Yeah, is the sound comfortable for everyone?
Is the light comfortable for everyone?
And are you comfortable?
Well, you shouldn't be.
The planet's going to shit in a handbag.
No, I'm, I'm, that's just my John Lilly imitation.
It's not me at all.
In order to make sure we all understand the domain we're operating from here,
I would like to talk a little about what it's like to be loaded.
Because I think that's the ground zero of what we're talking about.
Psychedelics are like any other social phenomena.
There are a lot of wannabes.
There are a lot of people who are along for the ride.
I'm sure the pagan community is no stranger to this phenomenon
because there are certain residual spinoffs,
if you proclaim yourself pagan,
that are hard to obtain any other way.
Similarly for being psychedelic.
My notion of the psychedelic cosmogony,
if you want to think of it that way,
is it's like a bullseye.
It's like a series of concentric circles.
And various substances place you
in various quadrants of that mandala
at various distances from ground zero,
which is at the absolute center.
And nature in her bounty has provided various coordination points.
I mean, there's the cannabis coordination point,
the opiate coordination point,
the tropanes that were so important in European witchcraft,
the solanaceous plants, hyalcyamine, those things.
That's a different chemical family
and a different group of plant families
that these compounds occur in.
And I've been at this fairly steadily since 1964
and have tried to do everything
with a certain level of attention and reverence.
Because I think that, you know,
it's all very fine to go armed
with the knowledge of pharmacology,
dose response, LD50, and all that.
But I think as pagans and magicians,
we really understand that
the mind can do anything.
And there's a horribly frightening
little passage in Jung somewhere
where he says,
the unconscious has a thousand ways
to terminate a life that has become meaningless.
Meaning, you know,
you'll step in front of a street car or something.
So, in my lifetime of looking at these things
and being interested in many other things as well,
heresies,
obscure backwaters of art history and literature,
peculiar philosophies that rose and fell centuries ago
in obscure parts of the world.
My theory of life's exploration is to run edges.
And I've mellowed over the years,
but I used to say,
if a book isn't a hundred years old,
you shouldn't read it.
If a person isn't dead,
you shouldn't worry about them.
If they wrote in English,
you shouldn't bother with them.
And so forth and so on.
In the course of sorting out
as many peculiar and bizarre possibilities
as life could offer me in many places,
my attitude was always critical.
My attitude was always a show-me attitude.
I don't believe in faith.
I don't believe in belief.
My favorite gospel story
is the story of the apostle Thomas,
who was not present
when Christ came the first time
after the resurrection to the upper room.
And then later Thomas came to the apostles
and they said,
the master has been here.
And he said,
you guys have been smoking
too much of that red lab.
And then Christ came again.
But in this conversation with the apostles,
Thomas said,
unless I put my hand into the wound,
I will not believe it.
And then time passed.
And then Christ came again
to the upper room.
And he said,
Thomas, come forward.
Put your hand into the wound.
And he did.
And then he said,
Lord, I am not worthy,
so forth and so on.
My conclusion about this story
is that alone,
among all humanity,
in all times and places,
only one person ever touched
the incorporeal body of God.
Thomas the doubter touched
because he doubted.
It was not necessary
that the believers
should be vouchsafed
to such a boon.
But the doubter
was awarded
the supreme
enlightenment.
Okay, so much for that.
So my thing has always been,
whether you present me
with a diet,
a social arrangement,
a society,
a sexual conundrum,
a work of art,
my criteria is,
is it shit
or is it shinola?
And I'm happy to give you
the benefit of my personal
life's experience
proceeding along those lines.
I want to talk about
what to my mind
is the quintessential
hallucinogen
and consequently
the quintessential
spiritual and magical tool
of this dimension.
And that is DMT,
dimethyltryptamine,
a compound that occurs
in the human nervous system.
It occurs in many, many plants.
It is the commonest
hallucinogen
in all of nature.
And I don't know
how you got
to where you are
this afternoon,
but the way I got here
is by testing
and by hoping
and by pursuing
a magical,
if that's the word,
a miraculous,
a transcendental ideal
that over the course
of life
experience
strips from you.
You know,
you have to get a job.
Your first love
is not your last love.
