The Entheogen Review׃ Vol. 16, No. 1 (2008)

7/27/2019 The Entheogen Review Vol. 16, No. 1 (2008)

1/44

THE ENTHEOGEN REVIEWVolume XVI, Number 1 Vernal Equinox 2008 ISSN 1066-1913The Journal of Unauthorized Research on Visionary Plants and Drugs


2/44


3/44

VOLUME XVII, NUMBER I VERNAL EQUINOX 2008

Disembodied Eyes RevisiAn Investigation into the OntoloEntheogenic Entity Encounter

by David Luke

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread,

For he on honey-dew hath fed,And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan (1816)

All that glitters is not gomight well serve any psychic voyinto the weirder realms that psycup. After all, out here on the edgfirm evidence that the beatific

beheld whilst chemically neuwetware have any basis in cons

deed these visions are often strange and terrifyingly ineffabyourself they are not real can sesanity on a short leash when maertheless, as John Lilly put it, hownize ones in-sanity from ones oany case, how would one evenprove the ontological credibility

experience of visiting some otheing some alien entity? No one haa solid method for testing these within the domain of science, derable attempts recently (e.g., Rodall we have left to rely on is annomenology. This story lies somthe two, but it also takes on a ne

has urged me to depart momentarof science into the foamy cusand myth, cultural studies and reYet it seemingly has enough setivity to warrant a whisper of trutmay be.

www.naotohattori.com


4/44


mischievous impsbut increasingly I kept gettingthe feeling I was intruding upon a cosmic gather-

ing to which I wasnt invited. Occasionally theeffects failed to go any further than an ego-disso-lution and a swim through a fractal explosion ofpulsing light with the usual wild array of colors.Yet I often felt as though I was being blocked fromwhatever lurked beyond these multiple geometricdimensions, as well as not being allowed to revisitplaces to which I had been previously. A couple of

times I felt so uninvited and intimidated by theentities I met that I did not wish to return, regard-less of my curiosity.

On my last DMT session I was determined to re-turn to the mystic bliss I had once known. I trav-elled to a secluded beach on the banks of the RiverGanges. I prepared myself with an improvisedritual, hoping to gird against whatever lay beyond,and I inhaled a pipe-full of vapors from the foulplastic-tasting resin. Sucked into the space betweenthe pipe and my brain, I found myself breakingthrough the veil like a gatecrasher into a party ofswirling, smiling eyeballs all attached to snake bod-ies, which were as startled to see me as I was to bethere. The whole ordered assortment of eyes andsnakes acted as one being. In the brief moment

before it reacted to my arrival, I managed to catcha glimpse over what might loosely be described asthe shoulder of this strange entity and instantlyrealized that I had seen something I should nothavea brief glance at the truly forbidden.

Afterwards I could not remember what this wasexactly, having somehow blocked it out. I only re-

call that it was a scene that seemed both ineffableand highly illegal for mortal minds. Then the mul-titudinous eyes of the being before me suddenlyand quite deliberately blocked my curiousconsciousnesss further explorations by mesmeriz-ing me with its squirming, rhythmic eyeball hyp-

gyrated intimidatingly at me for theutes (though it seemed like an aeon).

out of it alla bit shell-shockedanthis would be my last DMT experienctime, at least.

Like many of my psychedelic encseemingly discarnate beings, I didnwhat to make of this experience, whime to the core. Yet some time later, af

had passed, I began to piece it togethother visionary fragments. In a dreanaively, I had a mind-blowing en

Azraelthe Islamic angel of death. Tme its name (which I hadnt heard befortunately it never showed itself. Amthe archangel Azrael is considered to hsand eyes and it is the holy psychopoers souls into the realm of the dead. Aacter, Azrailthe god of deathbHuasa people of western Africa (Bealso stumbled across Ezekials vision

bim guarding a throne in the bible (EThey, too, were covered in a multituover their hands, backs, wings, etc., multi-eyed beasts guarding the throheaven mentioned in Revelations (4

scriptions struck a cord of recognitthe being I had met on DMT had notso angelic.

It wasnt until several years later thaprising discovery when I accidentalla reference in a book on Tibetan mcient deity, by the name ofZa (or

known to appear with half the bodyless, and is covered in a thousand eingly, like the cherubim guarding thTibetan Za functions as a protector ois a guardian deity belonging to a clgods called Lu or Lhamayin (associ


5/44


border, which in retrospect would seem like a sureway to meet this Tibetan deity.

The idea that I had been interloping into the sa-cred realm of the dead, the underworld, and was

blocked by a powerful guardian spirit sat well withmy experience, which had me wishing I hadntturned up unexpected and obviously not on the

guest list. Knowing I shouldnt recall spending the duration of keep my tryptamined mind incoI focused on the mesmeric rhythming more, realizing that Id stolenholy grail when I had burst throentity responded quickly and I cmore compelled to not mess wiwas further corroborated by Bwrote that, in relation to Za anprotector gods, they:

are the powerful deities whorents of cosmic force to be tampat ones peril. They constitute th[of the Nyingma yoginthe

b h b l

The ancient protector Za.From an iconographic sketch by Tendzin yongd (Beyer 1978).

Tibetan image of Za (RaFrom the collection of Mike


6/44


The same sentiment was echoed by the notedscholar of Tibetan demons, Nebesky-Wojkowitz(1956) who offered that the Nyingmapa considerthe planetary god Za (Rahu) to belong in the high-

est trinity of deities and that he guards the reli-gious teachings, and his thousand eyes watch thehappenings in the three worlds. Worryingly,Nebesky-Wojkowitz indicates that the elaboratepropitiatory cake (gtor ma) made to honor Rahu(Za) is constructed of a large red serpentine pyra-mid dotted geometrically with numerous eyes and

bearing stakes arranged around the base of the

gtor ma on which dough effigies of men and ani-mals have been impaled as offerings. (Strangely,this eyed-pyramid bears some resemblance to the

be-tentacled pyramidal monster of Robert AntonWilson and Robert Sheas Illuminatus! Trilogy, theLeviathan). Beyer (1978) even submits that a lamaled him to believe that Nebesky Wojkowitz died

But these few coincidences bareenough to convince most folks of th

ality of DMT entities or Tibetan deitithey, particularly those folks like(2004), who argue that these entitithe imaginary output of our nemeddlings. Others have suggested thties cannot be considered either rea

but are better thought of as just a pa(Turner 1995). It might have ended tafter, I discovered that my unique enot so unique after all. And this discened to bolster the tentative argumparticular DMT entity, who we couldhave some objective realityand theall those other beings we encounter to Chapel Perilous, be they mischievmachine elves, ancient gods, or praying

Only a few days after reading aboutacross an article by Meyer (1994) titCommunication with Discarnate En

by Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), following account appeared:

I noticed what seemed to be an opelarge space, like looking through a

ing to a starry sky. As I approachedthat resting in the opening was a ture, with many arms, somewhat l

pus, and all over the arms were eyes, moas if the creature were asleep or slumI approached it the eyes opened, a

became aware of me. It did not seemwell-disposed towards me, as if it dto be bothered by a mere human, an

impression I wasnt going to get pasnot try. [Emphasis added.]

That this creature was also quite intappeared to be guarding the way to syond matched my own experience;

d h d i b

Sketch of red-colored gtor ma propitiatory dough cakededicated to Za (Nebesky-Wojkowitz 1956).


7/44


I was convinced I was [dying], I saw anotherdimension, one filled with eyes in a fibonaccivortex/dome Ive explained this to so manypeople and regardless of how many things I see,

be it in art or biblical references, they all sayIm nuts.

Encouraged by finding these chance reports, I be-gan searching through psychedelic journals andon the Internet for similar stories and found afew more corresponding accounts. This first one

occurred with psilocybin-containing mushroomsand appeared in The Entheogen Review (Owl 1995):

I began seeing a peculiar phenomenon duringlow dose mushroom sessions: a pattern ofthreatening eyeballs. I intuited that the mush-room was trying to scare me, and I marveled atthe workings of the mind, feeling humoredrather than frightened. In spite of my scien-

tifically-orientated worldview, I was being vis-ited by a spirit which seemed to be anticipat-ing a deeper encounter.

I took about five grams This is when I feltthe strange spirit enter me: the many-eyed ap-parition that had already been haunting myconsciousness. The difference was that this timethe creature seemed to be inside of me. I

instinctively began questioning its intentionswho was it, what did it want, and was it a de-mon? I received no answer, and so, not beingcertain it belonged in my head, [I] forcefullycommanded it to leave, which it apparently did.I had the creepy feeling that I was either go-ing crazy or was infected with a spooky deni-zen of hyperspace. Perhaps, like an insect un-der a magnifying lens, I have difficultyfathoming this mysterious being of a thousandeyes. Interestingly enough, one of my compan-ions later commented that at one point he per-ceived my forehead to be covered with eyes.

This next one, posted to Erowid.org, occurred on

Although I only found these thron LSD and psilocybin, I found

reports that mentioned eyebaentities in variously weird or distI neednt quote them all, as this lakind of radical empirical4 mystof my own experience and a tention of it (Pup 2006):

I remember the veil, like rubberof jelly stretched in front of me

ward to touch the surface of thethen what happened next I sweme from its sheer bizzarity.emerged. It was not a happy, sm[innumerable] tentacles, like asome weird octopus or jellyfishOH MY GOD THE EYES!!!

