Entheogenic Esotericism (aka Better Religion Through Chemistry)

[Golden Age]

This is the latest incarnation of western hermeticism. Combine a range of esoteric and Gnostic principles, blend in some meditative practices and add a brew of psychoactive drugs to induce a hallucinogenic condition. The objective is to gain spiritual insights into the nature of reality that may not be available to us in our 'normal' states of mind.

Inducing spiritual delirium and/or trance-like states is a familiar practice in many religious traditions and with natural shamanistic practices around the world. "Ecstatic Kabbalah", speaking-in-tongues and induced conditions of Sufi Dervishes are all examples.

Scions of wealthy American families have long headed to South America during the summer recess to participate in Ayahuasca ceremonies that combine drinking hallucinogenic plants with traditional shamanistic rituals.
A significant number of those returning from these ceremonies report psychological disturbance, psychosis, "hearing voices", varying states of paranoia and in some cases, violence. Increased rates of suicide and homicide are also noticed.

How would you feel about attending 'chemically enhanced' Churches, Mosques and Synagogues?!

Is this the next un/natural step for western religious practice?

I'm sure that as Marijuana is legalised across North America and Europe, 'Big Pharma' has its eyes on a new (emerging) market of ... entheogenic drugs to give everyone spiritual experiences, whether we believe in god or not.

Timothy Leary would have been so happy. As would Aleister Crawley.

Not posting a video, but, chapters from a recent work on the subject (we should all read more as a culture):

http://www.academia.edu/3461770/Entheogenic_Esotericism_2012_

 

[Etagloc]

I can't stop people but I myself definitely don't approve. I know someone close who was using LSD. I was angry about it and I'm still angry about it. I don't plan to stop being angry about it either.

 

[Golden Age]

"Etagloc, post: 106660, member: 243"]I can't stop people but I myself definitely don't approve. I know someone close who was using LSD. I was angry about it and I'm still angry about it. I don't plan to stop being angry about it either[/B].

You might be interested to learn that a recent fatwa from Grand Ayatollah Rohani in Iran (at the request of Fatimid Shia Sufis) came to accept the use of hallucinogenic compounds in the cause of spiritual enlightenment. Even within the Twelver Shia tradition, this is a groundbreaking opinion.

What are your views on this?
I, suspect, the Sunni scholars may not be so keen to follow the Shia Grand Ayatollah?!

Fatimid Sufis provide more details, here:
http://realitysandwich.com/219826/ayahuasca-and-the-godhead-an-interview-with-wahid-azal-of-the-the-fatimiya-sufi-order/

 

[Etagloc]

You might be interested to learn that a recent fatwa from Grand Ayatollah Rohani in Iran (at the request of Fatimid Shia Sufis) came to accept the use of hallucinogenic compounds in the cause of spiritual enlightenment. Even within the Twelver Shia tradition, this is a groundbreaking opinion.

What are your views on this?
I, suspect, the Sunni scholars may not be so keen to follow the Shia Grand Ayatollah?!

Fatimid Sufis provide more details, here:
http://realitysandwich.com/219826/ayahuasca-and-the-godhead-an-interview-with-wahid-azal-of-the-the-fatimiya-sufi-order/

I am not interested in fatwas from Shia. I am not a Shia. And Sufis accepting drugs? I am not surprised. Fatimid Sufis? I don't know what that is. And I don't care. I don't know what Twelver means. I'm not into the sects stuff.

I don't care what misguided sects think.

In my view, thinking psychedelic drugs are some sort of way to spiritual enlightentment is insane. Ayahuasca? I don't care what shamans do.

If people want spiritual enlightenment, they can read the Quran. And they can get up for Fajr.

 

[Golden Age]

A disappointing response from you, Etoglac.

Shiism is still an aspect of Islam (even though its not your tradition) and if you dismiss it in this cavalier fashion, why should people with vastly different (or no) beliefs entertain debates with you about any anything else !?

More to the point, what are you doing on a 'discussion forum' ?

 

[TokiEl]

And they can get up for Fajr.

