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Post by Admin on Sept 11, 2022 21:07:12 GMT
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Post by Admin on Sept 12, 2022 16:43:43 GMT
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Post by Admin on Oct 9, 2022 15:15:01 GMT
The Fear of Death and the Rise of Psychedelics New research finds new ways of overcoming our greatest fear. Posted October 7, 2022 | Reviewed by Tyler Woods www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understanding-grief/202210/the-fear-death-and-the-rise-psychedelicsKEY POINTS Although people are now more open to talking about it, a fear of death is still common. Fear of death has been considered a root cause of psychiatric illness. Possible treatment options exist to help manage the fear. Have you noticed that people seem to be more open to talking and learning about death? In the past half-century people have been exposed to a significant increase in death education. They are more open about their thoughts and feelings about death and willing to share them at places such as Death Cafes and Coffin Clubs. We are more familiar now with hospices and palliative care and turn to them as death approaches. Death doulas serve as companions to the dying and their families, providing support and education at life’s end. There are many books also available to us about people's own experiences with death and loss. Once dismissed, exceptional experiences at the deathbed—including near-death experiences, deathbed visions, and deathbed dreams—are now acknowledged as legitimate experiences that help the dying and their family experience peace and serenity at the end of life, positively impacting their grief as well. However, the fear of death is still a very real factor in many of our lives. There is likely to be some degree of death anxiety in all of us, which is not unusual. Most of us fear the unknown. There is such a thing as a healthy fear of death that keeps us from engaging in dangerous and self-destructive activities, protecting others as well as ourselves. However, for some, the fear becomes a phobia so intense that it disrupts and changes the way they live their lives. Fear of death is not just a single fear but consists of many different aspects. For example, are you more afraid of the act of dying, or of the idea of death itself? If the act of dying is more fearful, it is important to examine which aspects contribute to it. Is it pain and suffering, losing control of your body and mind, fear of the unknown, being alone, or concerns for the people you will leave behind? If death itself is the greater fear, you might explore concerns about non-existence. Is there an afterlife and, if so, might there be eternal suffering involved? Some might be concerned that there isn't an afterlife and we just fade into oblivion. Psychiatrist Irvin Yalom (2008) believed that much of our anxiety and psychopathology has its roots in death anxiety.[1] For example, our phobias are associated with fears of things that can hurt us or cause our death. Some examples would be hypochondriasis, the fear of becoming ill and dying, or agoraphobia, in which going outside is seen as dangerous, possibly leading to one’s death. The fear of flying is another example. What can be done for people who have a death phobia? In therapy, it is important to identify which of the different aspects is the most disturbing and begin to focus on that. The goal of therapy is to make the fear more manageable and less negative. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment approach for phobias, as its focus is on the interconnectedness of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In CBT, one learns to challenge their thoughts so that they achieve a different perspective on the issue. Graded exposure and behavioral experiments are used as ways to develop a tolerance for anxiety.[2] More specific information about using CBT for death phobia can be found in Menzies and Veale’s book, Free Yourself From Death Anxiety: A CBT Self-Help Guide for a fear of Death and Dying. Recently, a study from Johns Hopkins University of Medicine (2022) found that when psychedelic drugs, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, and N,N-dimeyhyltryptamine (DMT) were administered to people, their fear of death significantly decreased. This result is similar to one of the major changes found in those who have had a near-death experience.[3] "Experiencers" have also reported generalized feelings of well-being and a different attitude toward life and death. While the psychedelics did not bring about all the transformative changes that occur after a near-death experience, it does appear as though their fear of death was significantly altered. Psychedelic drugs have already shown success with the terminally ill, especially with those who experience a form of existential distress and suffering at the end of life. In particular, cancer patients tend to have twice the suicide risk of the general population. With the appropriate dosing and medical supervision of the psychedelics, a patient's sense of hopelessness often changes into feelings of acceptance and gratitude, decreasing the suicidal risk.[4] Many even describe their experience as having been mystical. While more research is needed about the use of psychedelics for the dying, the initial results seem positive. peoples anguish over death and dying can be transformed. Whether it be through psychedelics or other forms of talk therapy, people's anguish over death and dying can be changed. To paraphrase Dylan Thomas, who among us would not want to be able to go gently into that good night? References 1) Yalom, Irvin (2009). Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Great Britain. Menzies, Rachel E. and Veale, David (2022). Free Yourself from Death Anxiety: A CBT Self-Help Guide for a Fear of Death and Dying. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London and Philadelphia. 3) Sweeney MM, Nayak,s Hurwitz ES, Mitchell LN, Swift TC,Griffiths RR (2022) Comparison of psychedelic and near-death or other non-ordinary experiences in changing attitudes about death and dying. PLoS ONE 17(8):eO271926 doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271926.