Slowly this pristine,
shining belief
in perfectibility
is eroded
by the slings and arrows
of outrageous fortune.
You know,
the dark oxen
that turn
the millstones
of the world.
But I'm here
to tell you
that it is real.
There is a doorway
into another dimension.
Aladdin's lamp
is real.
Fairyland
is real.
Magic
is real
in the most real sense.
in the same sense
that
what we call
reality
is real.
And I learned this
through this compound.
And one of the great
puzzles about
this compound
is why more people
don't know about it.
no no brotherhood
initiated me.
No lineage
reaching back
to the fall
of Atlantis
brought me
into its circle.
Therefore,
I feel
completely free
to say
anything I want.
Nobody has ever
come to me
and said
you are spilling
the beans.
You are telling
the secret.
a long long
time ago
and you know
we all have
different opinions
this is mine
I hope it
doesn't offend
but a long long
time ago
I took an oath
to tell
all secrets
that came
my way.
Don't tell me
a secret.
I won't keep it.
I'm against
secrets.
I'm against
hierarchies
lineages
all assumption
of special
knowledge
on the part
of anyone
in the presence
of anyone else
is abhorrent
to me.
I mean
I am a true
anarchist
first and foremost.
So
DMT
like all things
in this world
has a physical
body
a presence
and a presentation
in this case
it looks rather
like earwax
it is
orange
it is
crystalline
it smells
vaguely
of mothballs
and
for my money
it is
the lapis
the quintessence
the universal
panacea
at the end
of time
has
sent a reflection
back
through
the temporal
labyrinth
and wherever
this touches
wherever
this
can
crest
the mystery
is fully
present.
So
what is it
then?
Well
it is an
experience
and I maintain
it is the most
intense experience
you can have
this side
of the
yawning grave
without
doubt
I mean
people say
is it
dangerous?
Well
the answer
is
only if
you fear
death
by astonishment
yes
that's a
joke
here
it's not
a joke
there
because
you
you find
yourself
literally
holding
your heart
to verify
that you
have not
in fact
had a
coronary
thrombosis
induced
by wonder
terror
reverence
and astonishment
so
here it is
the quintessence
the orange
thing
the
it
was it
transponded
in from
our tourists
was it
handed down
through some
ancient
eldritch
brotherhood
that found
this secret
before the
pyramids
were built
who
can
say
whatever
it is
wherever
it comes
from
here's
what happens
when you
allow it
to pass
through
the blood
brain
barrier
of your
own
alchemical
vessel
which is
your body
the first
thing that
happens
is that
there is
a sense
as though
all the air
in the room
had been
sucked out
all the
colors
brighten
this is
that increase
in visual
acuity
that i
made so
much of
yesterday
all edges
become sharp
distant things
stand out
in their
clarity
this is
at one
toke
at two
tokes
you close
your eyes
you feel a sense
of anesthesia
seeping
through your
body
you close
your eyes
and you
see a
floral
pattern
rotating
in space
usually
yellow
orange
people
who do
this
occasionally
and nobody
does it
a lot
call it
the
chrysanthemum
it's a floral
pattern
like a pattern
in a
chinese
brocade
this forms
and stabilizes
and then
you either
break through
it
or you
require
one more
toke
and these
are matters
of physiology
of shamanic
intent
so forth
and so on
the leather
lunged
hash smokers
among us
have a leg
up in this
department
this is a
spiritual
discipline
where the
ability not
to cough
makes the
difference
between
shunyata
and you
know
try again
sam
so
you take
let us
assume
a third
toke
long and
slow
through a
glass
pipe
pure
you vaporize
this stuff
you don't
mix it
with weed
or oregano
or any of
that which
was done
in the
past
you want
the pure
stuff
and you
take it
in
and in
and there
is definitely
somewhere in
here
a threshold
which you
must
exceed
and when
you do
that
this
membrane
like thing
this chrysanthemum
will actually
part
and there
is a
sound