Matthew 6 7 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words."

 

[Serveto]

A disappointing response from you, Etoglac.

Shiism is still an aspect of Islam (even though its not your tradition) and if you dismiss it in this cavalier fashion, why should people with vastly different (or no) beliefs entertain debates with you about any anything else !?

More to the point, what are you doing on a 'discussion forum' ?

I read it as more an @Etaglocian anti-fatwah, and liked it on that score. I don't know if it is appropriate to this thread, but I think this musical piece is interesting. It features an unnamed reader of Classics from Oxford, with what sounds to my Yankee ears as thus near-perfect enunciation, reading the portion of Aldous Huxley's drug-drenched (pick a card: utopian/dystopian) novel, Brave New World, in which the religious, or what passes for religion in that world, ceremony is conducted. Of course the participants are whacked out, on soma holiday, and that is understood. It drones on a bit long, but the poetry is good, and those of us who have chemically tampered with our own synapses might enjoy the ride, the mini holiday, the flashback, if not the ceremony itself. By the way @Golden Age welcome to the discussions. I am enjoying your contributions.

 

[Golden Age]

@Serveto
Thank you so much for the warm welcome, Sir.
And I was thinking of the Soma ceremony in BNW when I was forming this thread!
A lovely chilled out 'Ibiza sound', voiced by a Radio 4 weather forecaster (by the sound of it) !?

 

[Etagloc]

A disappointing response from you, Etoglac.

Shiism is still an aspect of Islam (even though its not your tradition) and if you dismiss it in this cavalier fashion, why should people with vastly different (or no) beliefs entertain debates with you about any anything else !?

More to the point, what are you doing on a 'discussion forum' ?

Are Protestants interested in religious rulings from the Pope? Would you react in the same way if a Protestant wasn't interested in the rulings of the Pope? Or if, say, a Protestant was content with their own views and not interested in the latest ruling of an obscure sect of Christianity they're not familiar with? I am not interested in a non-Muslim telling me how to view my religion. Would you lecture a Protestant in the same way for not keeping up with the religious rulings of the Pope? Or would you respect that the Protestant is a Protestant and recognize that Protestants are not Catholics and that Catholics are not Protestants and they have their own beliefs?

 

[elsbet]

A disappointing response from you, Etoglac.

Shiism is still an aspect of Islam (even though its not your tradition) and if you dismiss it in this cavalier fashion, why should people with vastly different (or no) beliefs entertain debates with you about any anything else !?

More to the point, what are you doing on a 'discussion forum' ?

Since when is "shiism" a prerequisite for forum posting?

Edit: especially in a thread on psychedelic/ psychotropic drugs. Is *shiism" the shamanistic arm of Islam?

 

[Golden Age]

@elsbet
I dare say that there is a strong dose of the esoteric in Shiism and parts of Sunniism, too
Moreover, esoteric metaphysicians within the Islamic Near East were conduits for the entry of Western Hermeticism into Medieval Europe and kick-started the Enlightenment

 

[Golden Age]

"Etagloc, post: 106803, member: 243"]Are Protestants interested in religious rulings from the Pope? Would you react in the same way if a Protestant wasn't interested in the rulings of the Pope? Or if, say, a Protestant was content with their own views and not interested in the latest ruling of an obscure sect of Christianity they're not familiar with? I am not interested in a non-Muslim telling me how to view my religion. Would you lecture a Protestant in the same way for not keeping up with the religious rulings of the Pope? Or would you respect that the Protestant is a Protestant and recognize that Protestants are not Catholics and that Catholics are not Protestants and they have their own beliefs?"[/I]

1) I was inviting you to discuss metaphysical and esoteric practices in Shiism which, arguably, are reflected in parts of Sunniism (and come from origins that are shared with different religious traditions). I am certainly am not telling you how to view your religion, that is a bizarre interpretation of my posts. I was, actually, asking you questions - not making statements.

