Podcast 618 – “Rick Strassman’s Groundbreaking Research”

4 Comments

1. Lorenzo,

   Your mention of Terence’s interest in irridescence and how it relates to Dr. Straussman’s interest in fireworks overlooks Terence’s interest in rocketry. He was interested in the chemistry of it and explosive characteristics of it, just as Dr. Straussman was. He describes this interest in several of his talks that cover his childhood – I know you’ve heard him speak of it since I’m sure these talks are on this very website. I think you were on the verge of recalling this era of Terence’s youth . . . it sounded like you were almost there but in the pursuit of keeping the conversation going you let that go. I’d bet Rick and Terence discussed it during the time of their get togethers . . . this parallel interest they had had as youngsters.

2. Sorry I have not been attending these salons, will try again soon; I have greatly enjoyed listening to the podcasts. As a visionary glass artist( http://www.brooksideglassworks ) who draws imagery and inspiration from many sources including Native American spirit traditions, the Bible, Taoism, eco science, I just want to agree with Rick S that there is a very psychedelic aspect to much that is in the bible, both torah and new testament. We can see it in the visions of living water flowing out of a city made from rainbow gemstones, in prophets fed by ravens who call down fire from heaven, in a man taking mud, rubbing it into the eyes of a blind person and restoring the person’s sight, who as he recovers says I see men as trees walking.
   Yes religion is dangerous and easily has been converted from mystical experience of the ineffable to fundamentalist xenophobic violence, militant nationalism, and obnoxious self righteousness, and the bible certainly has too much of those to serve as an authoritative text for humans who need to learn to harmoniously share our beautiful planet. But let me follow my own path a little to illustrate the usefulness of these ancient bible stories as sources of insight.
   I’m 68 and first used psychedelics at Woodstock followed by 2 years of regular exploration. At the end I was breaking tabs into 1/4 or 1/8 bits and microdosing before the term was invented. Mescaline was my favorite. Many years later after living 7 years in a commune which took in homeless people and with the bible as mystical text, I had started my career as a stained glass artist, high school teacher and conservationist. I was not using any illegal substances even though I was living in Humboldt County but found that many of the insights that had first opened to me under psychedelics were developing further and my whole mode of thought and visual imagination was profoundly psychedelic. I had built a light table for painting on glass and wanted to try new techniques. I began laying out glass on the table with a 2 foot diameter circular frame. I had no plan but it ended taking the form of a ladder with angels and I realized it was a visual interpretation of the bible story of Jacob and the ladder of angels. ( Jacob, estranged and despondent, is asleep in the desert with a rock for pillow. He has a dream of a ladder from earth into heavens with angels coming and going.(angel means messenger)) I have now done several pieces with this theme and continued to ponder the meaning of the story. I was camping with students at an arts program and I had my own vivid dream of a blue fence wandering over the landscape than plunging into the plants, the waters, the sky, the blood flow of animals and humans. I woke and wrote down the memory and began to see something about the structure of the ladder which I had already begun to suspect, that DNA is essentially a twisted ladder and the the messages it carries shape intelligent life on earth and passes through time and space fueled by chemistry, formal memory, and light. I wrote about this in correspondence and online communication and the idea was later seconded in Jeremy Narby’s excellent book The Cosmic Serpent. By the way the window was bought at a moment of need by a woman named Karen Angell.
   Best to all and thanks to Lorenzo for hosting this podcast.

3. Feldercarb, I meant 46-48 minutes into the talk… Geepers.

4. I find it particularly hilarious, that the descriptions of the DMT state ~58 and 59 minutes into this talk are like the intricacies of masturbation. When one bears witness to this phenomenon: there is no lexicon solution to the changing crux in your sensorium. It is, what it is. GET OVER IT, or tell me something I don’t already know. THAT should be everyone’s intention for their next DMT session. TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW!
   This was a very entertaining talk. THX Lozo.

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