to the heart of myth, without striking at that heart directly. For that heart is at once our own, and also the truly unknowable font of being which supports it. This is the realm of the unquantifiable: that which is felt, glimpsed, experienced, but never fully secured. Nevertheless, the representation of this unknowable, which we call myth, can be tentatively defined and owned through the process of naming. In short, this is the process whereby an experience, event, or object is transformed into a symbol. In this rendering, its very nature can be transfigured. This is siginificant because, although you can't turn a rabbit into a table through words alone, you can change people's perception through the symbols you use. Far from an obscure, theoretical or arcane art, "spin doctors" in media and politics do this as a full-time job. However, in a more occult sense this is why words and incantations are infused with an almost supernatural aura, because language does have the power to transmute, to invoke and evoke, and these are, at least psychologically speaking, magical powers.   

Cutting to that heart directly and cleanly defining what myth is and is not will not suffice. The function of myth, even possibly its identity, changes based on the granularity of inquiry. In other words, a particular myth, received by an individual, may not serve the same function when received by a society. A given myth, let alone myth as a whole, is not merely one thing. A myth can be different things to different people, as we see when a mythic motif, say that of the dead and reborn god in the form of Osiris, is transfigured by another culture, in another time and place, for another purpose, such as may have been the case with the mythology created around Jesus' torture and death. 

There are other obstacles that stand in the way of a clear look at this subject. When you focus your attention on the study of any particular concept, two things can happen: first, you see your theme everywhere. This is exemplified in the concept of a meta-narrative, whereby reality is reduced to a simple principle like the subversion of subliminal sexuality (Freud). These provide an often useful insight into an aspect of reality, while at the same time distorting reality around the contours of the concept. What conceals often also reveals, and the inverse is also true.

Second, you deconstruct your core concept to such a point that it ceases to mean what it does for everyone else. For example, consider the word "will" as used by Schopenhauer, Neitzsche, or Crowley: their ideas of "will" in all three cases go so far beyond what is commonly meant by the term that, unless if you are intimately familiar with their work, it is easy to mistake their actual meaning. Similarly, this word "will" does not lead to the same concept in all three cases, but rather is a sort of conceptual key to a unique thought process for each.

I am fully aware that both of these factors will play into our ongoing exploration of the concept of "myth." This is further complicated by the realities of an anthology composed by a multiplicity of authors. Rather than attempting to escape these obstacles through a posture of scientific analysis, which itself biases outcome, I have directed my contributors to embrace multiplicity, embrace the process. If we never, in the process of our lives, come to contradict ourselves from time to time, then we haven't grown. We could hardly be called human. The process of inquiring into a concept such as this one will inevitably loop back on itself time and again, in that process evolving the discussion. 

Other problems posed by an investigation like this are the dangers of abstraction and generalization. Abstract questions and solutions, which take on a narrative form as myth, are at once more pure and multifaceted than the specific or concrete. That is, successful myths strike at our unmediated personal experience, and at the same time are directed at an audience. There is clearly some sleight-of-mind involved, a magic trick composed of symbols, sounds, and images. A myth is never just this problem or this person, even when it originates from a personal experience or dilemma. By their very nature, myths abstract and generalize. In a Jungian sense they are said to be archetypical, but it may be possible that the mythic perspective creates archetypes. This essential abstraction is also an inherent danger, as narrative metaphors are essentially untethered from necessity and thus from what many would refer to as reality, and it is easy to then turn around and reduce all mythology into one monomyth, as Frazier, Campbell, and many before and after have done.

So in beginning this exploration we must employ an unfortunately meta-approach to an analysis of myth, or else the overall method may get lost through a particular peculiarity, as with Freud and formative sexuality, or even the folk elements of a particular story about the monkey god Hanuman. As a result, in dealing with myth as a subject I am not entirely concerned with the details of a single story or meta-narrative. These particulars or peculiarities can and should be noted by way of example, but if we think that by exploding a single mythic/psychological complex we are uncovering the actual nature of myth, then we will continue to chase our own tail in misleading dialogue about trivial or even obsessive points. This is a methodological shortcoming of much mythic analysis, including some of the most thorough and scholarly. 