2) Catholics and Protestants are very much interested in each others teachings and this process of ecumenical dialogue has accelerated since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), where the Council for Promoting Christian Unity was established. The rulings of the Vatican and the Anglican Communion are all discussed at this Council.

3) I attend scriptural reasoning discussions with Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and other religious traditions (and none). None of them have accused me (or each other) of telling them how to view their religion. They have wide ranging, dispassionate and measured debates that cover a wide range of issues within their beliefs and practices.

If you'll permit me to say, I believe you have a very polemical and literalist approach to other religious traditions, including, your own. Instead of shutting down the discussion, you could have used it to explain your own approach to belief and why you have such a low opinion of Shiism and Sufis !?
We might have learnt something from each other, perhaps !?

 

[vigilante71]

Well, as someone who is living in a country amongst Shia Muslims, I have to say even using much more common drugs such as tobacco or other types of drugs are banned by so many of shia clergies. I don't precisely know about this Ayatollah Rohani that you're talking about, and I'm not defending Shiism or something, But I know for a fact that for the majority of shia using drugs of this sort is considered stupid and unacceptable. Sufis are different though.

 

[Golden Age]

@vigilante71: "Well, as someone who is living in a country amongst Shia Muslims, I have to say even using much more common drugs such as tobacco or other types of drugs are banned by so many of shia clergies. I don't precisely know about this Ayatollah Rohani that you're talking about, and I'm not defending Shiism or something, But I know for a fact that for the majority of shia using drugs of this sort is considered stupid and unacceptable. Sufis are different though"

That was also my understanding, (until this fatwa by the Grand Ayatollah)
It could just be a marginal (dissenting) opinion!?
Its what I wanted to explore with @Etagloc, but, he is not entertaining any discussion.
Shame.

 

[Serveto]

@vigilante71: "Well, as someone who is living in a country amongst Shia Muslims, I have to say even using much more common drugs such as tobacco or other types of drugs are banned by so many of shia clergies. I don't precisely know about this Ayatollah Rohani that you're talking about, and I'm not defending Shiism or something, But I know for a fact that for the majority of shia using drugs of this sort is considered stupid and unacceptable. Sufis are different though"

That was also my understanding, (until this fatwa by the Grand Ayatollah)
It could just be a marginal (dissenting) opinion!?

I would think the latter, an at best marginal, dissenting opinion.

I am not Muslim myself, but, because I have lived and worked in the Middle East (as a peace-loving, peace-promoting civilian, NOT military), I consider myself fortunate to have a lot of Muslim friends. With that said, I don't know how, on what basis, any alim, or scholar, of either the Sunni or Shia type, one who is qualified to exercise ijtihad on the Quran and pronounce a ruling (fatwah), could override the clear prohibition against wine.

I was in (predominantly Sunni) Saudi Arabia, a conservative country, obviously, which not only forbade wine, but, by extension, all intoxicants. Whenever we partied, and that we often did, we left Jeddah and Riyadh for Cairo (Egypt), a considerably less "Sharia compliant" state (which is not to say that Saudi represents a Sharia state at its best, by any means).

Naturally, because they were (and are) my friends, I was interested in all aspects of their religion and would ask why there were such strict prohibitions against the "blood of the grape," and, more desirable to me, the "herbs of the field" and kick-ass chemicals from the laboratory test tube which, when ingested, blocks the serotonin re-uptake and keeps one up for days. I found this answer online, which well reflects those I was given.

"... Muslims interpret these [previously cited] verses in total to forbid any intoxicating substance -- whether it be wine, beer, gin, whiskey, or whatever. The result is the same, and the Qur'an outlines that it is the intoxication, which makes one forgetful of God and prayer, which is harmful. Over the years, the list of intoxicating substances has come to include more modern street drugs and the like.

