[Terrapreta] a good story

[Kevin Chisholm]

Dear Lou

All of us signed up to the Terra Preta List because of an interest in 
Terra Preta. That is our common interest. Unless we have the mentality 
of a hockey puck, we all have other interests also.
lou gold wrote:
> 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.

May I respectfully remind you that, while it may be your purpose, this 
is not the purpose of the Terra Preta List. You write good stories, and 
the causes may be important, but on the TP List, they distract from 
discussions on Terra Preta. To the extent that your stories and causes 
distract from the core interest of the subscribers to the TP List, these 
very interesting and well meaning stories are spam. "... to share 
information..." is a politically correct term for advocating and soliciting.
>
> 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 
> <http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&tag=mozilla-20&index=blended&link_code=qs&field-keywords=wade%20davis&sourceid=Mozilla-search>
>

I am sure it is a good book for people who are interested in that sort 
of thing. However, people who are interested in that sort of thing are 
probably subscribed to relevant lists. I would doubt that anyone 
subscribed to the TP list with a view to getting recommendations on good 
books about the drug culture.
> 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/

Given that you now have a very nice Blog catering to the Brazilian 
Culture, would it not be more appropriate to "share information" about 
this site on your Blog, rather on the TP List, where the core interest 
is in trying to understand TP and its potential for use elsewhere?
>
> 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".

I am sure that is interesting for people interested in that sort of 
thing. However, to be rather blunt, I am interested in understanding 
Terra Preta, with a view of determining how it works, and if it is 
sensible to apply some variation of it elsewhere.

I personally will appreciate anything you can tell me, and the TP List, 
that will help increase our understanding of Terra Preta.

I personally feel that anything else posted to the TP List is spam, 
regardless of how interesting it may be.

Did you know that I was the largest Sugar Beet Grower in Nova Scotia 
last year? Did you know that last year I was the second largest grower 
of Artemisia Annua Anamed in all of Canada, the second largest Country 
in the entire world? I think this is enormously interesting, but I 
wouldn't elaborate further on the TP List, because it would be rather 
spammy, wouldn't you say?

How would you suggest we proceed to increase the "Signal to Noise Ratio" 
of the Terra Preta List?

Best wishes,

Kevin
>
> hugs and blessings,
>
> lou
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 11:59 AM, Richard Haard <richrd at nas.com 
> <mailto: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
> http://youtube.com/my_videos
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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