I froze on the spot thinking sh

gone and done it now. Im fuckinbelieved. I should have believedI am at the mercy of [somethin

bigger and complex, and clever[more] malevolent than myself

I asked it [its] name. I wish I [Its] voice utterly destroyed meing caught in a storm of [psy

whirlwind of deadly electrical shits innumerable eyes, It gazed aextended a tendril. At the same a beam of light directly betweeeyes. The alien laser was pinkishI begged it to stop. I whimperyoure hurting me. Im fragile. fulI am sentient and mean yo

It seemed to consider this; the drawn but the tendrils (there wstill held me in place. I was tryidetails of its shape or structure looked, the more it slipped awseemed to tell me in some wef hi t t t l d t t


8/44


were the most awe-inspiring/terrifying thing Ihave ever beheld. They defied counting. Theydefied reason. The whole thing was [too] muchand I felt myself losing my mind.

IJUSTLOSTITgoooooooooonnnnnne

I guess this account really did it for me. Thereseemed to be at least a degree of objective realityto all these reports (including mine), because theyhad historical precedent, shared experience, and

most importantlysome apparent meaning. On alevel playing field of explanation, where all theo-retical perspectives hold equally convincingorperhaps equally unconvincingpositions, the no-tion ofmeaning can provide the greatest intuitiveappeal to ones understanding. For instance, aphysiological or neurotheological explanationmight suggest that the highly similar visions are

due to similar neurochemical reactions; but thiswill be seen by some to devalue the complexity andcultural significance of the experience, and italso extends itself much further than the current

explanatory power of neuroscience. a parapsychological explanation migh

these similar visions all belong to a pphogenetic field (a field of conscioustains imprints of past experiences accessed by others) activated by chemnear-death-type experiences. Yet thederstanding of or evidence for morphof this kind, even if they may be pociple (Sheldrake 1988). Any numberries might be put forward. But with anations appearing as equally uncopossibility of this entity somehow beindependently sentient discarnate ever that may behas comparablpower. However, beyond other ontolations this level of explanationanthe experience at face valuealso hacultural meaning because it fits wiunderstanding of the universe in whence of supernatural beings is accep

That said, I have little problem, then, entitiesbe they dream angels, DMor mythical beingshave at least thindependent sentience or some kinreality, because I ultimately dont c

to any one ontological perspective. SI can make sense of it, it seems that scan lead temporarily to some kind of an idea championed by Rick Strassmsupported by shamanic concepts statesand in such a place the travcounter one of the (archetypal) guarthe underworld. One such guardian

death, who appears with thousands like Alex Greys painting called Dyingthat sometimes this multi-eyed beingthe tentacled or snake-bodied appe

And like a guardian of the underwshould be, this being is not to be t


9/44


archetype (albeit an archetype that may have in-dependent sentience), which may become activated

by tryptamines such as DMT, or by dreaming orother altered states. This entity is the archetype ofthe guardian of the realm of death and the door-way to occult knowledge. In considering this, I waslucky enough to find a book by two occultists (Jack-son & Howard 2000) who offer an argument thatthe Islamic Azrael, the angel of death, is synony-mous with the Hebrew Azazel, the fallen angel oflight and the serpent of the Tree of Knowledge(who, as the Promethean prototype, stole the Gnos-tic fire from God and gave it to manin much thesame way that psychedelics can). They also associ-ate the Persian fallen angel Azza, or Shemyaza withthe Luciferian Azazel, who in similar Prometheanstyle swapped the name of God for sexual favorswith the mortal Ishtahar, thereby making her im-mortal.

Jackson and Howard likewise associate Azazel, thegreat watcher, with the Persian dragon serpent

Azhadaha, the black serpent of light and leader ofthe Inri, the fallen angels knownappropriatelyas the watchers. Interestingly, they link the ety-mology of the common rootaz with the Hebrew

letters ayin (or ain in Arabic) mzayin (zain in Arabic) meaning s

resent the all-seeing eye, and theinitiation (the guardian of the Gbiblical and cabalistic traditioHoward (2000) suggest that, Tcance of the Zayin Sword is typMaster of Metals and Lord of thsmithcraft and fireworking wetaught to humans by the watchemyth of Prometheus. They note

The Hebrew letter-form of Zayblade, is the supracosmic fire thing lightning flash or thundthrough the veil of material ne

Assembling all these links, it dcognitive leap to also associ

eyeballed serpent of my DMT enthese anarchic archangels of othout making any great claims tosemblance of any of these mythfor these legends have both similencesfurther comparisons to Zelsewhere can also be made, suZahhak, also known in Iranian

Dahaka the serpent or dragon,down by the divine Fredon and sfrom the wounds (Boyce 1975).he was condemned to be chainemountain for eternity. The likelyhere between the interchanged a(z) ofza and az is itself compelthe case of the Zahhak/Azi Dah

story of Za himself has further reother fallen archangel and Prom

In Tibetan mythology, Za (knowIndian tradition) features in the Dversion of the Buddhist churnit b t th i i f th i


10/44


further offence to the gods, Za urinated what re-mained of the processed amrita back into the ves-

sel. As penance, Vajrapani was made to drink whathad now become poisonous, permanently turningblue as a consequence. The similarities here be-tween the methods of enjoying amrita and psyche-delicAmanita mushrooms have not gone unnoticed(Crowley 1996), and furthermore the link here

between the psychedelic and the Promethean fea-tures of the myth is clear.

As just punishment, Vajrapani finally caught upwith Za, wounded him many times, and then slicedhim in two with his vajra, the lightning bolt. But

because Za had drunk the amrita, the water of life,he survived; amrita translates from Sanskrit asdeathlessness, and it seems appropriate that thisguardian of the underworld himself should becomedeathless. As further punishment, the Buddha

replaced Zas severed legs with the tail of a serpentor dragon (much like the Iranian Azi Dahakaabove) and fixed eyeballs upon his numerouswounds, giving him his unique appearance.

Its here that I saw a further transcultural mythemerging with the legend of the Greek Lamia, theserpentine daimon and prophetess. The Lamia is

somewhat similar in character to the Lhamayin,the class of Tibetan serpent spirits to which Za be-longs. However there is some contention, not leastfrom the Tibetan scholar, psychedelicist, and ety-mologist, Mike Crowley (2005), that the Tibetanlanguage has no roots in Middle-Eastern and Medi-terranean languages because it is uniquely relatedto Mongolian. Nevertheless, in the same vein with

which Robert Graves (who tipped off Wasson toentheogenic mushrooms) makes more poetic thanprecise associations between cultural myths, thereis a resonance between the legend of Zathe Ti-

betan serpentine Lhamayinand the Greek ser-pentine Lamia, whom we may also associate with

recasting Python in the role of demosimilar also resounds in the Greek

Medusa and Perseus, and perhaLuciferian Norse Loki and the AssyriaZu (or Azu) tooZu was struck downing bolt for stealing the tablets ofTiamat the dragon queen (but thats aWith the dawning of the age of patrithat occurred two to three thousandPromethean-type tale of Python restory of the divine maverick: a ch

betwixt this world and the underwseeing serpent divinity holding theenlightenment, who steals that wisit with mankind and then becomes a demon, a fallen angel, a trickster much like Za, Azazel, and the rest. Tmon Rahu (Za) had once been a Dravits clear that an old cultures gods o

dominating cultures demons, and thwith which the old culture accessed

be they psychedelic or otherwise, bec

Subsequently, the old chthonic sacraas amrita, or henbanecalled pythancient Greeks in honor of Pyth2000)fell out of grace as easily as Lu

heaven, or Adam and Eve fell from Eden. But like poor old Frank Olsen,or were they pushed? The identity completely lost, and remains a mat

Although few soma hunter s hatryptamines as the culpritsave perh(1992), who championed psilocybchampignonswhat the Tibetan la

Trungpa says about it fits happily witryptamine visions mentioned abov

amrita is the principle of intoxicatibeliefs, belief in ego, and dissolvingary between confusion and sanity

b li d


11/44


But is there anything that can be found in thiswayward meandering through myth and vision

that offers a case for the genuine reification of theother encountered in psychedelic spaces on thefar side of the psyche? Knowing that speculationis the vice of the precise and the virtue of the po-etic, I have no doubt that those wearing their left

brain today will already have departed companywith me somewhere along the line here. As a sci-entist myself, I have deeply questioned this tem-porary departure from so-called rational thought.But as an explorer of the weirder realms of themind, I have also been forced occasionally to leapthe fence at the edge of my field of expertise andtraverse unknown territory. I dont offer any of thisas fact beyond the phenomenological, but merelyas possibility in a psychic landscape as off themap as that provided by DMT. Indeed, here bedragons. And yes, beware that among the dragons

treasure, all that glitters is not gold. Yet who canresist occasionally inspecting a few gems in casethey are of any real value?

FOOTNOTES1. Grossly simplified, Rodriguez propos

entities solutions to complex mathemaDMT experient does not know. Regremethod for testing the reality of DMTsubject to a number of flaws, such as tinvolved in expecting our supposed entiligent and/or have the desire to cooperaproblem for his test, however, is what ispsi hypothesisan issue long-proven in parapsychological attempts to validiscarnate entities considered to be sp

those apparently communicating via tproblem is that, because clairvoyance, tnition (collectively called psi) have noapparent) limits, it always remains a poformation provided by ostensibly discatually be due to the super-psi of the persreceiving the information (see Braude 2sive discussion). However, such an issuemuch currency with my perspective onin this manuscript.