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Post by Admin on Oct 17, 2022 7:38:09 GMT
Ever wonder how LSD works? An answer has been discovered. UNC School of Medicine researchers identified the amino acid responsible for the trip. bigthink.com/neuropsych/how-lsd-works/#Echobox=1665913780KEY TAKEAWAYS Researchers at UNC's School of Medicine have discovered the protein responsible for LSD's psychedelic effects. A single amino acid—part of the protein, Gαq—activates the mind-bending experience. The researchers hope this identification helps shape depression treatment. Shortly after Albert Hofmann’s famous bicycle trip—the Swiss chemist’s harrowing ride home after accidentally dosing himself with the then-unknown LSD-25—his laboratory, Sandoz, shipped this peculiar substance to any researcher willing to investigate its potential uses. Hofmann is responsible for dosing the planet with this ergoline derivative, as well as all the creativity and rituals that have sprung up around it. Nearly eight decades and many thousands of studies later, researchers have been unable to identify the chemical responsible for LSD’s unique results. We know that tryptamine derivatives like LSD and psilocybin bind to serotonin-2a receptors, resulting in the “mystical experience,” as well as serotonin-1a receptors, which cause feelings of contentment. How LSD accomplishes its magical feats, though, have remained a mystery. A little piece of that mystery appears to have been solved, thanks to a new study, published in the journal, Cell. Lead author, Bryan Roth, a professor and pharmacologist at The University of North Carolina School of Medicine, says decades of targeted research on LSD have now come to fruition. Hundreds of clinical trials on psychedelics occurred in the fifties and sixties before this class of substances got caught in the crosshairs of a racist political front. Even the government was experimenting with psychedelics. The notorious Project MKUltra lasted for two decades, with an unknown number of Americans—the homeless, minorities, immigrants—unknowingly dosed with LSD so researchers could observe its behavioral effects.
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Post by Admin on Oct 25, 2022 17:47:00 GMT
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Post by Admin on Oct 26, 2022 16:02:44 GMT
Jeremy Narby (born 1959 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian anthropologist and author. In his books, Narby examines shamanism, molecular biology, and shamans' knowledge of botanics and biology through the use of entheogens across many cultures.[1][2][3] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Narby
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Post by Admin on Oct 28, 2022 21:20:07 GMT
Gateway to the Otherworld ~ Folklore of the Fly Agaric abeautifulresistance.org/site/2022/10/28/gateway-to-the-otherworld-folklore-of-the-fly-agaricThe wheel trundles ever onwards, even through the age of the anthropocene, as buckled and worn as it may be. Samhain approaches, that time when our attention turns to those who came before, our ancestors. All the celebrations that seem to occur at this time, the spiritual and the secular seem to include some aspect of looking backwards, yes the honouring our own beloved dead, but also involves delving into the dark despite our fears, perhaps even to spite them. All seem to hint at or touch on, in some way, the dying aspect of the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Indeed, there is no denying that this time holds special meaning for many people, even those who may not be able to put into words just what it is they feel. Sometimes words just cannot convey that sense of other those transformational energies of the season seem to evoke. It isn’t the sense of freshness and joy that comes with spring. Instead, the dark autumn seems to draw us inwards, to those liminal spaces that felt so distant before but now bridge the gap between the self and this pervading sense of otherness that sinks into your bones and lingers there. I feel this most keenly in the woods. I think others do too, though some find this feeling something to worry about or fear even (my dad often tells me off for going to the woods alone). One of the woods I go to, a couple of miles from my home, is a large managed woods, a mix of pines, beech, birch and oak. It’s a beautiful place all year through, but seems extra special in the autumn months. But it’s not just the beauty and the