Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of those writers we study in high school and then forget. When I encountered his essays as an adult, I realized he was speaking to me: "Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe?" Emerson asked. "Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by ( Read more... )

The visionary power of psychedelics remains a mystery, one that was abandoned by the scientific academy when psychedelics were made illegal a generation ago. Equally mysterious: Why should the private exploration of one's inner reality, by chemical or other means, be considered a serious threat to a "free society"?

In The Long Trip, a study of ( Read more... )

Today feels off. Yesterday was awesome and the day before was pretty damn good, too. But today? not so great ( Read more... )

Friday night, N and I did salvia divinorum for the first time. It was... unlike anything else I've ever done. Imagine the intensity of a 10-hour acid trip compacted into the time frame of a lengthy nitrous trip. It was approximately a 3-minute foray into weird-land where I didn't know who I was or where I was. I knew there was someone with me, but ( Read more... )

optimystik and I went to the doctor on saturday because he is sick and he needs referrals for other stuff. He's got tonsillitis. I seem to be doing ok, though, but that's because I've been sleeping when I'm tired (and I've been excessively tired the past couple of days), have been staying well away from sweet things like ice cream, even when my partners are ( Read more... )

I am interested in examining consumption of a transformed substance (wine) versus consumption of a transformative substance (any number of drugs or specially prepared herbs) within a spiritual context. Why do shamans fly (many times with the aid of prepared substances), while modern-day witches have opted to remain grounded (using only wine, and ( Read more... )