Manifesting The Mind is a forthcoming documentary about psychedelic drugs. The trailer features such heads as Dennis McKenna, Alex Grey, and Dr. Rick Strassman. When it comes to laying out a comsic rap about the magic of hallucinogens, these guys are pros. Manifesting The Mind (via Dose Nation)
Feature documentary film about psychedelics
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why do all psychedelic imagery have to contain a) bright colours, b) heavily recursive abstract imagery, c) translucent figures?
could the psychedelic movement exist without the moog?
i propose a new psychedelic aesthetic that involves simple non-repeated black and white shapes made out of real materials like wood, cardboard and water based paint - all set to the sound of banjos.
there's a recession on, you know.
Someone I know says that this is what you see when you're on a trip. So I hear.
forthcoming? i want it now!
also, i agree with avraamov's aesthetics. i think it just needs a dab of mustard.
Lots of interesting philosophy, been a fan of Alix Grey's art and ideas for a while. Psychedelics are kind of a touchy subject aren't they? On one end you have people completely against anyone taking any ever and others advocating everyone should. I guess I'm a centrists on this it's not for everyone but those who find something in psychedelics have done nothing morally wrong. For those who do there are niches where a one can get along perfectly fine and have a happy life even on occasion someone may have brilliant ideas that are later celebrated by others. The same applies for all those who abstain. There is a different emergence of ideas on both sides which have and will broaden are views on reality. Regardless of which I think education is key for anything important to come at all.
Disclaimer: I have never taken mushrooms, LSD, etcetera but have not discredited the idea as I have been very interested information and accounts of Dimethyltryptamine.
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some info:
dennis mckenna is now leading trips to peru to explore shamanism and ayahuasca -- i think he's on year 5. ayahuasca is chock-a-block with DMT.
for the most part, the ayahuasca trip is nothing like alex gray art -- at least not for me -- more like a lucid dream with photo-real f/x. the really out-there experiences do get into phosphene type phenomenon -- flashes and sparkles and really trippy stuff. but nothing figurative. also nothing hippy. ayahuasca is way better than lsd in my opinion. it feels much more like an integrative experience whereas lsd is a bit rocky in terms of the impact on one's psyche.
mushrooms are also less...intense -- more like taking a psyche-tonic.
those who have taken a certain amount of these drugs do separate their sense of self, reality, life, etc., into the time before taking and after. it is like having a lot of transparent film removed from one's consciousness -- making things more "clear". the universal truths that are accessed are really truths about yourself -- things you know but are more likely to pay attention to and tell yourself when you're basically drugged-up.
tidbit: terrence mckenna died of brain cancer that was described as "micological" in its distribution throughout the brain tissue.
also: terrence ran an experiment in bellingham, wa to remove the toxins from oil-soaked wood chips by using mushrooms. apparently the test results were very positive and could have been further explored for use in disasters and industrial waste treatment. i don't think anyone is following up on it. but craig ventor is making new life with plans to make things that eat oil and/or poop some power source out -- like hydrogen. maybe he'll make some new mushrooms.
and: alex g. used to shave 1/2 his head for his performance art.
plus: it was popular in the 80s to take acid and watch disney's alice and wonderland...not all that deep, as far as "ego-loss" experiences go. though, alice does have trouble figuring out who she is (in that scene with the caterpillar). regardless, it was not typically seen as a self-expanding drug in that era -- more of a recreational experience akin to xtc but without the bliss.
in conclusion -- these drugs are mostly safe - and very valuable from a personal development perspective. some are really strong and should be researched -- go to erowid to see what folks say about them. a lot of them should only be taken in a very calm and safe environment and the trips can last a long time. ayahuasca trips last pretty much all night (you take the juice as it gets dark and come out as the sun comes up -- sitting still the entire time -- it's better than it sounds though). acid, if taken in the right dose and of pure quality will really knock your socks off -- should be taken the first several times inside with basically no responsibilities or interaction with the outside. when it starts to wear off one can go outside and see how the world is out there -- but a really large dose should make that notion seem nearly impossible to attempt.
hopefully this flick will get some of the gen-twitter kidz into this and will help make the world a better place though the possible insights afforded by tweaking your brain chemistry.
Do those multi-faced heads remind anyone else of the Master Control Program from Tron?
psych culture is definitely becoming blase. a culture that prides itself on being progressive should at least incorporate a mix of elements and not just the paradigm that people know it as. oh, and the events really need to not be so dubstep dependent.
If your wondering about the bright colors and other repeating imagery associated with psychedelics you should really read Aldous Huxley's "Heaven and Hell". He describes the colors as preternatural and draws interesting conclusions about the uniformity of descriptions that different unassociated individuals use for their trips. Basically he says trippers are exploring uncharted territory of the mind and peoples minds are more alike than they are different.
