THE ENTHEOBOTANY CONFERENCE
The Past, Present and Future
Uses of Psychoactive Agents
On October 18 - 20 of 1996, an
international gathering of 1000
scientists, poets, mystics and psychonauts gathered at
the Palace of Fine Arts in
San Francisco to attend the Entheobotany Conference...
A multi- disciplinary colloquium
on psycho-active plants, Shamanism and ecstatic
states...
The proceedings began on a high-note
with profound lyrical poetry
expressing the beatitudes, majesty and mystery of
life... A tribute and appreciation
to nature for its bountiful gifts of diverse natural
psycho-active plants, which
have been used throughout the aeons of time to
"Inspire, Delight, Heal and Enlighten"
humankind...
From here we moved on to hear Antonio
Escohotado speak of the history
of inebriation, the Dionysian impulse, and how our
natural impulse toward transcendence,
joy, love and freedom has been consistently attempted
to be thwarted by oppressive
religious, political and economic institutions...
These opposing forces reached a
crescendo here in America in the LSD-50 induced
psycho-spiritual/socio-political
revolution of the late 1960's... The full impact and
ramifications of these momentous
times are still being felt today... We see the growth
of the Internet, the decentralization
of power through the dissemination of knowledge, and
more young people than ever
experimenting with LSD and other psycho-active
agents... The recent passing of the
"prophet to many," Timothy Leary, reminded us once
again to deeply examine
ourselves, our freedoms, our society and our current
socio-economic and ecological
challenges... The need to confront and peacefully and
intelligently transform ourselves
and our current materialistic techno-bureaucratic
society is our #1 challenge...
Indeed our survival, and our progressive evolution as
psycho- spiritual beings evolving
here on Gaia is fully dependant upon it... Indeed the
time and opportunity for an
unprecedented global renaissance is at hand, and this
conference on Entheobotany
testified to this as it provided profoundly important,
professionally presented information
on the conscious use of psycho-active agents to
further our individual and collective
awakening into higher consciousness... A consciousness
which is rooted at source
in Love, Laughter, Beauty, Truth, Creativity,
Compassion and Mystery...
Throughout the conference, we learned of
the ancient indigenous
peoples use of sacred plants such as Peyote,
Ayahuasca, Ibogaine and of course the
magnificent sacred Psilocybin "magic" mushroom...
These organic sacred substances, which
have been ingested from
time immemorial to induce inner states of higher
awareness, are the substrate and
foundation of all Pagan (Earth Based) religions... In
listening closely, one becomes
aware that all religions, including the
Judeo-Christian religion, are Pagan in origin...
There is a profound difference between having a belief
about God(dess)... All That
Is... And experiencing God(dess)... All That Is... The
former, which promotes unconsciousness,
constitutes dogmatic orthodox religion... The latter,
which promotes consciousness,
constitutes a mystical/spiritual/religious awareness
of the sacredness, beauty and
mystery that is Life...
This is the priceless gift that the
ritual use of psycho-active
plants hold for the individual who chooses to move
beyond the confines of his/her
own conditioned mind... And, thus, effect true
healing... Yes, indeed, psychedelic
mind expanding agents have the unique intrinsic
ability, when used with awareness,
to liberate the mind of illusion(s), while providing
core insights into the nature
of reality... A reality which transcends linear
thought processes of everyday reality...
Indeed, one comes to understand that we live in a
perceptual reality which is a reflection
of our own attitudes and beliefs... Life is Good!...
Yes, psycho-active plants and
the new designer empathogenic drugs such as MDMA
(Ecstasy) have the innate abilities
to open one's feelings and perceptions to the finer
things of life... Better living
through chemistry... Moreover, if we are so blessed,
we may come to experience the
ineffable beauty of our true self, which is one with
God(dess)... All That Is...
In this sublime experience we come to know directly
the foundation for all mystically
inspired science, art, religion and philosophy... A
PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS...
Modern science, through intensive
research by pioneering biochemists
such as Alexander Shulgin (the creator of MDMA and
other designer drugs), has unlocked
the biochemical substrates and various
neuro-transmitters in the brain which are
primarily responsible for the creation of
"metaphysical experiences"...
i.e.: Psilocybin (4-hydroxy-N.N-dimethyltryptamine)
are the active hallucinogenic
agents... These compounds contain the basic indole
structure characteristic of most
hallucinogens found in nature, including various
amides of lysergic acid (of which
LSD is a semi-synthetic representative),
N,N-dimethyltryptamine, harmine and its
analogues and ibogaine. The most notable exception to
this basic structure is mescaline
(Peyote) which chemically is
3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylethylamine and hence is in the
same class as amphetamines...
"Brave New World" is here and has been
for sometime...
The future looks bright as modern science has unlocked
the biochemistry of ecstatic
states of consciousness... Indeed we are at choice to
responsibly experiment, as
we so please, to consciously use these psycho-active
agents to "Inspire, Delight,
Heal and Enlighten" ourselves... A future trend of
immense evolutionary importance
in our psycho-spiritual development concerns itself
around the possible creation/availability
of oral DMT (dimethyltryptamine)... DMT is a very
powerful, rapidly metabolized,
short acting psycho-active agent... DMT, as noted, is
the basic active chemical substrate
of most hallucinogenic drugs...
In the immediate future, as the Age of
Awareness and Spiritual
Freedom progresses, we will enter into the world of
"Haves and Have Nots"...
Those who have had a transcendental/mystical
experience, and those who have not...
In the "Brave New World" of advanced chemically pure
psycho-active agents,
many of us will be asking each other whether we "Have"
or "Have Not"
taken our trip today... Why Not?!... All good clean
fun and quite democratic in that
many of us will choose no drugs or psycho-active
agents at all; since many of us
will be naturally high on Light and Life itself... The
essential point being that
each and every individual has the fundamental right to
experience reality as they
so choose... No more "Big Brother," thank you very
much...
To summarize: We, humanity, are now
passing through a gateway in
our psycho-spiritual development. We have now come to
a turning point in our evolution.
We are witnessing, participating in, and experiencing
the disintegration and reintegration
of the socio-economic and philosophical matrix of this
planet. We are becoming increasingly
aware that we are co-creators of our own destiny. Our
future is being created NOW,
through the choices we are all making. We are part and
parcel of a poly-tantric multi-dimensional
mind whose experience of itself is ecstatic. We are
programmed for bliss! We shall
come to know that our limits are limitless as the
light of pure reason shines within
and without, dissolving and evaporating the shadows
and the illusions of our collective
"past," leading us onward, inward and upward, into
heretofore un-imagined
realms of pure experience. We are awakening to our
true selves as sons and daughters
of the most high, as children of the light, empowered
by this light to live a life
of freedom, love, and joy, consciously co-creating and
manifesting a life here on
Earth, which reflects the wisdom, love, and
intelligence of our Creator. Certainly,
in time, as the consciousness of humanity expands,
prophecy will be fulfilled as
"There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there
by any more pain; for the former things are passed
away." Amen, Selah, Allelujah!!!
In Joy, DaVid, M.D. Medical Director The
San Francisco Medical
Research Foundation Founder The Light Party