This may seem an apology for our methodology, and in a sense it is, but it is also a means of saying that both we and the reader must remain absolutely aware of the need to re-tether the abstract (myth) with the necessary (experience). This very quandary is often posed in mythic fashion, for example in stories dealing with the problems of relating the needs of the spirit, or what we refer to as spirit, and the material world. Thus Jesus would not cast himself from the heights of the temple at Satan's request. Neither can be sacrificed for the sake of the other, and if they cannot be aligned, integrated, or otherwise rectified the result is death of one form or another. This particular existential dilemma — one of countless legions — is considered one of the principle purposes of alchemy. In fact, all alchemy deals with the fusion of the substantial and insubstantial bodies (Ida and Pingala in Kundalini for instance), and as Carl Jung rightly recognized, this integration is the primary goal of psychology. This problem takes on an even more dire importance in our present age, where the material has become the only consideration, and the spiritual backlash is not one of integration but rather one of violent fundamentalism.

With these considerations in mind I'd like to present some preliminary thoughts on the nature of myth. 

Myths are "mirrors of the soul," which can only reveal to us what we already have in ourselves: so what is a message of love and compassion to one can be a distorting call to hatred and bigotry for another. Meaning exists in the surface interaction with the mythic object, rather than in the myth itself. We discover ourselves in stories. 

Culture itself can only be fully understood through the myths it produces. Perhaps you could also say that myth is culture's deep structure, represented in symbolic form. Concurrently, it is increasingly difficult to speak meaningfully of "myth" without recognizing the function which runs through all contexts, at any "level of granularity": myth is the meaning we glean from representation, yet it does not contain this meaning. It is almost as if every time a series of symbols (a book, for instance), passes into a new nervous system, it is born for the first time. Words, sentences, and pictures are, on their own, no more a "myth" than the notes written on a staff are music; however, all of these are the embodiment, that is, the representation, of experience. Concealed within that representation is all of the meaning that can be drawn from chaos. Myth is, in the final summation, truly a mirror image of our inner beings, for better or worse. We did not create our flesh or bone, nor did we choose the circumstances we were born into. The myths we create, on the other hand, are truly and completely human. Perhaps, at the same time, they are the closest thing we have to divinity, demonstrating our ability to build worlds from the clay we are given, to infuse it with our own meaning, and to choose what the very nature of the universe will be in our tale. 

In this, we have our entry point into the function of myth. On a personal level, a myth is the story of life; most commonly, it is a narrative abstracted from the specific to the general, and then back again. For example, an artist pulls from specific life experiences, and abstracts them to a general or archetypical form; in other words, a form with general resonance. This narrative is then re-portrayed as if it is a particular instance. The archetypes are given a unique character. This may not be the only method a myth may take, but it is certainly one that most modern artists and writers are most familiar with. Plenty of examples exist in the myths that have entered the popular culture, for instance the portrayal of the maenad in HBO's popular series True Blood, or Neil Gaiman's Morpheus in Sandman. These characters may be modernized versions of an old archetype, but they have resonance because of the unique traits and personality that give them a sense of reality and immediacy. As living itself can act as intermediary between the arbitrary nature of life and the possibility of an underlying, unifying cultural consciousness, myths are also the emergent and recursive cultural code that has always driven human civilization. They are recursive because the stories that carry through the ages repeat themselves, in different forms, from one generation to the next, growing and yet never changing; this progressive permutation is best represented by the symbol of a spiral, or the Tibetan Swastika, as it is neither a teleological progress, as we might represent with a line, nor a fully closed one, as we would represent with a circle. They are emergent because, at the cultural level, this code gives rise to all of the complexities that society has borne, and can be considered to have a life of its own — whether we mythologize that cultural intelligence as the Will of God, the hive-mind, zeitgeist, archetype of the collective unconscious, or manifest destiny. 