The Prophet Muhammad also instructed his followers, at the time, to avoid any intoxicating substances -- (paraphrased) "if it intoxicates in a large amount, it is forbidden even in a small amount." For this reason, most observant Muslims avoid alcohol in any form, even small amounts that are sometimes used in cooking."
Source​

 

[Karlysymon]

Great topic! Jan Irvin's 5 papers on psychedelics are an excellent and
insightful read.
Entheogens :What’s in a Name? The Untold History of Psychedelic Spirituality, Social Control, and the CIA

[Marshal McLuhan to Timothy Leary]“The problem is tricky,” I said.
“The opposition beat us to the punch. The psychiatrists and police propagandists have already stressed the negative, which can be dangerous when the mind is re-imprinting under....“Exactly,” agreed McLuhan. “That’s why your advertising must stress the religious. Find the god within. This is all frightfully interesting. Your competitors are
naturally denouncing the brain as an instrument of the devil. Priceless!"

Native revivalism remarketed to the public...

In Darkness and Secrecy: The Anthropology of Assault Sorcery and Witchcraft in Amazonia, Prof. Neil Whitehead and Dr. Robin Wright provide this warning:
Shamanism is a burgeoning obsession for the middle classes around the globe. It's presentation in popular books, TV
specials and on the internet is dominated by the presumed psychic and physical benefits that "shamanic techniques" can bring. This heightened interest has required a persistent purification of the ritual practices of those who inspire
the feverish quest for personal meaning and fulfillment. Ironically,[…] given the self-improvement motivations that have brought so many into popular understanding of shamanism, two defining aspects of shamanism in Amazonia: blood, ie violence, and tobacco, have simply been erased from such representations. Such erasure is not only a vein self-deception, but more important it is a re capitulation of colonial ways of knowing through both the denial of radical cultural difference and refusal to think through its consequences.”

 

[Karlysymon]

"Modern man’s lack of spiritual connection has allowed the return of ancient shamanism and paganism to reemerge with the 60s revolution....observations and research concerning those who have had intense hallucinogenic
drug experiences, definite patterns emerge. One of the most prominent patterns is the sense of the psyche being fragmented, disintegrating and becoming “one” with the all. The hallucinogen causes a kind of inner journey which shamans of primitive religions have embarked upon for millennia, but the result tends towards the same conclusion: monism. Yet oddly the philosophical monism adopted invariably leads many of the drugged to feel that their own psyche has fractured, divided, or split. The so-called “revelations” most experience on the drug trips end up being very monotonous. It rarely occurs to the drugged that their narcissistic “insights” are one and the same as ancient pagan and eastern religions. Reality is thus viewed as an “illusion,” a “trick,” a product of their own mind (solipsism), and who they were/are as a person was annihilated or dismembered. The drug trip thus tends to result in the unwitting conversion of the drugged to some form of pantheism or animism.

"I (Jan) think a possible explanation is that after the CIA did their MKULTRA LSD tests on the French village of Pont Saint Esprit, they realized that their application methods weren’t effective, so they had to come up with a way to get youngsters to self-administer the drugs. What they called them to each other, and to the public, as we’ll see more of, were very different things."

Which leaves me wondering... every individual from the 60s to date, who voluntarily tripped on acid and by extension, was/is on a spiritual quest by jetting off to the Amazon, isn't s/he merely, unwittingly, continuing the Agency's project? And is this a case of purchasing slavery with freedom?

 

[Golden Age]

The esoteric tradition has two primary paths: 1) the self 'individuating' one where you focus and commune within yourself to discover the Divine essence and 2) the self 'obliterating' one where you extinguish the ego and seek to unite with the Divine essence.

Both of these are volitional methods that require one to be in total possession of ones faculties in order to ascend the scale of consciousness. Psychedelics can blunt that ascension.

In some cases, the chemical distortion of the mind can induce states of euphoria that can be mistaken for an enlightened condition of Nirvana. But those having experienced it will tell you that its like falling off a ladder: a few seconds of floating freely before encountering hard concrete!

