[Terrapreta] a good story

[lou gold]

Hi All,

I'm certainly open to a stop-and-desist request if folks think it's
appropriate. I would not take it personal. And I would most most certainly
comply.

But please do keep in mind that terra preta has its roots deep in Amazonia
in all of its aspects and that's what I think I am writing about and why I
perceive that all this seemingly "off-topic" stuff is in fact deeply and
fundamentally interrelated.

Just one person's view (mine), of course. I'll withdraw it without prejudice
if asked. But perhaps yet another story is appropriate (from my personal
history). I was raised in part by an aunt and uncle who were scientists --
she a botanist and he a nematologist. They, and the scientific method they
represented, served as my main intellectual role models across my formative
years. My uncle had a huge social conscience -- he left a promising career
as a concert pianist to devote his life to what was then called "the green
revolution" and he focused on finding ways to help reduce the impact of
nematodes on certain crops. He wanted to reduce hunger and suffering in the
world. Before he died we shared many good talks. He sadly told me that he
felt that he had wasted his life in agricultural research in the styles of
the post WWII laboratories. He applauded my growing interest in ecology and
he urged me to cast a wider net than he had. And, this is precisely what I
hope I am doing and sharing on this forum.

hugs and blessings,

lou



On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 1:15 PM, Kevin Chisholm <kchisholm at ca.inter.net>
wrote:

> 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
>>>
>>>    _______________________________________________
>>>    Terrapreta mailing list
>>>    Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org <mailto:Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
>>>
>>> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
>>>    http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org
>>>    http://info.bioenergylists.org
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> http://lougold.blogspot.com
>> http://flickr.com/visionshare/sets
>> http://youtube.com/my_videos
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
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>
>
>


-- 
http://lougold.blogspot.com
http://flickr.com/visionshare/sets
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