like the
crumpling
of a plastic
bread wrapper
or the
crackling
of flame
a friend
of mine
says
this is
the radio
intellect
of your
soul
exiting
through the
anterior
fontanelle
at the top
of your
head
could be
in any
case
this crackling
sound
and a
tone
a tone
a
and then
there's
this
impression
of
transition
and you're
now 20
seconds
deep
into this
experience
there's an
impression
of transition
there
it's as
though there
were a
series of
tunnels
or chambers
that you
are
tumbling
down
being
propelled
by some
kind of
muscle
behind you
that is
pushing you
I mean
yes
birth canal
yes
of course
but anyway
a tunnel
and what
I've noticed
about this
tunnel
is the
walls
and ceiling
flux
and come
down
to meet
each other
and where
they touch
they pull
apart
with a
and then
you're
propelled
into the
next
space
and then
the next
and then
the next
and there
is this
right
and then
you are
there
and this
is what
I want
to talk
to you
about
because
of all
communities
I
hope
perhaps
collectively
singly
someone
can
say
something
enlightening
about
this
then
you
are
there
and
where
is
there
it's
underground
how
you know
this
you cannot
say
but there
is an
irreconcilable
sense
of enormous
mass
surrounding
you
in other
words
you are
underground
you're
at the
center
of a
mountain
or
something
and
you're
in a
room
which
aficionados
call
the
dome
and
people
will
ask
each
other
did
you
see
the
dome
were
you
there
it's
softly
lit
indirectly
lit
and
the
walls
if such
they be
are
crawling
with
geometric
hallucinations
very brightly
colored
very
iridescent
with deep
sheens
and very
high
reflective
surfaces
everything
is
machine
like
and
polished
and
throbbing
with
energy
but
that
is
not
what
immediately
arrests
my
attention
what
arrests
my
attention
is
the
fact
that
this
space
is
inhabited
that
the
immediate
impression
as you
break
into
it
is
there
is
a
cheer
the
gnomes
have
learned
a new
way
to
say
who
you
break
in
to
this
space
and
are
immediately
swarmed
by
squeaking
self
transforming
elf
machines
these
things
which
and
sound
that
come
chirping
and
squealing
and
tumbling
toward
you
and
they
say
hooray
welcome
you're
here
and
in my
case
you
send
so
many
you
come
so
rarely
and
my
immediate
impression
no matter
how many
times
I do
this
and
I've
done
it
maybe
or 40
times
which
isn't
a lot
in a
lifetime
of
worshiping
it
my
immediate
impression
is
that
they
are
welcoming
there
is
something
going
on
which
I
over
the
years
come
to
call
love
l
u
v
not
light
utility
vehicle
but
love
that
is
not
like
eros
or
not
like
sexual
attraction
I
don't
know
what
it's
like
exactly
it's
almost
like
a
physical
thing
it's
like
a
glue
that
pours
out
into
this
space
and
my
immediate
impression
in there
is
I'm
appalled
I'm
appalled
at how
far
I've
come
and
one
of the
strange
things
about
DMT
is
that
it
does
not
you
they
depress
you
DMT
does
none
of
this
you
go
to
that
place
with
all
your
groceries
you're
there
and
you're
there
thinking
Jesus
H
fucking
Christ
what
is
this
what
is
it
and
there
because
and
you're
thinking
you know
I
must
be
dead
and
so
you
know
you
think
heart
yes
heart
pulse
yes
and meanwhile
these things
are literally
in your
face
and what
they do
is they
jump
into
your chest
and then
they jump
out
again
and what
they're
doing
and this
is the
point
I
singing
chanting
speaking
in
some
kind
of
language
that
is
very
bizarre
to
hear
but
what
is
far
more
important
is
that
you
can
see
it
they
speak
in
a
language
which
you
see
and
this
is
completely
confounding
because
syntax
is
not
something
you
ordinarily
reach
out
and
touch
and
in
this
space
that's
what's
happening
and
so
like
jeweled
self
dribbling
basketballs
these
things
come
running
forward
and
what
they
are
doing
with
this
visible
language
that
they
create
is
they're
making
gifts
they're
making
gifts
for
you
and
they
will
say
which
condenses
as
something
which looks
like a
cross
between
a
sop