He also relates imagery from trips to descriptions of religious visions from historical texts, and relates the bright colors to pigments used in royal garmets.
Its a brilliant book and much more awesome than his more popular work "Doors of perception".
These guys are merely deriving at a universal truth that scores upon scores of laymen, philosophers, and even NON Drug Takers have always known. That man is essentially divine spirit first and foremost. that our physical manifestation is second to that truth and that mans true being does not originate from that organ behind your ears.
Thanks for posting this- I will definitely make a point to see it.
The most important point is made in the last minute of the video. ALL experience is a drug experience, because we are made of drugs. Small changes in chemistry effect huge changes in 'reality'. Everything IS an illusion. There is no objective reality. The scientific method and all 'truth' in general is merely human consensus. Whatever we believe is true.
The last comment stuck out for me: "All experience is a drug experience."
There's a lot of truth to this...
I had not heard of this vid, but looks brilliant. Terence McKenna's brother says in the clip: "conscousness seems to permeate everything"
I thought I'd share these quotes from the Ashtavakra Gita:
"It is in the infinite ocean of myself that the mind-creation called the world takes place. I am supremely peaceful and formless, and I remain as such." [7.3]
"Let the body last to the end of the Age, or let it come to an end right now. What have you gained or lost, who consist of pure consciousness?" [15.10]
The ancient teachers will tell you that our entire existence is merely a dream, the substrate of consciousness:
"The cycle of births and deaths is from time immemorial caused by ignorance which displays itself as pleasure and pain and yet is only a dream and unreal."
—Tripura Rahasya XVII 24-26
And as the video points out, the loss of ego (ego death) is, according to ancient and modern masters, the key to everything:
Where there is not the slightest trace of the ego, there is the Self.
—Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
If you wish for light, be ready to receive light.
Nourish your ego and be deprived of light.
—Sufi mystic Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273)
Then I got ripped off because my morning commute isn't blowing my mind at all.
avraamov
- Yeah, I've wondered about those patterns too. Although the mind does seem to lend itself quite well to fractals and repeated patterns on drugs (chemical reaction I guess) I've never really seen the colors. It's very hard to generalize about psychotropics so I won't say it's bunk but for the same reason I refuse to believe that we're all tapping into some common subconscious that looks the same to all of us. I think a few influential, well-meaning, intelligent people dominated the early discussion of the drug and had a restrictive effect on how people came to perceive their trips.
I believe those drugs need to be yanked away from the hippies. Nothing personal, they just need an image make-over. Get more guys in suits talking about it as a legitimate tenant/extension of philosophy, psychology, lateral thinking, etc.
Remove as much of the baggage as possible and present it as something fresh and new and pregnant with possibilities. Get it out of the patchouli-smelling basements and into the sunlight.
I've tried LSD before.
Two things that really struck me about it.
First is the level of conciousness you have. Where as with alcohol your awareness of the situation is dulled I found that I was quite aware that I was tripping and I can remember everything I saw and felt and I can remember everything about the situation around me.
The second, and most intriguing thing, was how it affects the information your brain takes in. It was as if it was taking what I heard, felt and saw and, at random, making me feel them through a different sensory organ. As in I saw the noise of people walking and of music and I felt the colours of the objects around me. Oh and yea, there was a VERY strong feeling of being one with everything. It was a kind of realisation that were all made out of the same stuff and no matter what patterns of ideas we use to differentiate each other we are still the same, very hard to explain propperly but it is an amazing experience. I was seriously sceptical about the effects before I took it but now I'd thoroughly recommend you try it at least once in your life.
This DVD makes me think that 2012 is approaching and Terence is not among us anymore... almost not in the same spacetime...
this is a very exciting prospect.
Alright peoples. First of all, I try to take some form of psychedelics quarterly, by way of mental hygiene. The Crick and Mullis (although Mullis is rather eccentric/troublesome) examples resonate with me since I am a biologist who was originally inspired to study LIFE (!) when I felt the universe respire on LSD the tender age of 15ish. A couple of constructive criticisms about the trailer: where are the brown folks, women, and young people? Don't they have something relevant to say about the experience? Nah, just white guys with old school cred, I guess.
Beyond that. Damn, the dislike of the hippie culture is so rough! I am down on it too sometimes, hardly being a member, but shit, where do you people get your drugs? Without them, nobody would be enjoying this mind expanding experience since we'd probably all be walking backwards in our suits talking into cell phones or something. Or watching more fucking kitten videos at the very least. And I happen to really miss the dubstep, you West Coast fucks.