sense of spirit that draws me to the woods at this time of year, though I cannot deny that in itself is enough, anything else an added bonus. It’s mushroom season. There are so many fungi that grow in the woods, the weird and the wonderful. Most I don’t know, but there are those few unmistakable; the stinkhorn and shaggy inkcap. Penny buns and bay boletes make excellent eating. The star of the show though, the most striking of all, is the fly agaric, also known as amanita muscaria. The fly agaric is perhaps the most well known of all fungi, having seeped into the human psyche through the ages of man. It is the magic toadstool of fairy tales and fairy land where all manner of creatures reside. Yes, there is something indeed magical and spiritual about the amanita muscaria. And so let us explore this magical mushroom. It seems apt at this time of transformation, of descending darkness and the thinning of the veil. SANTA & SHAMANS The link between fly agaric and shamans of Siberia is perhaps the most well known connection. I’ve lost count of the times people only interested in getting high told me to drink deer piss. Of course, there is that truth at the centre of such advice and insight. The deer itself acts as a filter, so that the urine contains few of the harmful elements and retains more of the hallucinogenic compounds. With all this in mind, it’s easy to make links with modern depictions of Santa Claus. The red and white outfit, flying reindeer as transportation. I mean hello, flying…the image of the witch on her broom is an analogy of flying ointments we are used to but the flying reindeer less so. And it’s not just here where we can see links with modern Christmas and Yule celebrations, we see them too in the descriptions of beings such as the tomte from Nordic folklore. These mischievous little creatures were associated with Yule and their big red hats and white beards again bring to mind the big red cap and white spots of the fly agaric. LINKS TO FAIRY LAND One might assume the legendary liberty cap, the classic magic mushroom, would be the fungi most associated with magic and the otherworld, what with it’s well known effects. Yet it is the fly agaric that is the classic toadstool of fairy tales. Just looking at the glossy red cap and white spots, it’s easy to see why this mushroom has captured the imagination of man. Whereas the other mushrooms on the forest floor often take some looking for, the fly agaric is so visible, shockingly so among the browns and greens of the often muddy forest floor in autumn. It’s not just the look that makes this mushroom a part of our collective lore, particularly when it comes to the fae and the otherworld that is their domain. Unlike the relatively safe liberty cap, the fly agaric, while hallucinogenic, is also toxic. To reduce the toxicity, it must be carefully prepared. This element of danger that comes with the desired effects brings to mind the dangerously alluring fae. Beautiful and dangerous, all at the same time. This link to fairy land and the fae can be seen in art, particularly of and around the 1900s. One of my favourite depictions of the fly agaric is in Illustrations by Ivan Bilibin for an 1899 edition of the Russian fairytale Vasilisa the Beautiful. This particular illustration shows Baba Yaga in a wood of birch with fly agaric sprouting up from the forest floor. THE AXIS MUNDI It is clear that the fly agaric has many associations with magic, particularly at the darkest parts of the year. While many of the associations do indeed focus on the celebrations that come later in the year, for me, the amanita is firmly fixed in autumn, at Samhain, mostly because you’ll be lucky to find it here at Yule. Right now, though, it is in full stride. Fungi in general, but the fly agaric specifically bring to mind working with the axis mundi, the world soul. Again, considering the wealth of lore and historical and magical uses of the fungi, it makes sense the amanita fulfils this role, a kind of psychopomp, if you will. You know, you’ll commonly find the fly agaric beneath a tree, and the reason is they have a symbiotic, reciprocal relationship. The amanita is a mycorrhizal fungi, meaning it acts almost as a root for the tree, helping the tree to take in nutrients and minerals. At the same time, the tree provides the mycelium with carbohydrates. This to and fro relationship, one of balance and working together seems, at least in my mind, to embody what it means when we traverse the axis mundi at this time of year, whether that’s to work with the spirits of land and nature or our own beloved dead. The mycelium that acts as the nervous system for the forest, represents those invisible energies that are felt within rather than seen and explained, connecting us to the land, the spirits and the realms they call home. REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING naturamushrooms.com/blogs/news/amanita-muscaria-the-fascinating-history-of-the-fairy-tale-funguspublicdomainreview.org/essay/fungi-folklore-and-fairyland