with
camel
a
Havana
cigar
a piece
of
abalone
and
opal
and
nookie
and they
offer it
to you
and
you're
looking
at
this
thing
and
as
you
look
at
it
also
transforms
changes
speaks
sings
undergoes
metastasis
undergoes
metamorphosis
and
these
things
are
just
accumulating
and
each
elf
machine
creature
elbows
others
aside
says
look at
this
look at
this
take
this
choose
me
and
as
you
direct
your
attention
into
these
things
you
have
the
overwhelming
conviction
that
if
you
could
bring
a
single
one
of
these
objects
back
to
this
world
that
somehow
you
wouldn't
have to
say
anything
you
would
just
walk up
to
people
and
say
friend
and
people
say
oh
my
god
you
know
you
got
a piece
of
action
so
this
state
of
ecstatic
frenzy
and it's
it's like
a Bugs Bunny
cartoon
running
backwards
in cyberspace
or something
this
state
of
incredible
frenzy
goes on
for about
three minutes
and all
the time
the elves
are saying
don't
give way
to wonder
do not
abandon
yourself
to
amazement
pay
attention
pay
attention
look at
what we're
doing
look
at
what
we're
doing
and then
do it
and it's
this
thing
where then
everything
stops
and they
wait
and you
feel like
a torch
a spark
lit
in your
belly
that begins
to move
up
your
esophagus
and
eventually
when it
reaches
your mouth
just
flies open
and
this
language
like
stuff
comes
out
acoustically
it's
but what
you're
not
hearing
it
the
startled
friends
who
sent
you
to
this
place
are
putting
up
with
this
what
you're
experiencing
is a
visual
modality
where
these
tones
are
surfaces
shading
colors
insets
jewels
you are
making
something
erase
move
forward
add
cerulean
put in
stippling
it's that
sort of
thing
and
and they
go mad
with joy
when you
do this
and
then
you know
this goes on
for about
thirty seconds
and then
there is like
a ripple
through the
system
and you
realize
these two
continua
are being
pulled apart
and I
had one
trip
where
the
and often
it's very
erotic
although I'm
not sure
that's the
word
but it's
something
it's almost
like
sex is
the surface
of something
of which
this
is the
volume
and I'm
a great
fan of
sex
I don't
mean to
denigrate it
I mean to
raise DMT
to a very
high status
but it's
it's
astonishing
and one
trip
as the
pull away
maneuver
began
all the
elves
turned
simultaneously
and looked
at me
and said
deja vu
so
this
is
an
experience
which
in some
form
I mean
it will
be different
for each
one of
you
but in
some
form
at least
what will
be similar
to my
description
is how
dramatic
it will
be
it will
hit you
as hard
as it
hit me
if you
do it
right
this
to me
this
experience
is of a
fundamentally
different
order
than any
other
experience
this side
of the
yawning
grave
and why
religions
have not
been built
around it
why
empires
have not
risen
and fallen
around the
control
of its
sources
why
theology
has not
enshrined
it as
its central
exhibit
for the
presence
of the
other
in the
human
world
I
don't
know
I
can tell
the
secret
as you
notice
nothing
shuts
me
up
but
why
this
is not
four inch
headlines
on every
newspaper
on the
planet
I
cannot
understand
because
I don't
know what
news
you were
waiting
for
but
this
is
the
news
that
I
was
waiting
for
it's
an
incredible
challenge
to
human
understanding
to try
and make
sense
of this
and I
started
out
you know
reading
Jung
doing
my
Hindu
you know
getting up
to speed
with all
that
studying
Zen
Buddhism
studying
Shamanism
the thing
that puzzles
me about
DMT
is
the trace
there is
of it
in the
human
world
I
can't
point
to a
period
in European
art
or the
art
of some
group
of
islanders
somewhere
and say
that is
very much
like
DMT
it isn't
and yet
the DMT
thing
is
it's like
an avalanche
of orgasmic
beauty
but a
certain
kind
of beauty
the only
words
that I
can find
for the
kind
of beauty
that it
is
bizarre
alien
outlandish
outré
freaky
and at the
very edge
of what
the human
mind
seems to
be able
to hold
well where
is this
coming from
and what
is
happening