 

[DavidSon]

"Modern man’s lack of spiritual
connection has allowed the return of ancient shamanism and paganism to reemerge with the 60s revolution....observations and research concerning those who have had intense hallucinogenic
drug experiences, definite patterns
emerge. One of the most prominent
patterns is the sense of the psyche being fragmented, disintegrating and
becoming “one” with the all. The hallucinogen causes a kind of inner
journey which shamans of primitive religions have embarked upon for millennia, but the result tends towards the same conclusion: monism. Yet oddly the philosophical monism adopted invariably leads many of the drugged to feel that their own psyche has fractured, divided, or
split. The so-called “revelations” most experience on the drug trips end up being very monotonous. It rarely occurs to the drugged that their narcissistic “insights” are one and the same as ancient pagan and eastern religions. Reality is thus
viewed as an “illusion,” a “trick,” a product of their own mind (solipsism), and who they were/are as a person was annihilated or dismembered. The drug trip thus tends to result in the unwitting conversion of the drugged to some form of pantheism or animism.

"I (Jan) think a possible explanation is that after the CIA did their MKULTRA LSD tests on the French village of Pont Saint Esprit, they realized that their application methods weren’t effective, so they had to come up with a way to get youngsters to self-administer the drugs. What they called them to each other, and to the public, as we’ll see more of, were very different things."

Which leaves me wondering... every individual from the 60s to date,
who voluntarily tripped on acid and by extension, was/is on a
spiritual quest by jetting off to the Amazon, isn't s/he merely,
unwittingly, continuing the Agency's project? And is this a case of
purchasing slavery with freedom?

I read "what's in a name" and give Irving credit. He dug up an amazing array of info. But as some of his critics have said, he's a touch paranoid. There were so many forces erupting in the 1960's, the explanation for some events are multi-faceted. I don't think these agencies can control everything... they respond to trends and inject themselves to shape outcomes to their advantage. Humans from every corner of the earth have used psychotropic substances (that modern science isolated compounds of) since the beginning of history. It's hard not to hold conflicting views because the subject is so nuanced.

I completely agree it's important to know figures like Huxley, Leary, and Hubbard (previously hailed as heroes of the underground) were psychopaths and megalomaniacs. They probably thought they were using the CIA for their means, not the other way around lol. Wasson was a fraud, entrenched in military intelligence, pretending he had no ulterior ties.

Within the group of "researchers" there are others who deserve more blame such as Osmond and Hoffer. They were direct MK agents conducting what amounts to torture on innocent people. Their crimes may be below the despicable experiments and wicked schemes of Gottleib and Cameron, but they're still guilty parties.

What I have to point out is all during MK there were psychologists working with low dosages of the materials who weren't aware they were being sponsored by a 3rd party. Their motives weren't evil. The intention of some authors and futurists of the day was not as insidious as the military's.

The larger history of pharmacology and government experimentation with chemicals in the 20th century is shocking. Mescaline was synthesized in Germany, 1918. Project MKULTRA was supposedly a continuation of Nazi experiments with mescaline imported to Fort Detrick (no surprises there). The CIA tested the effects of LSD-25 in wide applications from 1953 onward (probably before) but also studied the effects of DMT, mescaline, cocaine, psilocybin, barbitutes, amphetamines, heroin, morphine, temazepam, scopolamine, cannabis, alcohol and sodium pentothal. This quote from Wikipedia:

"MKUltra's researchers later dismissed LSD as too unpredictable in its results. They gave up on the notion that LSD was "the secret that was going to unlock the universe," but it still had a place in the cloak-and-dagger arsenal. However, by 1962 the CIA and the army developed a series of super-hallucinogens such as the highly touted BZ, which was thought to hold greater promise as a mind control weapon. This resulted in the withdrawal of support by many academics and private researchers, and LSD research became less of a priority altogether."

BZ? Yikes. If we're considering the modern day that's something to look into. This leads to questions about Irving's hypothesis. Did the military really back away from LSD research? Maybe. I don't think purposely outlawing hallucinogens proves they orchestrated the entire "psychedelic revolution". Did Leary "go rogue" as some say? I still don't believe Kesey was a dedicated agent... sure they probably all had visits... but there were too many freaks and independent heads doing their own thing. I'd raise the same argument to some of McGowan's conclusions about LC: The Doors and Frank Zappa weren't the heart of the hippy movement, just a factor. It might be the genie was out of the bottle and the man (trying to be period correct lol) had to play damage control. I look at evidence of the cocaine industry being (literally) planted by the late 60's as well as the heroin influx. Much of the decadence and dissolution of the 70's-80's can be traced to narco-trafficing worldwide; that nastiness could be looked at as a counter operation to undermine the consciousness movement. In such a convoluted era there's more questions than answers.