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2022 11:58:07 GMT
Nature, Shamanism and Psychoactive Drugs in Greek Bronze Age Religion www.academia.edu/88140769/Nature_Shamanism_and_Psychoactive_Drugs_in_Greek_Bronze_Age_ReligionWhat kind of religious activities were practised in the Greek Bronze Age? Through examination of ancient visual art, objects and texts, this lecture will explain how aspects of Aegean religion can be considered shamanic. The lecture will primarily focus on "glyptic art" (miniature images engraved on gold signet rings and stone seals) which is the most extensive body of Aegean Bronze Age representational art. It will look at ritual scenes depicted in glyptic art for evidence of shamanism including consumption of psychoactive drugs, adoption of special body postures, trance, spirit possession, communication with supernatural beings, metamorphosis and the journey to other worlds. The lecture will also look at the presence of nature in ritual scenes, particularly sacred trees. In the majority of these scenes human figures approach the trees in a calm and reverential manner, but in seven examples the ritual participant clasps and vigorously shakes the tree. The reasons for interpreting this activity as indicating a shamanic-style altered state of consciousness and prophetic consultation of the tree through the sound of its rustling leaves will then be explained. Comparative examples of prophetic trees from Near Eastern and Greek literature such as the Hebrew Bible, the Ugaritic Epic of Baal and Hesiod's Theogony will be discussed, and later Greek tree oracles such as that of Zeus at Dodona will be compared with the glyptic images.
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Post by Admin on Nov 10, 2022 21:38:56 GMT
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Post by Admin on Nov 11, 2022 2:41:22 GMT
The Ecstasy of Agony BYRUSSELL HAUSFELD www.truthdig.com/dig/long-strange-loop-psychedelics-ptsd/Part I: Long Strange Loop How the military and veterans became the unlikely mascots of the psychedelic renaissance This is the first of a multi-part Dig series, The Ecstasy of Agony, investigating the politics of psychedelic research and commercialization. Subsequent pieces will be published over the next three months. Last Veterans Day, former Texas Governor Rick Perry bounded onstage at a swanky affair in the ballroom of the Californian Hotel del Coronado. The audience of several hundred was not the crowd you might expect to pay $500 to hear a conservative politician. It was not made up of oil and gas industry professionals or would-be entrepreneurs seeking inspiration and business tips from the onetime presidential hopeful. The attendees were heavily represented by advocates for psychedelic therapy, gathered for an event called the “Strength in Numbers Gala to End Veteran Suicide.” Our government, announced Perry, does “a great job recruiting young people into the military, teaching them how to break stuff, but doesn’t know how to transition them back into the private sector.” Therapies using psychedelic adjuncts, he continued, were the answer. “I’m willing to put my reputation on the line so that young men and women who have sacrificed for us have the opportunity to have these compounds available to them, because it saves lives.” He concluded saying he was “damn proud” to be fighting to save “American patriot lives.” If Perry strikes you as an unlikely champion of psychedelic treatments, then you haven’t been watching much conservative media lately. In recent years, outlets from Breitbart to Fox News have become busy with conservative boosterism for treating veterans with molecules that less than a decade ago were the fringe domain of ravers, psychonauts and a few coastal in-the-know therapists. Perry was himself introduced to the concept by Marcus Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL turned host on Glenn Beck’s conservative network TheBlaze.