and this
is what
I like
to discuss
with people
such as
yourselves
who have
wide
experience
in the
world
and in
the realms
of
the unseen
this has
to be
taken
seriously
in other
words
the
it's only
a
hallucination
thing
that
horseshit
is just
passe
I mean
reality
is only
a hallucination
for crying
out loud
haven't you
heard
so that
takes care
of that
it's only
a hallucination
what we've
got here
folks
is an
intelligent
entelechy
of some
sort
that is
frantic
to communicate
with human
beings
for some
reason
and
the
possibilities
can be
logically
enumerated
I mean
what we've
got here
is either
this is an
extraterrestrial
you know
evolved in
around a
different
star
possibly
with a
different
biology
may not
even be
made of
matter
came across
an enormous
distance
sometime
maybe long
ago
has some
agenda
which we
may or
may not
be able
to
conceive
of
this is
it
the real
thing
as the
little
girl
said
in
poltergeist
they're
here
so that's
one possibility
that's
just
one
possibility
and
I
present
these
without
judgment
because
I'm
not
sure
if
an
extraterrestrial
wanted to
interact
with the
human
society
and it
had
ethics
that
forbade
it
from
landing
trillion ton
beryllium
ships
and the
united
nations
plaza
in other
words
if it
were
subtle
I
can
see
hiding
yourself
inside
a
shamanic
intoxication
you would
say
let's
analyze
these
people
okay
they're
kind of
hard-headed
rationalists
except
they have
this
phenomenon
called
getting
loaded
and
when
they
talk
to
them
from
there
and
they'll
never
realize
that
we're
of a
different
status
than
pink
elephants
okay
that's
one
possibility
now
another
possibility
is
that
this is
not
about
extraterrestrials
flight
and
enormous
technologies
and
distant
homelands
that
and
this is
maybe
that
there
is
a
parallel
continuum
nearby
essentially
right
here
and
call
it
fairyland
call
it
the
western
realm
whatever
you like
but
you
don't
go
there
in
starships
you
go
there
through
magical
doorways
which
are
opened
via
ritual
and
things
like
that
is
a
possibility
as
or
in
all
times
and
places
except
western
europe
for
the
last
years
has
insisted
that
these
parallel
domains
of
intelligence
and
organization
exist
there is
a third
possibility
which
I
leave it
to you
to decide
whether
this is
the more
conservative
position
or
the more
radical
position
and
I
reached
this
reluctantly
and
I'm
not
sure
this
is
my
position
but
these
things
have
a
weird
these
tykes
as I
call
them
these
self
transforming
machine
elves
these
syntactical
homunculi
have
a
very
weird
relationship
to
human
beings
first
of
all
they
love
us
they
care
for
some
reason
whoever
and
whatever
they
are
they're
far
more
aware
of
us
than
we
are
aware
of
them
I
mean
witness
the
fact
that
they
welcome
me
so
is
it
possible
that
at the
end
of the
20th
century
at
the
end
of
years
of
materialism
reductionism
positivism
what
we're
about
to
discover
is
probably
the
least
likely
denouement
any
of
us
expected
out
of
our
dilemma
what
we're
about
to
discover
is
that
death
has
no
sting
that
what
you
penetrate
on
DMT
is
an
ecology
of
human
souls
in
another
dimension
of
adolescence
and
early
adulthood
getting
free
from
catholicism
and its
assumptions
and
I
never
imagined
that
a thorough
exploration
of life's
mysteries
would lead
to the
conclusion
that
in fact
this is
but a
prelude
we are
in a
very
tiny
womb
of
some
sort
our
lives
are
gestations
and
this
is
not
where
we
are
destined
to
unfold
ourselves
into
what it
means
to be
human
this
is
some
kind
of
a
metamorphic
stage
like
the
pupa
of
a
butterfly
and
so
this
is
deep
water
because
you
know
we
are
fairly
agitated
over
the
fact
that
we
fear
the
planet
is
dying
and
us
with
it
this
stuff
raises
the
know
what
dying
is
therefore
it's
very
uncertain
exactly
what
sort
of
an
attitude
we
should
take
to
it
and
as
I
say
I
am
not
advocating
a
position
mysteries
are
not
unsolved
problems
they
are
mysteries
when
