[Terrapreta] a good story

[lou gold]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your concern. I very much agree that there were many abuses in
the past. My purpose in my blog is not to advocate or solicit (indeed, that
would be against the precepts of my religion which explicitly opposes
'proselytizing'). My purpose is to share information about very vital
movements now occurring in Brazil and the world.

I also love a great story in the fashion of Wade Davis (who might be the
Richard Evans Schultes student you recall). Check out the Davis books at
Amazon or his TED talk. Personally, think that his book ONE RIVER is the
single best book ever written on Amazonia.
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&tag=mozilla-20&index=blended&link_code=qs&field-keywords=wade%20davis&sourceid=Mozilla-search

With regard to ayahuasca, it's pretty well established fact that -- being
it's challenging purgative qualities -- it has little "recreational
potential." You can find lots of up-to-date solid science about it at:
http://www.ayahuasca.com/

BTW, ayahuasca use in a religious context is fully legal in Brazil (even for
small children with parental approval). The public commission set up to
study it concluded that the religious use promoted the highest values of the
society. It's simply not a "party-drug".

hugs and blessings,

lou





On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 11:59 AM, Richard Haard <richrd at nas.com> wrote:

> 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...<http://lougold.blogspot.com/2008/05/daime-caetano-veloso-gilberto-gil.html>
>
>
>
> 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...<http://lougold.blogspot.com/2008/05/violence-its-incredibly-interesting-to_28.html>
>
> hugs and blessings,
>
> lou
>
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-- 
http://lougold.blogspot.com
http://flickr.com/visionshare/sets
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