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Post by Admin on Nov 15, 2022 17:23:20 GMT
Peyote en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PeyoteThe peyote (/peɪˈoʊti/; Lophophora williamsii /ləˈfɒfərə wɪliˈæmziaɪ/) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids,[2] particularly mescaline.[3] Peyote is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl peyōtl ([ˈpejoːt͡ɬ]), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root peyōni, "to glisten".[4][5][6] Peyote is native to Mexico and southwestern Texas. It is found primarily in the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Chihuahuan Desert and in the states of Nayarit, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí among scrub. It flowers from March to May, and sometimes as late as September. The flowers are pink, with thigmotactic anthers (like Opuntia). Known for its psychoactive properties when ingested, peyote has at least 5,500 years of entheogenic and medicinal use by indigenous North Americans.
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Post by Admin on Nov 15, 2022 17:24:49 GMT
Ayahuasca en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AyahuascaAyahuasca[note 1] is a South American[1] psychoactive and entheogenic brewed drink traditionally used both socially and as a ceremonial or shamanic spiritual medicine among the indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin, and more recently in Western society.[2][3][4] The tea causes altered states of consciousness often known as “psychedelic experiences” which include visual hallucinations and altered perceptions of reality. Ayahuasca[1] is commonly made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, the Psychotria viridis shrub or a substitute, and other ingredients including Justicia pectoralis,[5] one of the Brugmansia (especially Brugmansia insignis and Brugmansia versicolor, or a hybrid breed) or Datura species,[6] and mapacho (Nicotiana rustica).[7][8] A chemically similar preparation, sometimes called "pharmahuasca", can be prepared using N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and a pharmaceutical monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), such as moclobemide or isocarboxazid.[9] Internationally, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances lists the active ingredient DMT as a schedule 1 drug, but does not control the cultivation of plants from which it can be derived, similarly to the “legal grey area” position of psychedelic plants like peyote and other mescaline-containing cacti.
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Post by Admin on Nov 15, 2022 17:37:57 GMT
Psilocybin mushroom en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_mushroomPsilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin which turns into psilocin upon ingestion.[1][2] Biological genera containing psilocybin mushrooms include Copelandia, Gymnopilus, Inocybe, Panaeolus, Pholiotina, Pluteus, and Psilocybe. Psilocybin mushrooms have been and continue to be used in indigenous New World cultures in religious, divinatory, or spiritual contexts.[3] Psilocybin mushrooms are also used as recreational drugs. They may be depicted in Stone Age rock art in Africa and Europe, but are most famously represented in the Pre-Columbian sculptures and glyphs seen throughout North, Central and South America.
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Post by Admin on Nov 15, 2022 17:38:58 GMT
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N,N-Dimethyltryptamine N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT or N,N-DMT, SPL026) is a substituted tryptamine that occurs in many plants and animals, including human beings, and which is both a derivative and a structural analog of tryptamine.[3] It is used as a recreational psychedelic drug and prepared by various cultures for ritual purposes as an entheogen.[4] DMT has a rapid onset, intense effects, and a relatively short duration of action. For those reasons, DMT was known as the "business trip" during the 1960s in the United States, as a user could access the full depth of a psychedelic experience in considerably less time than with other substances such as LSD or psilocybin mushrooms.[5] DMT can be inhaled, ingested, or injected and its effects depend on the dose, as well as the mode of administration. When inhaled or injected, the effects last a short period of time: about five to 15 minutes. Effects can last three hours or more when orally ingested along with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), such as the ayahuasca brew of many native Amazonian tribes.[6] DMT can produce vivid "projections" of mystical experiences involving euphoria and dynamic pseudohallucinations of geometric forms.[7] DMT is a functional analog and structural analog of other psychedelic tryptamines such as O-acetylpsilocin (4-AcO-DMT), psilocybin (4-PO-DMT), psilocin (4-HO-DMT), O-methylbufotenin (5-MeO-DMT), and bufotenin (5-HO-DMT). Parts of the structure of DMT occur within some important biomolecules like serotonin and melatonin, making them structural analogs of DMT.
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Post by Admin on Nov 17, 2022 10:51:32 GMT
Mescaline en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MescalineMescaline or mescalin (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) is a naturally occurring psychedelic protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, known for its hallucinogenic effects comparable to those of LSD and psilocybin.
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