LBJ took the IRT down to 4th Street USA.
When he got there, what did he see?
The youth of America on LSD.
Rick Strassman is a pretty damned amazing guy. If you are not already familiar with his master work, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, then, well, please, familiarize yourself with it! And now you don't even have to read the book, you can watch the movie!
The basic story is this: Rick Strassman is a neuroscientist who has done pioneering research on DMT, one of the main chemical compounds found in Ayahuasca, a mixture of naturally occurring hallucinogenic substances utilized by traditional Shamans throughout the Amazon rainforest. Strassman wrote about the initial phase of his research in his book DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Part of what made Strassman's work so revolutionary was that it was the first time since the 1960's that the US federal government had allowed human subjects to participate in research using "scheduled" hallucinogens. This has resulted in a new Renaissance of serious scientific research on the human mind using psychedelics as a unique and irreplaceable tool.
But don't just sit back and wait for the movie to come out on DVD. It's time to join the psychedelic revolution! (Or, as the case may be, to re-enlist!) You can support the movie by making donations in two different ways:
- via kickstarter (which is especially easy if you are on Facebook and have an Amazon account)
- via paypal
The movie itself features such psychedelic luminaries as: Ralph Abraham, Marlene Dobkin de Rios, Alex Grey, Huston Smith, and Martina Hoffmann.
Many thanks to the folks at The Daily Grail, which is where I heard about this!
If you found this post of interest, you might also want to check out LSD, Creativity and Spirituality.
[The image to the right is a poster for a 2008 exhibit by Martina Hoffmann (one of the artists featured in the film) at the Microcosm Gallery, while the image below is an art blanket, titled "Cusp", also by Martina Hoffmann -- it is available for purchase at artblanketsonline.com.]
I believe ayahuasca is intricately tied to a Brazilian syncretic religion called Santo Daime, and was a subject of controversy a few years back when an American church of the sect wanted to use it for their services. I think they won. Way to stick it to the man!
ReplyDeleteThe Church involved was the União do Vegetal (UDV).
ReplyDeleteAnd yes they won! It was a very important precedent. Here is a link with information specifically about the case: http://www.udvusa.com/