Put another way — the mythic life is the whole, of which our current awareness is but a fragment. There is a sense in which we are living within our lives as the protagonist of a random situation that was neither our design nor our intention, and yet in another sense, we are disconnected from time, observers, and creators, partaking in each other's creations. The personal life, and its pains, frustrations, successes and hopes, are all transient and relatively insignificant except when given mythic resonance. The tale is what matters. Legends and heroes always lag a generation or two behind the present, and the times we live in are desperately in need of both.

Life is a dream you won't remember upon awakening, and myth is that dream retold. This retold dream is the realm of myth, and its representations take the form of art, music, and literature — in other words, the very forms of representation which were banished from Plato's Republic on account of their ephemeral nature. In terms of Plato's metaphysics ephemerality = deception. The primary nature of the forms are their immortality, immutability, etc. Plato turns everything on its head, (not unlike the Christian metaphysic), making that immutable idea or form the "ultimate reality" and this fleeting world of phenomena the "shadows on the wall."  Myth commonly borrows from the realm of dream, and in some ways shares a similar dual nature as both real and unreal (it is real as a psychological fact, but does not directly carry into the material world without our mediation). However, myth cannot be simply reduced to dream images. Dreams on their own do not define, transform, or destroy cultures. Carl Jung distinguished between "archetypal" dreams — those which somehow borrowed from the font of myth on a cultural level, and personal dreams, which deal with one's personal myth only. This might be a simple analytical solution, but doesn't sufficiently deal with the shades of gray which make up the bulk of our dreams, or of mythologies themselves.    

Though there is a cultural dimension to myth, the key to understanding — and thereby creating — a living mythology comes through self-examination, rather than through a strict exploration of the "world out there." We transmit our living mythologies to each other through our art, but equally so through our impact upon one another in our day-to-day lives. 

Each of our lives is a story, an album, a painting, in which we play the starring role, but only posthumously, in hindsight, or through the internal wrestling of the creative process which separates us, momentarily, from our day-to-day concerns. These stories weave together into an ever-changing tapestry which we call culture. Should we become initiates of the "bornless beyond" which exists outside the sphere of personal concern, even of our culture, we may become demigods for those who inherit the worlds we create, but only if we are worthy of it. This mantle is a boon and a curse that is often bestowed posthumously upon certain writers, artists, etc. This worthiness is far from egalitarian, and often strikes a harsh contrast to the living reality of that individual's life. Many of the individuals to whom our present cultures owe themselves died impoverished, unfulfilled, or (most famously), crucified. An ongoing mythical tradition is like a river that flows ever forward, sometimes branching off, or dying to drought or dam, yet nevertheless continually flowing, never reaching an ultimate destination.

From this we may recognize that the beliefs and symbols that live on through us, which we convey to those around us, are the currency of the mythological realm. Many have used the term meme. This term, which means a "unit of cultural imitation," was first coined by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene to represent this currency, and to systematize this cultural economy. Though perhaps a buzz-word of our time, this term nevertheless is useful in that it distinguishes the symbol from the sign in a structural way, allowing us to recognize that represented ideas themselves operate, in a sense, like organisms. Memes serve a greater function than being mere packets of information: "Magic has always been about the encoding of meaning, about symbolic literacy, about the creation and even the restoration of calendars. Memetics is a way of comprehending the ramifications of such encoding, identifying the systems that result from rituals, and transmitting meaning into a goal-oriented complex system, the meme space. Memes are more than a linguistic phenomenon." ("The Art of Memetics," p. 29.) 

If we choose to employ the metaphor of memes, then it is worth asking how these memes are carried from one individual to the next. Clearly there is a secondary medium (symbols), but it is the amalgam. This is key: myths arise as relationships — relationship between a ritual object or work of art and an individual audience member, a relationship between audience members within the framework provided by the myth, and so on. The authors of these relationships we call artists, regardless of the medium.

