Guest speaker: Bruce Damer
PROGRAM NOTES:
In today’s podcast we pick up with the next part of a workshop that was held on January 28, 2012 titled “Terence McKenna: Beyond 2012”. This section features Bruce Damer, who begins with his “Ode to Terence” [
In the Occupy segment I begin with a recap of what went down in Washington, D.C. the day of the eviction from McPherson Square. Also, I play a series of short audio clips. The first one is of a young man from San Diego who was speaking at the General Assembly that was held in the middle of K Street in Washington the evening after the McPhearson eviction. And while this segment also ends with a call to the barricades from Chris Hedges in different interview, between those two Hedges segments I play a three minute pep talk that Tony Benn gave to some of the occupiers in London the other day.
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Hi There Lorenzo. Just wanted to attempt to clear things up a little bit. Maybe Bruce hasn’t got it quite right after all. In this interview Terence talks of taking Psilocybin. A little bit bummed that all this talk of Terence having his last dose when this is clearly not the case. Here is the link
http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v10n2/10206mck.html
Jon: Have you cut back dramatically on any type of drug use?
Terence: At first I cut back on Cannabis, because it seemed to trigger the seizures. But then I easily got that corrected. Now I’m smoking as much dope as I ever did. I haven’t been taking ayahuasca, because the vomiting reflex is too scary in terms of the brain seizure reflex. They’re really closely related. So I’ve been taking psilocybin. We happen to have some actual pure psilocybin, not mushrooms. And it’s great. So I guess the answer is no. I want to probe into it, I want to understand it. I mean obviously, death is a very big deal.
Kind Regards,
Baden.
[COMMENT by Lorenzo: You are correct. In later podcasts and in conversations with some of Terence’s closest friends, it came to light that while Terence may have quit using mushrooms themselves, at the end of his life he for sure used synthetic psilocybin.]
Audun,
Thanks for the heads up on the C-Realm Podcast. I had not listened to it yet, so I downloaded it today and listened. Great stuff. Your assessment seems to be right on the money.
I don’t know if Hedges listens to or has listened to McKenna, but my guess is that a little of that and a few dried grams in silent darkness couldn’t hurt.
Gratitude,
Dan
Hey Dan
Maybe you already knew, but I feel that what you touch on is somewhat the topic of the latest C-Realm podcast, where KMO interviews John Michael Greer about his latest book Mystery Teachings from the Living Earth.
I have been wanting to read Empire of Illusion for some time, and haven’t gotten around to it yet, but I read the introduction and was thrilled. At the same time I think it is a little one sided to criticize “positive thinking” per se. It lacks an important nuanced understanding that it seems JMG is in perfect possession of.
Check out this podcast if you haven’t already, it’s real good:)
http://c-realmpodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2012-03-21T13_36_17-07_00
I think people like Chris Hedges specialize in searching for specific kinds of truth, and there are few with such clear sight in such fields as media, money- and power politics, and the entertainment culture mentality as he has. He is like on Chomsky’s level in these things.
But now that more and more points in the universe are becoming connected, it seems he must give his opinion on issues about which he may still have some learning or familiarizing to do. I’ve often asked myself whether he is aware that many of us from the psychedelic tribe are so engaged with his work. Would he spend time listening to f.ex. McKenna? If that represented a radical change in his thinking, what would that change look like and lead to?
To put it simple:
Does he know that we love him, and would he consider our message of alliance with the plant world?
That goes for Chomsky too.
Love
Audun
More fantastic images from the worlds of Terence and Bruce. Gratitude, Lorenzo.
I was also on board with Chris Hedges interview until the interviewer started the section on positive psychologists and lumped Tony Robbins in with that crowd.
My experience with Robbins started in the W years. After the Iraq invasion, I was in a depressed funk, mostly brought on by the dissonance between what I knew was good and right with the US and the country’s willingness to follow the monster that occupied the White House.
The writings and spoken words of Robbins and others like Wayne Dyer helped me to free myself from the bonds of despair and get on the track that finally led me to Lorenzo’s podcast, Terrence, and Bruce.
Psychologists have used their skills for good and bad. So have journalists.
“You become responsible for your predicament.” He mischaracterized the message. You become responsible for how you feel about/view/act upon your predicament. Robbins doesn’t suggest that we delude ourselves into believing that boarded up companies in the Rust Belt are thriving enterprises, or that Obama is worthy of a peace prize.
He suggests that we take control of our time, or identities, our health, and our relationships, and live the lives we are capable of living. Empowerment is different from delusion.
His choice of examples, unemployed blue collar workers at one extreme and his personal experience at the Times, is ludicrous. If unemployed people, or people in holes like I found myself, can find a way to empower themselves through Robbin’s work, great.
Confusing this example with corporate media retreats is fallacious at best, and makes me wonder if he might have some personal problem with Robbins.
My gratitude to Lorenzo, and power to us all.
Another top class podcast. I’m loving the new format too. Chris Hedges is a welcomed breath of sanity.
thank you,
jay
Lovin’ the Hedges interviews, as well as the other occupy updates. He’s saying everything that needs to be said about our political gallows in clear language. If anyone is interested in a story which creatively displays all of these issues, please read Matigari by Ngugi wa Thiong’o.
Peace,
Rev
I’m listening and must admit I’m crying like a child… (he is there, no doubt about it)
Why can I not share this in twitter?