Back to the matter at hand, though. Speaking to the *aesthetics* of psychedelic culture, I can speak to the vivid color nature of the experience, but then I am an artistically minded chap--everyone's different. That being said, I have most definitely seen squares and rusty-earthy-circuity-bloody-microscopic themes that aren't so technicolor. And yet my most intense experiences, for example in the Amazon on Yage (ie ayahuasca, orally active DMT) have been these primary color wonders of geometry that defy verbal explanation. For that alone, Alex Grey can claim title to Prometheus reincarnate. That is the thing. On major doses, we aren't talking about an experience any more...it's like a *place* you visit. If it sounds like gobbledy-gook, it should.
It's not for everybody, but for those it IS for, well...
I've been taking psychedelics for over twenty years at a frequency of once or twice a year. I think that one of my great objections to the hippy mystic drug experience is that it tries to make the experience legitimate by claiming it to be deep, profound and meaningful. Not that it can't be, but the thoughts you have about it before you take the drug have a huge influence on your trip. People who take these drugs often expect to have mystical experiences, and therefore do.
All this quasi-religious talk actually makes me feel quite uncomfortable. Just because you feel connected to everything does not mean you are. Reality is just an illusion, blah blah blah...
I also often hear drug users disparage recreational drug use. Personally I think taking them just for fun is legitimate. Hedonism gets a bad rap in our culture but playing with childlike glee seems pretty good to me. Using these drugs for self exploration is fine, I've done plenty of it, but there are other perspectives.
All this stuff about deep and meaningful truths is hokum. LSD impedes your brain's ability to communicate from neuron to neuron. The crazy psychedelic patterns are its attempts at interpolating from the restricted amount of information that it's receiving.
Then, like a piece of recording equipment that has no input, its sensitivity level increases to try to mitigate the problems. This has the hilarious side effect of making everyday or absurd notions seem resoundingly true, resulting in garbage ideas about the nature of the cosmos and reality getting no critical appraisal at the time they occur.
It doesn't uncover any underlying reality, it just buggers up your perception and confuses you. In, it must be said, a particularly interesting way.
Not all psychedelic imagery and art is bright and recursive. See the art of HR Giger for a taste of this kind of night time trip. Giger was very influenced by LSD and Tim Leary, but somehow his art completely circumvents the whole newagey-pastel-hippy vibe.
Musically groups like Black Sabbath and the Electric Hellfire Club come to mind as well.
What everyone seems to gloss over is the subjective nature of this type of experience and how heavily it is influenced by set and setting. \m/ Sat
And you know, it's a sparkling testament to the human spirit that these philosophers and non-drug takers could arrive there, despite their limitations!
* * * *On the aesthetic: All aesthetics -- even those which are supposedly based upon experience -- contains cultural components, and "psychedelic art" is no exception. And yes, as others have noted, those components cross the line to cliche at times. This is really do different from any art, where the flashes of brilliance are accompanied by buckets of derivative stuff.
But the psychedelic aesthetic does have some relationship to the experience, at least in part. The recursion/self-similarity is there in spades and Alex Grey's work captures that nicely. His best works remind me of a strong cup of yage, heavy with tryptamine admixtures. In general I think the '00 cliches work better than the 60's.
Not sure where the colors come from. Yes, colors in the experience can be very saturated and intense, but not in the day-glo way that psy-art usually pro treys them.
What I personally don't get is "psychedelic music." For the most part, that seems to be almost all culture and very little experience. Sound is one of the main sensory modalities I experience when on these substances, and what I hear has very little relationship to the so-called "psychedelic" musics.
Unfortunately, i have to agree with some of what Anonymous21 said (first paragraph, and "Then, like a piece of recording equipment that has no input, its sensitivity level increases to try to mitigate the problems.")
But...
I also agree that this has the byproduct of silencing the part of the brain that sustains the ego. Also, the feelings of universal oneness appear to not simply be a random phenomenon, but instead, a byproduct of the silencing of the very ego.
I sometimes explain the ego as being similar to a video i watched of a little boy holding a fishing pole; he runs around in circles as the fish dangling from the end appears to be chasing him although the only reason it is chasing him is because he is causing this to happen by holding on to the pole.
LSD has the byproduct of silencing the ego for a limited duration of time. It is making the fish float. One takes lsd- and the fish starts to float, 'thank god, that basterdly thing isnt chasing me' but they are still holding on to the pole. It is not until one sees that they are holding the pole (like the seeing of the workings of the ego in its entirety) that the pole is set down.
So after an LSD trip, they go back to striving for this illusion which is based upon their experience they had. And psychological striving is really what the whole game of the ego is. It is what sustains the ego. The brain may evolve, but the mind can not.
Forthcoming? I got my DVD around 6 months ago, hoping part 2 will be released soon. Somewhat uneven but generally good doc.