[Terrapreta] a good story

[Richard Haard]

Lou

The story sounds like a book I once read about similar divinatory  
materials - The visionary vine - This is a story about the  
hallucinatory plant of the genus Banisteriopsis . I read the book  
about 40 years ago and could not find the title on Amazon.com. But  
this book 'the rough guide to Brazil 6' mentions Banisteriopsis and  
how the cult has spread to fashionable areas of Sao Paulo and Rio de  
Janiero where intellectuals participate in visionary ceremonies.

I researched these materials during the  late 1960's , a period when I  
was researching and testing myself for my own book which I wrote and  
published in 1970, Poisonous and Hallucinogenic Mushrooms. Another  
person who at the time was a Ph.D student of  famous Harvard professor  
Dr Richard Schultes also told me many stories of the era and his  
travels in Brazil and Peru. These were heady times so to speak but to  
put this information to the general public is taboo as this is how  
psychedelia was introduced to the general public by Dr Tim Leary and  
others. Now in 2008 there are no reasons to believe the optimism of  
the era that these hallucinogens in general use can have personal and  
society wide benefits.

What happened was a transfer to intoxication like in booze, rather  
than divination. Ie 'getting stoned'  You know the rest of the story.  
Most people have no comprehension there is any other state of mind  
than intoxication.  There is nothing different in the activity of the  
alkaloid in Banisteriopsis than LSD, Psilocybin or Dimethyl tryptomine  
(DMT). Please be careful with this and keep this information to your  
inner circle because it only encourages abuse.

I can only guide you to the abundant literature on the physiology of  
this class of materials. I can tell you from experience that 6 species  
of Psilocbe and Stropharia have subtile differences in effect even  
though it is 30 years since I imbibed.

My advice that I wrote in my book is to give yourself a limited  
lifetime budget for the use of this and these materials. I compared  
using hallucinogens to befriending a wolverine . Such soft, beautiful  
fur and yet faster than you can perceive she will run her teeth up  
your arm. There are many people who have never recovered from an  
unguided trip during the 1960's, no different than a Viet Nam veteran  
still dealing with the demons of his experiences.

This is why as a shamanistic ritual the seer is the user or who guides  
the 'group' through the ritual.

Be careful

Rich Haard



On May 30, 2008, at 5:16 AM, lou gold wrote:

> Sometimes the desire to share something overwhelms on-topic etiquette
>
> One rarely gets an opportunity to share something very special. Such  
> is the case with the amazing story of the evolution of the Santo  
> Daime in Brazil. Jose Murilo and I feel privileged to present the  
> English translation of...
>   The Daime, Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil A...
>
>
>
> There's less good news from another part of Amazonia but we are  
> getting the story out into the world:    VIOLENCE! It's incredibly  
> interesting to see how...
>
> hugs and blessings,
>
> lou
>
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