I've seen too many half-baked comments about the "CIA orchestrated counterculture" and "cultural marxism" not to doubt that side of the propaganda machine. The security state has their hands as deeply, if not more, into brainwashed groups like Calvary Church and other right-wing institutions. If we're to be honest, Protestantism never had any real values to erode anyways. Would you rather be indoctrinated by granola eating, naked peace-niks or end-times fanatics praying with Chuck Missle-r for nuclear war?

This is an important subject and the discussion continues. I'm interested in the paper from the OP and have some other observations to share.

 

[Karlysymon]

I read "what's in a name" and give Irving credit. He dug up an amazing array of info. But as some of his critics have said, he's a touch paranoid. There were so many forces erupting in the 1960's, the explanation for some events are multi-faceted. I don't think these agencies can control everything... they respond to trends and inject themselves to shape outcomes to their advantage. Humans from every corner of the earth have used psychotropic substances (that modern science isolated compounds of) since the beginning of history. It's hard not to hold conflicting views because the subject is so nuanced.

I’ve just noticed that I didn’t link to the quote in my post that you quoted. It was from Jay Dyer’s piece titled Fragmentation of the Psyche and the Nous and that was where I found the link to Irving’s work. It is one of my all time favorite articles of his and I agree with everything that he (Dyer) says. “Modern man losing his religion” probably started with Darwin (1800s) and by the 50s, the masses were ready…so to speak… I also read somewhere that during the 50s, sports matches were deliberately scheduled on Sundays. The fathers ended up skipping church for the games and the religious unity in the home slowly got eroded away. Popularizing psychedelics to the masses would serve a two-fold purpose: pretend to satisfy a spiritual longing but also at the same time create a “dead head”.

While true that TPTB cannot and don’t control everything, the 60s is way too peculiar. I sort of got a better a better understanding of what erupted in the 60s and beyond after I watched Adam Curtis’ 4-part series. The experiment at the Nunnery (part 3) and its outcomes was very thought provoking for me. Curtis' documentary details the corporate world's interest in mind manipulation for profit maximization.
Yes, while humans since antiquity, have used psychotropic substances was that ever God’s intended ideal?

The larger history of pharmacology and government experimentation with chemicals in the 20th century is shocking. Mescaline was synthesized in Germany, 1918. Project MKULTRA was supposedly a continuation of Nazi experiments with mescaline imported to Fort Detrick (no surprises there). The CIA tested the effects of LSD-25 in wide applications from 1953 onward (probably before) but also studied the effects of DMT, mescaline, cocaine, psilocybin, barbitutes, amphetamines, heroin, morphine, temazepam, scopolamine, cannabis, alcohol and sodium pentothal. This quote from Wikipedia:

"MKUltra's researchers later dismissed LSD as too unpredictable in its results. They gave up on the notion that LSD was "the secret that was going to unlock the universe," but it still had a place in the cloak-and-dagger arsenal. However, by 1962 the CIA and the army developed a series of super-hallucinogens such as the highly touted BZ, which was thought to hold greater promise as a mind control weapon. This resulted in the withdrawal of support by many academics and private researchers, and LSD research became less of a priority altogether."

I watched a 5-part series afew days ago on Japan’s Unit 371 headed by Ishii Shiro. I concluded that some of this aswell as the Chemtrail program very much likely originated with Unit 371. Apparently, Japan never had any resources for fighting and sustaining any war and could only get an edge through chemical and biological warfare. My memory may fail me here but there was another Japanese scientist shipped off to America after the war to continue his work. It wasn’t Ishii Shiro because in the documentary, he apparently is buried in Japan.