It is impossible to speak of myth and not simultaneously speak of the arts. Religion, art, and myth were born of the same impulse, rendered with the same brush-stroke. I am not just referring to those who manage to undertake art as a vocation. All myth-builders are artists, on the most fundamental level, as art is not just about what different people or cultures find aesthetically pleasing — it is also, and possibly more fundamentally, a process which tells people what things mean in an ontological rather than ethical sense. The use of "ontological" here refers to what is best expressed  as the "being-ness" of the thing. Thus I am saying that at its root a myth does not strike at aesthetic truth. That falls into the realm of didactics. It does not fall in the realm of ethical commandment either, though it is easily interpreted this way and even utilized in this way (e.g., the ethical commandments given in Leviticus, those given by Moses, by Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, etc.) Myth's primary function is ontological, that is, it points at the unnameable realities underlying our collective experience. In this particular respect, science as well is mythological. Ethical and aesthetic qualifications, stipulations, regulations, etc., can be extracted from a reading of that ontology, but this isn't myth's primary function. The cost of the commodification of art, thus losing sight of its fundamental cultural function, is not one that most in our culture can comprehend.  

We do not exist as completely disparate, floating totalities. Myth is born of social fabric. To live our myth we need to first come to terms with the history of the beliefs of a culture, its ideas, its practices, its assumptions and axioms, its demons. The culture that bore us into this world helped shape who we are, regardless of whether we went along with the program or not. As James Joyce said, "History is a nightmare from which we are desperately trying to awake." What does it mean to be at this place and this time, and how has it made you who you are? How do the beliefs of our fathers and fore-fathers continue to structure and define the face of the reality we experience on a day-to-day basis? Preliminary answers can be found in our family trees and personal psychological makeups, which each of us can unearth in the creative process, but they are also, and I would say more importantly, present in the ideological history of our culture. We are, then, like the myths that tie us together, an ever-shifting collage or assemblage, without singular identity or import. If we trace our heritage back far enough, all we can say for sure is that we are all solar beings, since all matter almost certainly originated from one star or another. The lines of Self ultimately exist where we say they are, for in reality everything is interlocking, interconnected, semi-permeable. Thus Self is also defined by myth, and so is the shadow Self, the not-me, the enemy or the adversary.

It is worth noting that many works already exist which provide a systematic philosophical analysis of the ideological history and function of myth. Included prominently in this list are Cassirer's The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, Joseph Campbell's Masks of God I-IV, Theodore Adorno and Max Horkheimer's Dialectic of Enlightenment, Eliade's many works, especially Myth and Reality and Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. This is not to say that the postulates or conclusions provided in these works are congruent with one another, or with our own thesis; nevertheless all of them contributed to bringing myth out of the realm of fanciful poetic naturalism. Though in various ways we are indebted to these works, our ultimate mission is not to explore what myth has been, except inasmuch as that can shed light on what its function is at present, nor is it to merely further the thesis of these works.  Rather, it is our aim to continue a movement already well underway, namely, the re-legitimization of myth and myth-making as one of the principal, if not the principal, form of human representation.  

If you would like to submit to The Immanence of Myth, please check out the submission guidelines here. 

 

Image by ZeroOne, courtesy of Creative Commons license.
 

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An entire genre of artwork is inspired by psychedelic trips with DMT. Read to learn about the entities and visions behind DMT art.

Changa vs. DMT: What You Need to Know
While similar (changa contains DMT), each drug has its own unique effect and feeling. Let’s compare and contrast changa vs DMT.

5-MeO-DMT Guide: Effects, Benefits, Safety, and Legality
5-Meo-DMT comes from the Sonora Desert toad. Here is everything you want to know about 5-Meo-DMT and how it compares to 4-AcO-DMT.

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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