2. Acronym (folklore and mythology,related disciplines) courtesy of foamTrubshaw. For information, see wwwfoamycustard.

3. You get elves, everybody does. Auditacles, www.nvo.com/cd/trip.

4. By radical empirical I refer to the teWilliam James (2003/1912), which poentific empiricism tries to reduce expetions at the expense of prior reasoning,or meaning. James argued that we see meaning and the actual connections maena, so introspection of experience is asenterprise for studying ones experiencones own mind as is the mere observatiexperience (i.e., empiricism).

5. Incidentally, when Alex Grey was alence of disembodied eyes in psychedesaid that they represent infinite awarencalled that a woman who had seen hireported once traveling down a tunnel d th p ri nc (H nn 1998)


12/44


BURNING MAN AS ATEMPORARY AUTONOMOUS ZONEBurning Man was born infree and visionary revelry, andmatured on the Black RockDesert into a great gathering

of the tribes, from the cyber-freaks to the lushy rednecksto the altered-consciousnesspentathletes to the nastypunks to the fuckin hippies.

And everything in between.This alone, from a historicalperspective, is a matter for

rejoicing and wonder.

There was another big event,not as big as Burning Man innumbers, but also historicallyimportant, in Golden GatePark, forty years ago, that wascalled Gathering of the

Tribes. Gary Snyder spoke atthat event, as did Allen Gins-berg, Timothy Lear y, AlanWatts, and others.

Such gatherings often take place in what Hakimll i k

The TAZ is like an uprising which ddirectly with the State, a guerilla op

liberates an aretime, of imaginadissolves itself towhere/elsewhen, can crush it.

Other forces bescan quell a tempmous zone: it ca

by the market; iits imagination or it can comproma more acceptabthese forces contremendous presing Man.

Many burners true TAZ aspeMan peaked in t

and has declineOthers, of courcomplaining and

ever the truth, Burning Man is still awith far-reaching social, political, antential.

Green Flames:Thoughts on Burning Man, the Green M

and Dionysian Anarchism, with Four Pro

by Dale Pendell

The End of the True

TAZ?

circa 1996


13/44


puted that human society should be like that ofthe gods, usually with a top god, and with the oth-ers doing their respective parts. These early statereligions stressed that the kings on earth, if notdivine themselves, were reflections of the order ofheaven.

Plato, in the Republic, introduced the Noble Lie:that the wise should tell the commoners lies andmyths to keep them in their place. A corollary isthat if you dont assist this process, you are notone of the wise, and you will be punished, if notwith death or imprisonment, at least with margin-alization.

Thomas Hobbes said that people were rapaciousbeasts, who would start killing and eating eachother if it werent for an armed police force. Ourmainstream culture seems desperate to maintain

this viewpoint. During Hurricane Katrina, whilethe self-organizing cooperative efforts of tens ofthousands of citizens to help each other wentlargely unreported, a scene of looting was replayedover and over. The clear message is see, people cant

be trusted. We need the police. In fact, police (orprivate security goons) broke up, and even firedon, the emerging cooperatives.

So who is on the other side? Many, actually. Firstoff, we have the evidence of anthropology and hu-man prehistory, which is overwhelmingly coopera-tive. We have the core teachings of deep mysticaltraditions.

Jean Jacques Rousseau offered that much of the sick-

ness, the antisocial, and criminal behavior in soci-ety was not the result of our intrinsic natures, butof the society itself. Many are quick to dismissRousseau with a put-downahh, the Noble Sav-age. Rousseau never talked about any noble sav-age. The term was invented by a mid-nineteenth

will. It sides with the spirit of DDionysian anarchists stress thathave to be in accord, and if we cafrom getting worse, society will align itself towards freedom. Th

As long as we have free horizonsheaded towards freedom and nocan relax a little with a long-term

Forty years ago poet Gary Snydthose who say that cooperative, ing is against human nature, wrpatiently remind such people thatheir own true natures first, bethat; those who have gone furtheinto deep naturemystics, mediary explorershave been repothousand years that we have no

Garys solution included Buddhtrospective spiritual traditions, wcontext of tribal community, anradical teachings of the wild: wilmals, and wild plantsthe true sture from our earliest beginningstressed psychedelic visioning. Aabout a philosophical sensualism

eled the ecstatic spontaneity of th

But lets look briefly at where w

Despite the pervasive rhetoric ofpoliticians and media, for most peStates, for most plant and animare not getting better.

Real wages have been declining tion. Measures of the quality of clining. How much someone hashas been increasing. Infant mortcreasing. The percentage of the p


14/44


There is of course an upsidefor those near thetop of the heap, things are better than ever. Thereis sort of a choice here, aristos vs. demos. You can getwith the program, stop complaining, and with somesmarts and a good birth you can join thewinners.

The Aztecs had a pathway for the commoners togain entrance to the elite by becoming warriorsand capturing sacrificial victims in the flowerwarswars maintained not for conquest of terri-tory but for just that reason of providing victims.(One had to capture five victims to gain the high-est ranking, with its attendant privileges, such asthe right to drink chocolate.)

FREEING THE IMAGINATIONThe first anarchist act is to free the imagination, tocut through our years of conditioning about whatis unthinkable. By imagination, we do not meanmere reverie, but our imaging of the world, ourmental picturing of who we are and the fundamen-tal nature of existence, of reality. This is imagina-tion in the sense that Blake used the word: the fireof consciousness, the fire of mind. Freeing theimagination means that you can act spontaneouslyin the world, not only artistically but in all of yourinteractions.

This is not as easy as it sounds. How to do that?

For poets, artists, musicians, dancers, meditators,and visionaries, it is a matter of continuing prac-tice: plumbing the depths of mind, learning howto listen, and then sharing our insights through

performance. This is the ancient wisdom of allgift economies.

ECOLOGY AND DEEP ECOLOGYThe Black Rock Desert was one of Gary Snydersfavorite places to come and camp long before Burn

us. On the Playa, the spirit of placaway, even for newbies who have nLake Lahontan.

At first glance, Burning Man, withfor fire, excess, inebriation, celebratradical self-expression, and generseems a candidate for greenness. Butnectiona connection in mythodeeper level than our laudable efforand solar electricity and leave no tr

This connection relates to the differmanagement ecology and deep ecolment ecology we need, desperately, ogy we need even more. The Greenecologyhis leafy speaking is animtelligencewith its sense of place aligence, with its sense of freedoms

his mouth.

The Green Man is the bridge, and this madness. Ecstatic madness. Madnenizes that the earth is alive. What dthat? Not that the earth is composeda DNA library, but that the earth is thing, distinct from our own living

dhists state that, ultimately, the seemity of the external world is an illuown true nature and the salt of theseparate. This is the message that mgis and shamans have maintained Once this is realized, the problems

but cutting away a hillside, building tory, putting explosives into the ear

ognized as having a transgressive nahave a tendency to try to ask permdoes the earth have to say about whing, the hillside, the animal that weat? And then we try to make thingsense of gratitude and perhaps a bi


15/44


THE GREEN MAN, DIONYSUS,AND DIVINE MADNESS

In his last published essay, Dionysus in 1990,philosopher Norman O. Brown extended ideas ofGeorges Bataille and Marcel Mauss and others toinvert the Marxist focus on production to that ofconsumptionmore to the point, wasteful con-sumption. The idea of wasteful consumption isanathema to conservationists (and to all sane andrational people). The idea is, frankly, madness.

Brown bets all with Socrates that if the madness isinspired by a god, that is, divine madness, it is thesource of our greatest blessings. We might say thatdivine madness is the wild of consciousness.

The name of the god, for Brown, is Dionysus. Icono-graphically, it is easy to recognize Dionysus in theGreen Man, the one whose very speech is wild

nature.

Now Brown is not expecting people to actually bowdown and worship Dionysus. For Brown, Dionysusis shorthand for an irrepressible wild and joyfulenergy. The opposite of this energy is the GrandInquisitor, with his benevolent lies. Success or fail-ure seems to pivot on the issue of passive enter-

tainmentBlakes spectral enjoyment. The In-quisitor is betting that circuses will satisfy themasses. The Dionysian bets he is wrong. That isthe idea behind no spectators.

The traditional manifestation of Dionysian energyhas always been through festivals. BarbaraEhrenreich points out that in medieval Spain athird of the days of the year were holidays for fes-tivals. There was a backwards day, a Feast of Foolswhen a donkey was led into the cathedral and the

bishops miter placed on his head. Blasphemieswere uttered, echoes of the Dionysian festivals ofGreece. The Greeks were wise enough to recog-nize that although Dionysus meant trouble the

suppressed the Bacchanalia wshedperhaps the first War on

The church made occasional attethe festivalsthese moves moRome. The local priests generallypression, saying that without twould have no congregation. Fnot surprise us, were sometimesfor political rebellion.

A hardier force against the festivaenment, along with mercantilismtrial Revolution. Reason, remewent so far as to praise the capitaing the working classes.

We must remember that any timpeople can get together coopera

lie to the Hobbesian thesis that pirresponsible and dangerous. Thson that the government insistenceeven though they are cleFree festivals are a threat to the wtion for the existence of the armof internal security. Such a freea light to the world for centuries

erative living, free from armed cothinkable, but the way things shimagination!