you
stand
naked
in
enjoy
talking
to
people
about
this
because
I
think
that
the
human
body
the
human
mind
these
are
tools
for
the
soul
to
use
in
the
effort
to
unlock
its
meaning
and
its
destiny
and
millions
of
people
perhaps
billions
of
people
have
gone
to
the
grave
without
knowing
that
this
is
possible
this
experience
that
I've
just
described
to
you
and
it's
perfectly
harmless
I mean
I
think
that
if
science
would
back
out
of
politics
and
do
its
work
we
could
establish
that
DMT
is
the
most
harmless
the
safest
of
all
hallucinogens
the
naturally
in
the
human
brain
is
the
first
clue
to
its
the
fact
that
it's
benign
the
second
clue
is
the
fact
that
it
only
lasts
to
minutes
what
that
means
to
a
pharmacologist
is
the
body
perfectly
understands
what
to do
with
this
compound
you
take
a hit
of
DMT
and
your
body
says
oh
I
activate
deanimation
cycle
activate
demethylation
cycle
activate
it
knows
what
to
do
and
so
within
minutes
you're
down
a
drug
that
you
take
and
hours
later
you're
lying
around
in
warm
baths
and
refusing
telephone
calls
is
a
drug
you
shouldn't
have
taken
because
it's
hitting you
too
hard
that's
not
clean
it's
not
smooth
DMT
the
most
powerful
hallucinogen
known
to
man
and
science
clears
your
system
in
minutes
I
mean
you're
so
down
you
can't
you
don't
have
a
small
headache
or
need
to
take
a
nap
or
anything
you're
ready
to
do
phone
calls
so
how
can
it
be
then
that
a
compound
which
each
of
us
carries
right
here
right
in
the
pineal
gland
right
in
the
Ajna
chakra
the
philosopher's
stone
is
no
further
away
than
that
how
can
this
be
secret
from
us
how
can
we
be
trapped
in
a
dimension
of
such
limitation
and
such
mundane
when
our
own
nervous
systems
and
the
ecology
around
us
and
our
own
history
over the
past
half
million
years
argues
that
this
is
what
we
were
born
and
bred
for
this
is
where
we
belong
this
is
what
at
play
in
the
fields
of
if
at
best
a
piece
of
secret
knowledge
jealously
guarded
by
somebody
I mean
I don't
know
there are
lots
of
mystery
cults
and
secret
societies
in the
world
I don't
know
if
any
of
them
are
guarding
DMT
as
a
secret
I
may
be
so
no
one
told
me
to
keep
my
you
know
and
love
the
Argentine
surrealist
writer
Jorge
Luis
Borges
well
Borges
has
a
book
I
believe
it's
called
Labyrinths
and
in
Labyrinths
there
is
a
short
story
called
The
Sect
of
the
Phoenix
and
it
says
there
is
a
sacrament
older
than
mankind
the
sectarians
have
been
the
victims
of
every
persecution
in
history
and
the
sectarians
have
been
the
purveyors
of
every
persecution
in
history
these
sectarians
are not
identifiable
by
race
or
place
or
language
or
time
to the
adept
the mystery
appears
ridiculous
yet
they do
not
speak
of it
one
child
can
initiate
another
it
is
orange
ruins
our
propitious
places
do it
in the
moonlight
in the
thresholds
of
buildings
and that's
all that's
said
it's a page
and a
half
and it
suggests
and
see
here's
the
thing
I mean
I am
not
as
articulate
on this
subject
as I wish
I could
be
if this
is not
the secret
that these
lineages
are guarding
then they're
guarding
an empty
house
this is
the secret
it is
it cannot
be
anything else
it is
the neoplatonic
one
it is
the transubstantium
object
the panis
supersubstantialis
of the
alchemists
and
it's
and
I'm not
saying
that people
have known
about this
for a long
time
DMT is
in many
plants
as I
said
but spread
very thinly
and
we don't
have
historical
records
of anyone
ever
concentrating
it
I've
done
the
DMT
plant
preparations
of the
Amazon
the
snuffs
and
the
ayahuasca
and
on
ayahuasca
if it is
heavily
laced
with the
DMT
containing
plant
after
hours
of
breath
work
and
drumming
alone
in the
jungle
you can
begin
to
open
it up
to the
place
the DMT
will carry
you to
in 45
seconds
in an
Upper East
Side
apartment
whether
you like
it
or not
you like
or not
you like
to
die
or not
you like
to
hear
your
language
I'm
to
you like
to
you like
to
see
the
and
you like
to
see