A book I recommend

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The Politics of Ecstasy by Dr. Timothy Leary.
https://www.villagevoice.com/2020/10/21 ... f-ecstasy/

Not sure why I'm still following this thread and all of the odd side-tangents but this Vice article, largely copying a Motherboard interview, pushed an inquiry as to whether what's there in psychedelic experiences, the therapeutic aspects of mystical experience are just 'pleasant delusions', and Michael Pollen's 'How to Change Your Mind' as well as his devout naturalism, even having had intense mystical experiences while writing that book, are discussed:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7eb59/ ... -delusions


I think the most important thing to keep in mind - people do get very real and practical insights about themselves. The supernatural / paranormal experience are debatable / controversial, I've experienced both valid / durable self-insights as well as things that seemed to fit the profile of paranormal but with the later there's an edge to it where you'd be really surprised what kind of sensory data you're taking in that you usually filter out, how it gets symbolically represented, etc.. I think the trick is respecting that plenty of people would never want to take a psychedelic, even if the upsides come out as peer-reviewed and confirmed steadily over the next five or ten years - for all sorts of reasons including family history of schizophrenia, color-blindness and the visual side effects that can come with it, or it just not how they operate. At the same time I think it's pretty clear that psychedelics have a lot of value and purpose, mostly for digging around in your own brain to see what's there, and quite often - like MDMA, they're very good at getting different parts of your brain to talk which don't usually get the opportunity, and in that sense with long-term trauma patterns where a fracture or bad firmware settings that extend across conscious and unconscious / subconscious sectors can be resolved.

That's sort of the boring middle between the exciting extremes of 'Psychedelics put you in touch with a hidden universe of spirits' and 'Psychedelics are BS for the weak-minded and escapist'.

Seems a bit odd that someone can be religious And opposed to psychedelics.. God made everything in the universe, including these psilocybin mushrooms, psychoactive cacti, and LSA/DMT containing plants etc right alongside every other plant and mineral that’s here for our use as food/medicine, BUT I’m gonna listen to some human who says “Drugs are bad, MmmmKay?” because somehow it makes sense to me to believe God created all of this but we’re not to trust the Creator on the subject of consuming the gifts He placed here for us. (Except for win in Church where those bartenders over charge for every cup @ 10% of one’s income.) Yes, that makes total sense.



Meanwhile, there are other more spiritually advanced cultures, locally and around the world, that have utilized plant medicines to connect to the ancestral plane, the source and the Creator, for thousands of years. IMO, these people have it figured out.

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