In Browns system (which I go inmy Inspired Madness, The Giftspublished in 2006 by North Atrites of Dionysus, with their atte

ness, danger, fire, blasphemy, asumption (combustion for its owseen as prophylactic: they proteitythe Greeks certainly underlike to joke that in a more enliging Man would be given a grant


16/44


A FEW PROPOSALSFOR BURNING MAN, LLC

1. Stop the undercover stings by police. If you cantstop them, at least speak out against them, LOUDLYand PUBLICLY. This violation of trust and good-will is the opposite of everything that Burning Manstands for. Smoking Cannabis may be illegal, butlying and violating anothers trusthey man, yougot any weed you can share?is immoral anddespicable. It is a poison that spreads distrust and

division. It is the worst model of civic behavior.In the face of such behavior for Burning Man tostate we have an excellent relationship with lawenforcement amounts to collusion.

Personally, I believe thatall police presence shouldbe reduced. And reduced again. Lets free our imagi-nations and not dismiss this possibility as impos-

sible. Why do we let police strut through the danceclubs? Its time to push back. Tell the BLM welltake the festival somewhere elsesee what theysay then. (The High Sierra Music Festival had someremarkable success with this tactic.)

2. Stop the car searches. This one is easy. Its wrongthat the very first encounter upon arriving at Burn-

ing Man is someone demanding to search ones car,someone who tells me, I cant take your word forit. Thats spectator thinking.

How big a problem would it be if a few people whocant afford a ticket sneak in? Maybe they should

be there. Maybe they have something importantto contribute. How many would there be? Threepercent? Five percent? Ill pay five percent moreto cover them, until they can get their acts together.Isnt our way to educate by example? Lets see ifwe can make it work through the peer pressureof responsibility and good citizenship. Spirit ofgiving, anyone?

4. Wouldnt Dreaming America oring be a better theme for 2008 thancan Dream. Consider the contradtheme announcement posted at burn

Beneath a background of red, wh(originally the flag of the East India English-speaking worlds first transnration), Burning Man has announcedtheme will be about patriotism. Whpledge some allegiance to the soil of

the Burning Man theme is presentenationalistic context. This kind of paof the greatest diseases of civilizationot only for the deaths of many msons, but for wide scale scorching of

While waving a flag, Burning Man sis not about flag worship (and, as w

burning [will] play no part in this yrather ironic proscription). Presentinology, they say leave ideology at homto think that politics has to do with and the red, politics only in its modegenerate condition.

Astonishingly, beneath this banner

and the American Dream, we are quoted) fragment of Robinson JeffersPerishing Republic. Jeffers, a wisturning in his grave, but, rather, sThe point is the next line of the poemon the Burning Man web page):

But for my children, I would have

their distance from the thickenicorruption Never has been compuls

Time for a regional?


17/44


Nutmeg, now a common household spice, comesfrom the tree Myristica fragrans, which originatesfrom the Indonesian Banda Islands (also known asthe Spice Islands). The name nutmeg comes fromLatin, nux muscat, meaning musky nut. Legend hasit that whenM. fragrans sets seed, the musky smellof the nutmegs is so overpowering that it causes

birds of paradise to fall to the ground (Krieg 1964).This may have more to do with the narcotic prop-erties of nutmeg than with its characteristic scent,

but it is this musky quality that has made nutmega popular flavoring for both sweet and savorydishes.

While the inhabitants of the Banda Islands appar-ently made no use of nutmeg as a condiment, it isknown to have been used as a spice and medicinein India and the Middle East as early as 700 b.c.e.

(Kalbhen1971), while its therapeutic applicationshave been recorded by Arab physicians since theseventh century c.e. (Weil 1967). Nutmeg did notappear in Europe until the Middle Ages and re-ports conflict regarding whether it was introduced

by Arab traders or by returning crusaders, althoughit was probably a little of both. While introducedto Europe in the Middle Ages, nutmeg was likely a

rare commodity until the sixteenth century whenthe Portuguese discovered that the Banda Islandswere the hitherto concealed source of nutmeg(Stein et al. 2001).

After this discovery, nutmeg became a major Euro-

MYRISTICAFRAGRANS:An Exploration of the Narcotic S

by Ibo Nagano

trol. At the height of its value, nuby Europeans as a display of weaers became fashionable accoutrewould grate their own nutmeg atThe Dutch continued to dominnutmeg until the nineteenth cBritish took temporary control ofduring the Napoleonic Wars and the monopoly by successfully cuin the West Indies. Nutmeg hascome a major export product inand is now featured on the nation

By the twentieth century, the pmeg as a spice subsided and stabitime it became rumored that nuttive abortifacient. This use offereglimpses into the narcotic proper

a number of young women becausing large quantities of nutmegriages (Kalbhen 1971).

It may have been these turn-of-ththat led to the use of nutmeg in

by the 1940s or earlier. Despite tthat nutmegs properties have

fairly little is understood about tmysterious nut. This article is anpile the existing information abone place and to provide the recomprehensive understanding opeculiar properties.


18/44


used similarly in cooking. Mace contains the sameoils that make nutmeg psychoactive. The popular-ity of the two spices peaked in England in the eigh-teenth century. The English used nutmeg to spicea wide array of dishes, including roast mutton,stewed pork, pies, puddings, and cordials. Nutmegand mace have been used to flavor many otherfoods, such as soups, gravies, milk products, fruit

juices, sweet sauces, gelatins, alcoholic beverages,snack foods, and breakfast cereals; they have also

been used as general condiments. Sometimes nut-

meg was used quite liberally in cooking. One sev-enteenth century cake recipe calls for six nutmegsto two pounds of sugar (Wilson 1999). Althoughnutmeg was once used widely to flavor a variety ofdishes, and while it remains a component ofmost spice cabinets, its use has dwindled to theoccasional flavoring of pies, cookies, and eggnog.

NUTMEG AS MEDICINESince the time that nutmeg became popular as aspice, it has also been used in medicine. Nutmeghas been employed for healing purposes from theMiddle East, to India, to China. After being intro-duced to Europe, many of these medicinal applica-tions were then adopted by European physicians.While nutmeg was put to use for an assortment of

medical purposes, several applications merit par-ticular mention due to their persistence and wide-spread acceptance.

Nutmeg has been used to treat rheumatism inIndonesia, Malaysia, England, and China. The es-sential oil is used externally to treat rheumaticpains, limb pains, general aches, and inflammation.

In England, far into the twentieth century, a nut-meg was simply carried in ones pocket to ward offthe pains of rheumatism (Rudgley 1998).

Nutmeg has been used for its sedative effect to treatnervous complaints and to promote sleep in Ma-

Nutmeg is probably most widely usedach complaints. It has been used in SoIndia, the Middle East, and Europe ach aches and cramps, to aid digedispel gas.

Perhaps the most infamous medical uas mentioned earlier, is as an abornot clear how far back this use datepopularalbeit ineffectiveremeof the nineteenth century and beg

twentieth century.

While there doesnt appear to be ause of nutmeg as a mood elevator, sevals have noted that it does indeed haerties. The German writer Georg Mnutmegs uplifting effects in his 16Orientalisch-Indianische Kunst- und

(Oriental-Indian Art and Pleasure Gmenting that it can greatly refresh echeer them up with fresh spirits (Rand the twelfth century mystic HBingen had this to say:

When a human being eats nutmeg iheart, and his sense is pure, and it p

a good state of mind. Take nutmeg same amount) cinnamon and somegrind them up. And then, from this psome water, make flourand roll outarts. Eat these often and it will lowterness of your heart and your minyour heart and your numbed senses. Iyour spirit happy, purify and cleanselower all bad fluids in you, give yo

good tonic, and make you strong Mller-Ebeling 2006).

I have personally noted that nutmelarly in small amounts helps elevatereducing stress and anxiety.


19/44


NUTMEG AS APHRODISIACOne little-known application of nutmeg is its tra-

ditional use as an aphrodisiac. In India, nutmeghas been added to curry dishes and also to betelquids for its aphrodisiac effect (Rtsch 2005). Nut-meg is recognized as an aphrodisiac in Malaysiaand in Arab countries, and its counterpart, mace,is prescribed by physicians in the Near East as anaphrodisiac (Forrest & Heacock 1972).

While the use of nutmeg as an aphrodisiac in Eu-rope does not appear to have been well-known orwidespread, several examples exist. WilliamSalmon, a seventeenth century Englishman writ-ing in 1693, described a self-experiment in whichnutmeg oil rubbed on the genitals produced sexualexcitation (Rudgley 1998, citing Salmon 1693).Most peculiar, perhaps, is an old German folk tra-dition in which a girl would swallow a nutmegwhole, collect the intact nut after it passed, andthen powder and mix it in the food of her beloved.Doing such was supposed to cause the man in ques-tion to fall deeply in love with the girl (Rtsch2005).

The traditional use of nutmeg as an aphrodisiacwas recently put to the test by researchers at the

Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, India. Theirfindings strongly support such an application. Theirstudy was conducted by orally administering a 50%ethanol extract of nutmeg to male rats and moni-toring changes in mating behaviors and sexualfunction. The extract was shown to significantlyincrease the frequency of erections and the mount-ing frequency, to decrease the amount of time be-

tween sexual episodes, and to significantly delayejaculation in the test animals. In an earlier studyon male mice, conducted by the same group, fourof the six mice mated three females each while theremaining two mated five females each. This is incomparison to the control group, where two mice

those in the control group. In addgroup conducted testing to deterof the 50% ethanol extract, andup to eight times the active dosmals displayed no signs of short-no mortality and no gross behavifindings of these studies strongltraditional uses of nutmeg to imption and enhance the sex drive,nutmeg may be a safe and effectin treating sexual disorders (Taj

Tajuddin et al. 2005).

