Psychedelic renaissance - Are we at the gates of a new psychedelic wave?

[AMHOLIO]

I look forward to the lolcows and interesting stories it creates, I look sadly at potential destruction that will come in its wake.

 

[Little oak tree]

I look forward to the lolcows and interesting stories it creates, I look sadly at potential destruction that will come in its wake.

"Nigredo is an alchemical concept that designates the first of three phases, prior to albedo and rubedo, in the transmutation of matter. Associated with putrefaction, it involves a dissolution in the raw material, for the generation of a superior one."
That's from wikipedia.
This is a random google result:
"The phrase, “dark night of the soul” is often used informally to describe an extremely difficult and painful period in one's life, for example, after the death of a loved one; the break-up of a marriage; or the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness."
Whatever comes comes haha but yes I bet psychedelic cows nonsense would be so much pure imagine the arcs.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

As an aspiring mystic and appreciator of psychedelic aesthetics I read a book "The Psychedelic History of Mormonism, Magic, and Drugs," and it contained a very detailed breakdown of the basic theory of entheogens, specific entheogens properties, and the history of their use (and then a treatment of it specifically in Mormonism). The author may not be completely credible - he repeats the George Washington hemp dude weed lmao myth - but in general was a good work. That then, in combination with extreme anxiety from hating my job/place I live in/coworkers, I tried to get into mystical psychedelic experiences through a Faustian bargain with the Devil's Lettuce. Instead of seeing divine visions, I mostly saw cartoons, as in my Reefer Madness gave me visions of literal Fleischer-style cartoons, also the usual geometric patterns (which is good, I like that).

Something the author emphasizes, which most psychedelic users know, is that what you see is pretty much going to be determined by the "set" and "setting." That is, your frame of mind and what your environment coaxes you into expecting is going to be what happens to you. In a famous experiment Harvard gave acid to seminary students and had them sit in a church with stained glass windows while sermons and religious music were piped in, with great effects. But if you sit on your couch watching Osmosis Jones you won't get a profoundly impactful experience (unless it centers around Osmosis Jones).

The mystical psychedelics users don't seem to regard that as an issue, that is, the fact that a hallucinogen may be an entheogen or not depending on the coaxing does not discredit the validity of it to them. I think most other people, myself included, would consider that to be discrediting since, if a person has to be coaxed, that's more equivalent to just, say, getting them so drunk they'll agree with anything. In general I consider it a sort of cheat to try to achieve spirituality, which incidentally I used to find liquor useful for, and analogous to the cheat people use alcohol for in getting more enjoyable social experiences. I am not dogmatically against drug use, but in general, the use of mind-altering drugs seems to have a cost in that it makes things seem SUPERFICIALLY better without changing the substance of it, the actual quality of it. The experience is then hollow.

Having never used a strong hallucinogen (like actual acid, or mushrooms), just legal over-the-counter THC, I can't say anything definitive about the merits of those, but my current impression is that this stuff is really only good for boosting creativity (like I can call back the hallucinatory imagery, and make new imagery, effortlessly in a way that didn't come to me naturally before) and amusing yourself. Also makes orgasms way more intense for you coomers.

As for its role in broader society, I think the widespread use of drugs actually prevents anything like a "psychedelic renaissance," because it is so common and so associated with hedonism that the meaning of it is gone. There's no cool hippie aesthetic attached to it, no feeling like it is something esoteric. Half the kids these days smoke pot and there is a pot culture, but the revolutionary utopianism of 1969 Haight-Ashbury is completely dead, replaced with something much uglier and gayer (both literally and as in "thing I don't like").

 

[Little oak tree]

The mystical psychedelics users don't seem to regard that as an issue, that is, the fact that a hallucinogen may be an entheogen or not depending on the coaxing does not discredit the validity of it to them. I think most other people, myself included, would consider that to be discrediting since, if a person has to be coaxed, that's more equivalent to just, say, getting them so drunk they'll agree with anything

It's like love. You fall in love thanks to a certain arrangement of images you have of the other person, we build this web of memories very selectively and just get drunk with them, and we glorify it as something supernatural and holy when they are just chemicals.
We make rituals to prevent the corruption of this little dream and maintain it, we give it borders, limits, a structure.
For it to retain some sense of meaning, the wedding, the honey moon, all those are little theatrical plays.
To protect against evil snakes sliding into our wives cunts and turning them into Lilith for example.
We understand things good through drama, thats why we like lolcows, and movies and books.
Because we can in a certain way "live it" with them instead of just random information floating.

In general I consider it a sort of cheat to try to achieve spirituality, which incidentally I used to find liquor useful for, and analogous to the cheat people use alcohol for in getting more enjoyable social experiences. I am not dogmatically against drug use, but in general, the use of mind-altering drugs seems to have a cost in that it makes things seem SUPERFICIALLY better without changing the substance of it, the actual quality of it. The experience is then hollow.

It's an important point to make.
Jung said (I'm not a fanboy but he's interesting) "Beware of unearned wisdom." when talking about psychedelics.
And I agree they are dangerous, but if you see them as a dance partner or as something that just flows through you and then goes its okay, it's when people try to retain some of it and believe they own it that it becomes a sickness.
I see it as using a "special boost" on a videogame or a mario mushroom, like the song all star says:

"So much to do, so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets?
You'll never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow"

I found this on a blog:
"Wisdom is not given. You gotta earn that shit by going through life turbulence, transitions, shattered hearts. You have to hit lows and go through your hero’s journey, slay your dragons, to find the golden nuggets of wisdom. If you don’t earn it, it’s not true wisdom. It’s just information. Anyone can read a book. Revelations come from life."

As for its role in broader society, I think the widespread use of drugs actually prevents anything like a "psychedelic renaissance," because it is so common and so associated with hedonism that the meaning of it is gone. There's no cool hippie aesthetic attached to it, no feeling like it is something esoteric. Half the kids these days smoke pot and there is a pot culture, but the revolutionary utopianism of 1969 Haight-Ashbury is completely dead, replaced with something much uglier and gayer (both literally and as in "thing I don't like").

If there's a surge of something collectively it probably means something about us as a whole even if at first it shows up as very primitive and ugly.
Sometimes it's so primitive we kill it and it sinks, but if it's an essential part of us it will keep rising again and again until it's fully integrated. We evolve this way, at least from what i've gathered from my perspective.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

There's an evocative phrase I found in a book "Apollo in the Age of Aquarius," talking about the 1960s counterculture as it related to the Space Race. I wish I had it on hand to quote directly from.

The hippies, speaking of Woodstock or some other hippie shit, said something to the effect that while NASA was attempting to land the first man on the Moon, they were attempting to land the first man on Earth.

Another was that as the astronauts were exploring outer space, the hippies were exploring inner space.