NUTMEG FOR DREAM ENHAThere is not much written aboutmeg upon dreaming. Many expdescribed the effects of nutmeg alike quality and of promoting Many users also report increasewell as an increase in the vividntheir dreams. From my own expehave found that nutmeg increas

The most complete report of theon dreams comes from Paul ingested two teaspoons of grosprinkled essential oil of nutmeg

sheets as part of a self-experimeported becoming fully self-awarwhere he was flying through a tunDevereaux also found that his tapartially operational while dreaing over a landscape of sorts, Desnatching at the leaves of a pasported feeling the pull of the

foliage digging into my hand (R

Devereauxs report reinforces thnutmeg may have an effect odreams and on dream recall;definite support is lacking.


20/44


Nutmeg was introduced first as a spice into Eu-rope, and later as a medicine. The Europeans re-mained ignorant of the inebriating properties ofthis most popular of spices for several centuries.

The first nutmeg inebriation on record was re-ported in 1576 when a pregnant English woman

became delirious after eating between ten andtwelve nutmegs (Stein et al. 2001). Had it not beenfor the rumors of nutmegs efficaciousness as anabortifacient, the psychoactive properties of nut-

meg may have remained unknown for a long time.Occasional case notes of nutmeg poisoning werepublished subsequently, but nutmegs inebriatingqualities remained largely obscure and unexplored.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centu-ries, nutmeg again became popular as an abortifa-cient. The tales of nutmeg poisoning increased, and

many more case studies were reported. This helpedto paint a clearer picture of the actions and effectsof nutmeg. It is not certain how nutmeg came to

be a recreational drug, but it appears to have itsorigins in the early twentieth century when its useemerged in United States prisons as an alterna-tive to marijuana and other illicit substances. Someauthors suggest that use of nutmeg as a narcotic

didnt emerge until after World War II. However,the report by Malcolm X that there was a nutmegculture at Charlestown State Prison in 1946 sug-gests that prisoners had already been keen to theproperties of nutmeg for some time. Malcolm Xdescribed his experiences with nutmeg in hisautobiography, published in 1965:

I first got high in Charlestown on nutmeg. Mycellmate was among at least a hundred nutmegmen who, for money or cigarettes, bought fromkitchen worker inmates penny matchboxes fullof stolen nutmeg. I grabbed a box as though itwere a pound of heavy drugs. Stirred into a glassof cold water a penny matchbox full of nutmeg

ally became so widespread that nutmately removed from prison kitchen

The fact that nutmeg was cheap anthe narcotic popular among prisonerdiers, and struggling musicians. JazCharlie Parker reportedly knew abouproperties of nutmeg, and would takspice in Coca-Cola or milk (Rudgley

While many have experimented with

the 1960s, it remains viewed as a secodeserving of little attention.

EFFECTS OF NUTMEGPhysiological effects include dry mtachycardia, cutaneous flushing, paretension, euphoria, detachment, CNhallucinations, and dyspnea. Nutmcause any obvious effect on pupil siz

Nutmeg is perhaps best described aslow doses nutmeg inebriation sharetics of the combination of alcohol aIn higher doses the effects are more siof the tropane alkaloids, causing conentation, and hallucinations. The effe

come on and dissipate in waves. One may be a feeling of inebriation, wmoment the feeling has passed. As thside, the veil between ordinary and reality remains thin, allowing the utrol to switch back and forth betweensciousness.

One reason why the effects of nutmeterious to so many is that nutmeg inlows a unique time-line. This is alsmuch animosity towards nutmeg. Penutmeg expecting effects to come hour as they do with traditional psy


21/44


THRESHOLD STAGE (hours 14): The majoreffects of nutmeg generally do not take effect untilthe fourth hour after ingestion. However, nutmegproduces subtle effects within the first hour, andthe effects rise in waves over the next three hoursuntil inebriation takes hold. These effects are of-ten written off as placebo due to their mild nature,

but the changes are noticeably distinct. Generallythese threshold effects are experienced as a combi-nation of feeling energetic and yet markedly re-laxed at the same time. One may perceive changes

in pressure in the head, changes which are usuallyinterpreted as either light-headedness or the be-ginnings of a headache. The effects experienced inthis stage are otherwise similar to those caused bya pint or two of good beer, depending on dosage.

INITIAL INEBRIATION (hours 48):The trulyinebriating properties of nutmeg generally take

hold within the fourth or fifth hour following con-sumption. By this time cotton mouth has set in andthe eyes have become bloodshot. The inebriationtakes on a strong alcohol/marijuana-like buzz,which continues to rise in waves, and concentra-tion becomes difficult. The senses become enhancedand hilarity tends to set in. This is followed by theonset of closed-eye visuals, time distortion, and the

beginnings of slurred speech. Reality may take ona dream-like nature during this stage.

PEAK INEBRIATION (hours 812): The peakgenerally sets in around the eighth or ninth hourfollowing ingestion and usually continues for threeor four hours. At this point the user may experi-ence auditory hallucinations, closed-eye visuals and

possibly mild open-eye visuals, including wallsbreathing and disturbances in the peripheralvision. The users speech may become slurred andhe or she may experience loss of coordination simi-lar to drunkenness.

RESIDUAL INEBRIATION By hour nineteen the main inebnutmeg have generally worn off. Tably still feel moderately stoned or eight hours. Some report feeli

by this point in the trip. Those this stage may find their dreamsally vivid and easy to recall upoover effects may set in for thoremain hydrated.

FINAL STAGEBASELINE By hour thirty-two most users w

back to baseline. The user will feel relaxed, perhaps slightly stontinue to experience difficulty canother day or two.

DOSAGEThe potency of nutmeg can vary sample to sample; one should betent ones material is before takNutmeg from the East Indies ipotent than that produced in thefreshly ground nutmeg is reputetent than pre-ground. Nutmeg icive to adjustment of dose since

to six hours, making familiarity wimportant.

The following information on dmy own experiences and on anexperience reports posted on-lin

THRESHOLD (35 grams or 1

A threshold dose of nutmeg is mria, relaxation, mood elevation,hancement of the senses. Baselineighteen. Some people will not at this level.


22/44


MODERATE (1115 grams or 11.5 Tbsp)A moderate dose of nutmeg can cause slurredspeech, disorientation, and loss of coordination.Previously stated effects increase and the user mayexperience mild visual phenomenon.

MODERATEHIGH (1620 grams or 1.52 Tbsp)A moderatehigh dose may produce a wakingdream-like state. One individual sought emergencyroom services after ingesting 1520 grams ofnutmeg. The user reported experiencing trouble

breathing, blackouts, delusions, and panic (Mar-quis 2006).

HIGH (2025 grams or 22.5 Tbsp)A high dose may increase the perception of beingin a dream world. Users may begin experiencingstomach pain.

NOT RECOMMENDED (25+ grams or 2.5+ Tbsp)Doses this high usually will not increase the psy-choactive effects of nutmeg, but will likely increasethe length of the trip and thus will take longer torecover from. Physical discomforts such as stom-ach pain, abnormally rapid heartbeat, nausea, anddizziness tend to increase. Vomiting seldom occurs.User may experience trouble breathing or trouble

urinating. Users may also become delusional. Outof sixty-six individuals who reported taking morethan 25 grams of nutmeg, 17% reported having adifficult experience and 45% of these sought emer-gency room care. The average dose for those re-porting negative effects was between 29 and 30grams, though the median dose was only 25 grams.The average dose for those seeking ER care was

47.5 grams, while the median dose was 52.5 grams.With the variability in potency of nutmeg, somesamples might require a high dose to produce amoderate effect, but one should be extremelyfamiliar with the potency of his or her material

before taking a high or not-recommended dose.

the juice will be thick, if not chunkyto test the potency of nutmeg is to inneedle (or similar device) one centimflesh of the nut; if a drop of oil bubpulling the needle out then the nutm

Karlos Fandango reports on Erowid.otive principle can be extracted by boand collecting the waxy film that colthe pot as the water cools (FandangoFandango has described is a way of

fixed oil of nutmeg, otherwise knowbutter. Nutmeg butter has limited memetic use, and does not contain thetive components of nutmeg, which myristicin, elemicin, and safrole (whalone has been shown to be psychonot appear to completely replicate thcaused by nutmeg). Nutmeg butter

trimyristin, which may have slight seHowever, my attempts to repeat Fanproduced no sedation nor any othereffects.

Another preparation floating arounis a recipe for space paste (Me 200is as follows, where one part equals

4 parts nutmeg (ground from whole4 parts almonds (soak overnight and4 parts raw pistachios2 parts cinnamon1 part cumin1 part tarragon1 part oregano

1 part basil1 part turmeric1/

2part cayenne pepper

1/2

part black peppermaple syrup (to taste)


23/44


have success with this recipe. The following ques-tion was submitted to a medical web site:

Mother brings 14 y.o. female to emergency room.Initial exam is exceptional for elevated respira-tion and BP, nausea, moderate perspiration, andchild complaining of colorful hallucinations. Atypical LSD case, or maybe an exotic hallucino-gen? Nope. Kids made a concoction out of thefollowing ingredients: Nutmeg, almonds, rawpistachios, cinnamon, cumin, tarragon, oregano,

basil, turmeric, cayenne pepper, black pepper,and Maple Syrup, mixed into a vanillamilkshake. Nice coating for pork chops, but isthere anything here that would explain thepatients condition? Houston, TX (Houston2006).

The questioner was advised that nutmeg was thelikely culprit. However, given the low levels of

nutmeg, other ingredients likely play a synergisticrole in the inebriating effect. The author, Me, de-clares that the recipe will not work unless all in-gredients are included. Black pepper also containshigh levels of myristicin, and the Winter 2003 is-sue ofThe Entheogen Review commented on howthe chemical piperine from black pepper inhibitsthe metabolism of some drugs/chemicals, leading

to an increase in their effects [TER12(4): 134].Capsaicin, a chemical found in cayenne pepper, isalso a mild inhibitor of cytochrome P450 2E1,which is a mixed-function oxidase involved inmetabolism that mediates some drug interactions.It could be that one or both of these peppers is thereason why lower doses of nutmeg seem to havestronger effects when taken via this preparation.

While few inebriating plant preparations are pal-atable for the average person, there are some low-dose nutmeg preparations useful as aphrodisiacsor mood-elevators that are quite agreeable. Add1/

4to 1/

2tsp of nutmeg to a cup of hot chocolate

d l t it i til th f f th d i k

The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals at ttide. The recipe is slightly modifi

American baking measurements

2 Tbsp ground nutmeg2 Tbsp ground cinnamon1.5 tsp ground cloves3 cups flour3/

4cup sugar

2 sticks of butter2 eggs

pinch salt3/

4cup chopped almonds

Mix ingredients and bake cookieto ten minutes. The cookies arethey lift the spirits. Perfect for th

PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICITNutmeg consists of 4560% celluter, 2440% fixed oils and 515%fixed oil (or butter) of nutmcolored waxy substance. The bu85% trimyristin, which has beensedative effect on chickens, andmyristic acid. The real power of is contained within the volatile

The volatile oil of nutmeg is a pcolorless liquid, with a distinct The volatile oil contains 80% m5% monoterpene alcohols with thup by aromatic ethers and mipounds (Forrest & Heacock 197ether fraction contains myristic

safrole, along with other alkyl-besuch as estragole, eugenol, iseugenol, methyl-eugenol, meand methoxy-eugenol (KalbhenHeacock 1972; Shulgin 1967; ShDuke 2008), and it is believed


24/44


into MDA (Shulgin 1967). However, studies thathave tried to confirm this process were unable todetect amphetamine-type compounds in the urine

of rats that were administered myristicin and safrole(Forest & Heacock 1972, citing Oswald et al. 1971).

The psychoactive effects of nutmeg are still not wellunderstood, and only myristicin has been testedon human subjects.

Myristicin, or methoxysafrole, is a benzodioxole

with slight MAO-inhibiting properties. Myristicinis a colorless oil that generally does not crystallize,even at extremely low temperatures (i.e., -30C).Myristicin is mostly stable upon storage, but stillsubject to gradual changes in composition.Myristicin is insoluble in water and only slightlysoluble in ethanol. The best solvents for extractingmyristicin are benzene and diethyl ether.

Myristicin generally makes up 48% of nutmegsvolatile oil and has been found in concentrationsas high as 1.3% of nutmeg by weight (C.E.F.S.2005). The myristicin content in mace is generallydouble that of nutmeg, making it potentially morepotent than nutmeg.

Myristicin is active at the 5-HT receptors in thebrain, and has been shown to have hypotensive,sedative, anti-depressant, anesthetic, hallucino-genic, and serotonergic properties (Sangalli &Chiang 2001). Large doses generally cause hyper-excitability, followed by CNS depression. Myristicinis fairly unique as a hallucinogen (if it may be clas-sified as such), because it lacks a nitrogen atom. It

is also rare for a compound lacking a nitrogen groupto show activity at the brains 5-HT receptors.

Myristicins psychoactive properties were con-firmed by a study on ten human participants in1961 (Hallstrom & Thuvander 1997, citing Truitt

the population. Time of onset was betthree hours after ingestion. Interestof myristicin is around twice th

myristicin that would be present inhigh psychoactive dose of nutmeg, sumyristicin is not the sole psychoacnutmeg.

Myristicin is found elsewhere in nin black pepper, carrots, celery, dill wand parsnip. Myristicin is almost co

cessed in the body within 48 hoursThis long processing period may hthe extraordinary length of nutmeg

Because of myristicins close relationfrole, it has long been considered a cinogen. However, scientific data is lpoint. Several studies indicate possi

nicity, but the results have been statnificant. Myristicin has shown mild properties, an indicator of carcinogenot been found to be genotoxic Thuvander 1997).

In one study, twelve rats were adminikg of myristicin per day for twenty-

this period, no differences in body wecernible from the control group and nties were detected in the liver or kid50 (lethal dose for 50% of the popuwas shown to be greater than (Hallstrom & Thuvander 1997). Fosake, the threshold effective dose in haround 67 mg/kg.

Myristicin has also been suspected hepatotoxin, but the studies availablrather than being hepatotoxic, myrfact be hepatoprotective (Morita et a


25/44


in the injected mice (Morita et al. 2003). Further,DNA fragmentation generally caused by the livertoxins LPS and d-GaIN was effectively suppressed

by a single oral dose of 200 mg/kg of myristicin(Morita et al. 2003).

Several studies on mice suggest that myristicin mayreduce the frequency of and inhibit the growth oftumors. One study showed that myristicin signifi-cantly reduced tumor formation in the lungs andforestomachs of mice with benzo(a)pyrene-induced

carcinogenicity (Hallstrom & Thuvander 1997).Myristicin has also been shown to be an inducerof GST (glutathione S-transferase), a substance thatinhibits tumorigenesis. Myristicin was shown tocause a fourfold increase in GST activity in the liverand a threefold increase in the small intestine(C.S.W.G. 1997).

Studies on other animals have been less promis-ing. Cats orally administered 400 mg/kg ofmyristicin experienced fatty degeneration of theliver while rabbits and guinea pigs administeredmyristicin subcutaneously experienced both brainand liver lesions (Forrest & Heacock 1972).

Studies on chronic and reproductive toxicity and

carcinogenicity of myristicin are still lacking. Fur-ther studies on myristicins hepatoprotective andtumor-inhibiting properties are also needed.

Elemicin, one of the other suspected psychoactivecomponents of nutmeg, is similar to myristicin inthat it lacks a nitrogen group and is also active atthe brains 5-HT receptors. Elemicin has displayed

anti-depressant, hallucinogenic, anti-histamine,hypotensive and anti-serotonergic properties(Sangalli & Chiang 2000). There is some evidenceof DNA binding and genotoxicity with elemicin(C.E.F.S. 2005). Studies on hepatocarcinogenicityhave been inconclusive.

carcinogenica finding that somissue with based on its long histvarious Native American groups

The terpenes are generally not tributing to the psychoactivity ever, many compounds from theof nutmeg are structurally similstimulants. Overdoses on someing medicines have also been resimilar reactions to those caused b

& Heacock 1972). Whether psythe terpenes may still contribunutmeg by irritating the gastrand thus facilitating absorptionpsychoactive compounds (Kalbh

While the toxicity of nutmeg isthere are numerous reports of a

ings and emergency room visits some extra information. In poisare taken and organs are checkefor abnormalities. Several case smention. The Journal of Internal on the case of a thirty-two-yesought emergency room care aftegrams of ground nutmeg (Sjoholm

hospital ran tests on the man anblood count, electrolyte levels, enzymes were all within normalnal of Clinical Toxicology also repopoisoning case involving a thirthad ingested 1525 grams of nuChiang 2000). Tests conducted othat electrolyte levels, renal and l

nalysis, hematology, and a pelvicturned without abnormality. Anutmeg poisoning are resolved most emergency room visits areaccidental poisonings or by pani


26/44


second case involved the death of a fifty-five-year-old woman (Stein et al. 2001). The woman wasfound with toxic, but not fatal, concentrations of

flunitrazepam (Rohypnol) in her blood. Blood testsalso showed the presence of myristicin, with aspeculated dose of between 560 and 840 mg/kg ofmyristicin by body weight. While the myristicinlevels in the two fatal cases are comparable, it is

believed that the combination of a high dose ofnutmeg and a toxic dose of flunitrazepam was thecause of death. Other instances from emergency

rooms and poison control centers report that casesof nutmeg poisoning involving up to eighty gramsof nutmeg (or up to 1100 mg/kg of myristicin by

body weight) have occurred without the presenceof life-threatening symptoms (Stein et al. 2001).

CONCLUSIONSNutmeg has been used for thousands of years for

multiple purposes. It appears to have a fairly largesafety margin for use, although the long-termeffects of nutmeg use on the body are not well un-derstood. The biggest known danger from experi-mentation is dehydration, and the biggest discom-fort the resulting hangover. By keeping non-alco-holic/non-caffeinated fluids handy, and drinkingoften, this hangover (which can otherwise last

several days) can likely be avoided.

The most promising aspects of nutmits potential as an anti-depressant arodisiac when used in small doses. I

provements in mood and decreases inas little as 1/

4tsp in a cup of chocolat

or two cookies from the recipe aboveedge of nutmegs mood-elevating pr

back a thousand years or more, furttion into the potential of nutmedepressant seems merited.

All in all, nutmeg is a well-roundemay be used to brighten your day, tolove life, to flavor your food, to induceor to just get plain stoned. This seed hlooked and misunderstood by many

but once one is privy to her secbecome a valuable ally.

Footnotes1. Another secondary source (Shulgalso citing Truitt et al. 1961, claimed sy400 mg of myristicin at least suggchotropic effects in 6 out of 10 subjecnal paper by Truitt et al. states thadefinite reaction in each of 4 subj2 subjects each had a questionable

Trouts Notes on Some Simple Tryptamines was for a while, but it is once again available in a updated edition. At 304 pages, with over 400 ilincluding more than 300 full-color photograp

Simple Tryptamines is an invaluable reference tointerested in psychoactive plants containing tras well as assorted synthetic tryptamines. SomTryptamines is the most comprehensive and deview that exists concerning this subject. Softcovon high quality acid-free paper with a sturdy

VOLUME XVII NUMBER I VERNAL EQUINOX 2008


27/44


Network Feedback

INSECTOID SPHINX ENTITIES

A few years back I read Ecstatic Body Postures byBelinda Gore. The premise of this book is howdoing yoga-like poses and forms based on body

positions of sculptures and figurines from variouscultures of antiquity can help induce altered mindstates.

I got the idea (it seemed like a good one at thetime) to take mushrooms and go to the spa I workout at regularly, to try out these ecstatic positions.Inspired by the article Mushroom Ayahuasca by

James Kent in the then-recent issue ofPsychedelicIlluminationsmagazine (your mushroom trip willbe twice as strong and ten-times [weirder]), I de-cided to try the fungus with Syrian rue seeds. I atethree 1.5inch Psilocybes with six gel-caps of rueseed, and motored over to the health club (in clearviolation of Erowids very conscientious dontdrive on drugs guidelines, which this story pre-dates). Im starting to come on while driving; oncethere, I quickly get my gym clothes on and sit downat the quadriceps/thigh-strengthening machine. Iclose my eyes and BAM! Suddenly Im in an M.C.Escher-type world of endlessly unfolding silvermirrors, realizing that I have grievously erred withregard to Learys set and setting protocol. Well,the set was good-intentioned, but the setting wasway off! To further compound the situation, I donthave the musical cocoon of my walkmanintypical psychedelic unsynchronicity, this is the onlytime Ive ever inadvertently left it at home. So I am

being subjected the entire time to a horrible Top-40 urban slow-jam radio station. This is not good.I d t t i k t hil fi ht

folded over their humped backwould have been horrific to behradiant aura of sacredness and imseemed to be reposing on pedestaa tented roof. Their regal and setrated my thoughts and emotievery behavioral flaw and the facurrent relationship (the one pltruthful with myself at the timwrithed under their stern scrutially faded away into their prisdimension.

A few weeks later, from the safetried the same combination. Therfriends over, and I was meditatroom. I could sense the presenceaforementioned entities, but picwere not showing themselves

being there. I somehow got thethey were stationed under thepeak-domed tents.

A year later, I used the same twper mushroom combination apeopled all-night fishing pier onthe tangible presence of the againa seeming cluster of prism

backed moth-like entities in myspace. Meditate with us, they e

I did. After a while I got a messagarrived, as if they were acknotrance of one of their elders.

In an early issue ofThe Entheogenman related the tale of doing mus



28/44


tile giant insect creatures that he was familiar withfrom previous mushroom trips. DMT creaturesthen floated by and said, Arent they a dull and

pompous bunch! But dont worry, they cant get atyou because we are here.

Perhaps this reference to dull and pompous re-flects the solemn nature of the hyperspace bugsthat I experienced (although no exact physical de-scription of them is given by G & Z). I have checkedthe Erowid experience reports for psilocybe/rue ex-

periences, but nothing involving insectoid entitiesshows up. In fact, I have used the same combina-tion several times in the past few years, and havehad no comparable experiences. Anyone out therein ER-land have any hyperspatial mush-rue-mentity encounters? Castor Pollux

ML-2C-E

I recently had the opportunity to take some 2C-E.I think. I had been wanting to try it for a while,having heard positive reports about it over the yearsfrom the few friends who were lucky enough toobtain it. I also recalled it being highly regarded inthe Shulgins book PIHKAL (one of the magical

half-dozen) and in Myron Stolaroffs Thanatos toEros. For many years 2C-B was the primaryphenethylamine that I enjoyed. But in each of thelast three or four times I have taken it, I was plagued

by an uncharacteristically heavy body load: flu-likesymptoms with nausea, sweating, chills, and a gen-eral feeling of being stuck and not getting anywhereon the mental level. I had some mild anxiety be-

fore taking the 2C-E, concerned that it might pro-voke a similar less-than-pleasant experience. How-ever, since the opportunity to try 2C-E had nevercome before (and I couldnt know when it mightcome next), I decided to go for it. Some male friendswho had taken 16 mg of the same material I was

friend had placed an order via an onchemical companyone of the fewnies that is still around, alas I don

namefor some 2C-T-2. As a precaudrug arrived, my friend asked a cheGC/MS analysis on the chemical. It tuthe substance was definitely not 2C-Tcertain what it was, but it seemed

based on the test results that it was 2Cup calling it ML-2C-E (with the for most likely). It took about two

on. We spent time walking in the noticed how the repeated drastic prutrees had caused a bulbous knot to foof each of their branches. In most cdeners who had pruned the trees ha

branch intact for about five or six cutting that one off as well. (All

branches were trimmed flush to the

len branch-ends.) This gave the imtree full of fists, flipping-off the gardepruned them over the decades.

I was bouncing along as we walked,ing lighter and full of energy, just enjoying the day. By the time we cauto go home, I was headed up to the

Being more psychically sensitive, mboth easily picked up on the intensnumber of the bus passengers; we wwe finally got back to the house wspending the night, surrounded by feeling good, but the effects were preI realized that I hadnt actually read a2C-E for a while (for example, I was

it took so long to come on). I grabPIHKAL off the bookshelf and sat doof reading, wondering how many oflitted across these pages while stonmore people have read PIHKAL whany other single book, I imagined.



29/44


2C-E is given as 1025 mg, and the dose range for2C-T-2 is 1225 mg, so in this particular case ofmislabeling, it is unlikely that too much could go

wrong. 2C-T-2 comes on faster though, so if some-one didnt feel any effects after about an hour theymight up their dose in an unwarranted manner.

And 2C-E lasts longer, which might be trouble-some for someone who only had time for a shortertrip. Im glad that my friend had access to chemicaltesting. Crankcase, CA

MISLABELED DIPT

In October of 2007 a friend mentioned that a re-search chemical being sold as DIPT in Hawaii,which had come from California (but which prob-ably originated from China) was incorrectly iden-tified. The mainland source for the material wasasked repeatedly if it might not be 5-MeO-DIPT

(or foxy as the kids call it) rather than plain DIPT,but the source insisted that it was DIPT. This ledmy acquaintance to believe that there may have

been a labeling error somewhere at the manufac-turer. Consequently there could be more of thismystery substance floating around in the future.

After checking descriptions online and in TIHKAL,

my friend felt fairly confident that the material wasactually 5-MeO-MIPT (or moxy as the kids callit). The fact that the drug was misidentified causedfairly serious differential dosage issues among a fewof the people who had taken it. My friend is wor-ried that someone might end up in a hospital fromoverdosing on a misidentified chemical.

The substance was described as having induced anextremely intense experience at the purveyor-rec-ommended 30 mg with little to no audio distor-tion (an effect attributed to DIPT). There was red/orange enhancement coupled with a visual effectthat could be typified as viscous ether. The males

dose experiences), and both werwas not 5-MeO-DIPT. While my ffoxy can be highly variable, he ac

ment because of their past experthese effects occurred in a stable,His inclination that it was 5-Mupon post-baseline reports, wasone of the people who had a dicommented, It was superficially

but with a very unique vibe thatstrange, almost 5-MeO-DMT, un

A couple of seasoned psychonauthe point where they endangerethe people around them. Hence,cerned about what sort of reactmill yokel might have to the rmg dose. (5-MeO-MIPT is activDIPT is active at 25100 mg).

I suggested to my friend that somin a sample of the material for tnot heard anything back on thamistakes can clearly happenRicaurte! (Although in that case, have been made after the chemmanufacturer, and not before.)

DMT FOR THE MASSES

It has been pointed out that parthe Masses article by Noman in92 was less-than-clear as presentduring a re-write of the piece, an

fault. In step #6 we stated thatpeat steps 25 above three moreadd any new powdered root-barkhave said was to: Repeat stepsmore times That is, you are resolution and only adding new n



30/44


Psilocybe kumnorum R. Heim is a bluing agaricbelonging to Section Zapotecorum Guzmn of thegenus Psilocybe (Guzmn 1983). It was first col-

lected by Heim and Wasson in 1963 (Heim &Wasson 1964; 1965) in the southern Wahgi Val-ley, Western Highlands Province, Papua NewGuinea and described later by Heim (Heim 1967a;1967b). They were looking for information on thereports of Reay (Reay 1959; 1960) about the Kuma,regarding their probable use of visionary fungi.

This fungus is known as koull tourroum, kougl-tourroum or koobl tourroum in the Yuwi or Yoowilanguage of the Kuma people. However, the Kumapeople used these common names for a variety ofdifferent mushrooms (Heim 1967b), so they arepossibly of little use in distinguishing Psilocybekumnorum from other mushroom species foundin the southern Waghi Valley.

MATERIALS & METHODSNew mushroom specimens ofPsilocybe kumnorumwere collected from grassy areas at the Hill TopsLodge near the town of Minj in the southern WahgiValley, Western Highlands Province, Papua NewGuinea (lat. 5.55, long. 144.40), during the wetseason in late January. Microscopic study was made

with slides mounted in KOH 5% reagent and witha scanning electron microscope (Hitachi S-405a).

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTIONPILEUS [cap] 57 mm in diameter, peak mamillate

d b ill fl d d

New Data on the Entheogenic Mushr

PSILOCYBEKUMNORUMby Benjamin Thomas

ochre (K.157162) or greenish (K.24of the mamilla; at the edges marked thick but clear stripes of a very dark

dark); very hygrophanous, blanc(cream), as demonstrated by the desicwhitish spots. STIPE [stem] reachinmm width, 2.5 mm at the base whichclearly bulging; at first white and marvery straight longitudinal furrow

brown, silvery at the top where therenants of a delicate, silky, white corti

tom: hollow, with a violet-red corteon the exterior (K.303 C) or grey tetowards blue (K.325); flesh orange yLAMELL [gills] firstly cream, thenmauve/mallow or pale orange-mauvefinally violet with purple tint (K.105white and remaining so; adnexed.FLwith the scent of flour(Heim 1967a

NEW DESCRIPTIONPsilocybe kumnorum R. Heim var. wah= P. kumnorum (R. Heim) Guzmn

PILEUS 57 mm diameter, campanulate punctate and convoluted in age,

black brown, hygrophanous with

LAMELL adnexed, firstly cream tmauve, finally violet-purple, edges wh22.527 1.2 (-2.5) mm, white, str

brown longitudinal furrows, silver abluing. VEIL as white cortina. COcream-colored in the pileus brownis



31/44

, Q

HABITAT: Scattered on soil in small groupings ongrass (Themeda australis L.). DISTRIBUTION: Knownonly from the type locality. Guzmn and Watling

(1978) suggested that it is possible thatPsilocybekumnorum may also occur in Australia (GoldCoast, SE Qld.). This species may also be found inNew Zealand as reported by Ott (1993). DOCU-MENTED LOCATION: Hill Tops Lodge, Minj, WesternHighlands Province, Papua New Guinea. Meanmaximum temperature: 78.5F. Mean minimumtemperature: 59.0F. Rainfall (January): Ten inches.

ETHNOBOTANICAL DATAThe use of Psilocybe kumnorum for visionaryeffects has not been confirmed among the Kumapeople (Heim 1967b; Heim & Wasson 1964; Heim& Wasson 1965). P. kumnorum is classified byKuma folk taxonomy as inedible, and Kumaconsider these mushrooms to be poisonous. It is

unknown whether or not the Kuma were awareof the mushrooms psychoactive effects.

William Emboden has argued that it seems un-likely that given the broad use of mushrooms, the

f P il b ith it t t i t i ti

Fitz John Porter Poole has reportemushroom known as nemeyaap hother species of mushrooms amKuskusmin people of the West SepNew Guinea in a ritual that purposionary effects; Poole believes Psilocused in these rituals. The male inthe Bimin-Kuskusmin involve stages that honor the androg

being Afek. These rituals are basacred plants known as waraan

heart palpitations and refers toeffects of these plants. The mush

by the Bimin-Kuskusmin as a twroom and it is considered to be ful and dangerous. It is only usein the final stage of the male iniits use represents the pinnacle of strength, knowledge, and power.

are considered so powerful anif they were to be eaten in any o

by a senior elder, they would be

ANALYSISA presumptive microcrystalline (Keller Reaction) was used by milligrams of air-dried mushroo

ferric chloride containing aceticing with 1 ml concentrated sulfagent test was positive for psilocther reagent tests were also positincluding Van Urks reagent (purB (red). HPLC analysis identified in MeOH extracts of three sampcybe kumnorum fruit bodies. Sam

psilocybin and 0.14% psilocin; Sapsilocybin and 0.11% psilocin; Sapsilocybin and 0.18% psilocin.

CULTIVATIONH i (1967 ) lti t d P il b

Figure 1. Psilocybe kumnorum R. Heim.



32/44

lia using malt extract agar-agar and nutrientmixture to obtain fast fruiting without casing of aPsilocybe kumnorum strain.

PHARMACOLOGY: SUBJECTIVE EFFECTS1

Initial effects after twenty minutes included nau-sea, light-headedness, muscle aches, and stomachpain. This was followed by mild visual effects in-cluding blurred vision, brighter colors, after-images,and visual (eidetic) patterns with eyes closed afterone hour. There were increased visual effects aftertwo hours, with a distorted sense of time and moodchanges lasting for about three-and-a-half hours.The total effect lasted for nearly six hours with noresidual effects after eight hours. This is consis-tent with the early clinical studies on the pharma-cological effects of psilocybin.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTThe author is indebted to Dr. Gastn

Mexico for comments, criticisms, an

Footnotes1. Caveat: These preliminary notesexperimental data from scientific ducted in the Independent State oGuinea, where psilocybin and psilocisified as psychotropic substances u

tional control in accordance withDangerous Drugs Act, but are insteapoisons in the Poisons Act.

Events Calendar

AYAHUASCA HEALING RETREAT APRIL 212, 2008Experience ayahuasca in an Eden-like environment inBahia, Brazil. Both ayahuasca and

Salvia divinorumare

used to attain higher states of consciousness and psycho-spiritual healing. Participants partake in four ayahua-sca ceremonies and three Salvia divinorum explorations.The retreats are held in a private eco-center on 39 acresof lush preserved area within Mata Atlantica, the sec-ond largest rainforest in Brazil. Located seven miles fromthe coastal town of Itacar, and only minutes away frompristine beaches. For more info see www.ayahuasca-

healing.net.

TOWARD A SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS APRIL 812, 2008

Incredible biennial conference in Tucson, AZ, dealingwith consciousness from a wide range of disciplines andperspectives. There are always some presentations on

h d l d F i f

SHAMANISM, VISIONARY ART, AND TOF PSYCHEDELICS APRIL 10

A trialogue with Jeremy Narby, AlexHarpignies. Held in NYC at the ChMirrors. For more info see www.cosm.o

VISIONARY PRACTICE: RITUAL AND THE CONSCIOUSNESS JUNE 13

The Ojai Foundation presents a weekenErik Davis, Dale Pendell, Laura Pendell, aTraditional spiritual disciplines usually

practice. Shamanic and visionary tradivolve extraordinary practice. Both aritual to shape and contain deep changeness. In this weekend workshop, we wiltional rites of practice and celebration, temporary improvisations. $435 inclul d i d ll l $385 i l d h



33/44

Six years ago, in an effort to escape what I saw asan ongoing attempt by corporations and the me-dia to manipulate my thoughts, I turned off mytelevision set, permanently. In addition, I began tofilter billboards, magazine ads, and Internet ban-ners from my consciousness, simply by attentivelynot paying attention. I would shield myself fromthe evils of manipulative marketing forever! How-ever, when I found myself wondering whether Ishould attend the Mind States conference in 2007,with trembling fingers and bated breath I checkedout the advertisement for the event on YouTube.The marketing scheme was brilliant. Alongsideethereal, angelic tones, a commanding 50s style

voice rang out, Well son, a funny thing about re-gret is, that its better to regret something you havedone, than to regret something you havent done.Succumbing to the pressure of that insidious re-mark, I hopped on a plane, hardly able to containmyselfheaded towards Costa Rica for Mind States2007.

Arriving to the usual chaos and sweltering heat ofa small tropical airport, we were picked up by thepre-arranged tour bus, packed in like sardines, andhustled along the twists and turns leading to theresort where we would spend the week. Paying

homage to thethird world, wewere held up

for about tenminutes in frontof a suspension

bridge leadingto the proper-ty in order to

for a much needed painting. Frothatched entry way led to the rrustic and gorgeous.

Costa Ricans (Ticos) are a beautant and welcoming. The resort stto be nearby, discretely and unasin the wings to see if they could mcomfortable in any way. My daysearly walks to the restaurant to

brew, and then Id stroll pool-sitimes met with a few guests to ssun. Most of the others were sttime, so it was a perfect opportu

moments listening to the awakenafter spirited conversation aroutable, where fried plantains, crisppapaya were served on colorful were spent attending lecturopportunity to enjoy the ground

The speakers and lectures wer

thoughtfully chosen, and almosttime, which was amazing givenmosphere and sleepy summer wthere was an odd power outagevening rain to contend with, thlecture hall provided respite fromto attend all of the talks, but misthere was too much to see and d

had available.

I never tire of listening to Sashain discussion, and found myswatched them interact. Sasha, sometimes mad scientist occasi

Conference Review



34/44

sentences throughout their lec-tures, their individual contribu-tions melding together into one

cohesive passage. I found myselfpondering these magical couples;there is perhaps nothing quite so

beautiful and inspiring as theunion of two psychedelic minds.

I had the tremendous pleasure ofbeing able to sit one-on-one with

some of the speakers in more ca-sual settings. Mark Pescewhosferociously driven, yet tongue-in-cheek rants on the future of tech-nology left me both amused and

bemusedtook the time to helpme get my laptop hooked up tothe Internet one day, while he

excitedly previewed the contentsof his lecture like a young boyeagerly awaiting Christmasmorning. Taking the group on anevolutionary journey from thetuberculosis mycobacteria to theforming of modern, militant ter-rorist groups, he left my brain

gleefully fried like eggs droppedinto a hot cast-iron pan.

Another compelling individualwas Joe Coleman, the apocalyp-tic visionary painter from NewYork City. In the darkened room,with a small lamp pointed acrosshis face in a classic macabre pose,he discussed the tortured pastthat underpins his life as apainter, while slides of his artflashed behind him on the screen.Later, sitting quietly at pool-side

Erik Davis and Mark Pesce

Whitney Ward and Joe Coleman


7/27/2019 The Entheogen Review Vol. 16, No.

Documents

The Entheogen Review׃ Vol. 16, No. 1 (2008)