Scarecrow

Hiya fellas! I recently read a fantastic book called "Breaking Open the Head" by one Daniel Pinchbeck. It's an account of his exploration and research into psychedelic shamanism, and it's a fantastic read. Out of the entire book though, one part of it really stuck with me. The following is an excerpt of the book. It talks about the idea of higher dimensional entities (whether literally or metaphorically) gaining power and influence from our very beliefs. If you've got the time, please give it a read! I'm very curious to hear what you guys think!

Huxley's Island is also a fantastic read. While Brave New World is his portrayal of a dystopian society, Island is his portrayal of a utopian one.

egads - looks like i checked back here just in the nick of time. i've been very busy with study, but i'll do my best to make it!

I've been doing some learning lately, and I've been finding a few good sources of information that I wanted to share. So I thought we could start working on a big thread with a whole bunch of resources and information for people who want to start learning or further their knowledge with mycology. Feel free to share your knowledge people! For Melbournians, here is a really comprehensive Psilocybe Subaeruginosa hunting and identification guide: http://endofthegame.net/2012/05/09/psychedelic-mushrooms-and-you/ (includes identification, habitat, imposters, drying, photos and more) And here's a thread on shroomery with some more Psilocybe Subaeruginosa habitat photos: http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/16164170/fpart/all Here's a neat online mushroom identification tool to help narrow down the possibilities: http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/chooser.asp (although i wouldn't trust it unconditionally, i think this can be helpful for beginners like myself to learn faster) Here's a good series of videos about growing mushrooms which I was recommended by migraineur: http://www.mushroomvideos.com/ (you'll have to pay for full access, though) Here is a list of books about Australian fungi specifically, for those with the money to track down and buy a copy: http://www.fungibank.csiro.au/topic_7_2.htm (if anyone has an opinion on any of these books I'd love to hear it. I'm considering buying one, but there's very limited information about them and a distinct lack of reviews)

Osho - The Book Of Secrets 112 beautiful meditation techniques explained clearly with context provided. i stumbled upon this book purely by chance, and it had a huge impact on the direction of my life. it's full of wisdom and i believe it has made me a better person. highly recommend to anybody who's serious about growing as a human being.

"there is a major risk of having a bad trip" oh no

chi packed breakfast for winter - 2 chopped shiitake mushrooms - chilli (quantity according to personal preference), chopped finely - a few slices of ginger, chopped finely - small handful of garlic and ginger chives, chopped - chopped bacon - 2 eggs - 2 pieces of bread - 2 slices of cheese (optional - you'll need an oven griller (overhead kind of deal, don't know what these are actually called) for this bit) - salt, pepper - and a bit of butter 1. on high heat, melt the butter in a pan, then throw in the bacon, shiitake, chilli, and ginger. 2. turn the heat down a little once the bacon is starting to look cooked, and throw in the chives. add more butter whenever it's necessary, the shiitakes really soak it up like sponges. 3. turn down the heat down to quite low, then crack open your eggs and drop them in. break them apart and scramble them as they cook, mixing everything together, and scraping the pan as you go to stop anything from sticking. (you'll end up with a really nice consistency this way!) 4. toast your bread when you feel like you have a moment to step away from the pan 5. when things are starting to look cooked, add some salt and pepper and mix them through also 6. now, if you've got a grill as mentioned before, start warming it up while you put your toast on the tray and load your delicious eggs on to the bread evenly. add a slice of cheese to each one, then put them under the grill until the cheese is melted. this is not only tasty, but holds everything together nicely 7. enjoy! this breakfast will give you one metric shitton of energy and warmth

fuck everything there is no hope

Anybody have any idea where I can buy food grade hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide)? It keeps popping up as something needed for various preparations (eg. at the moment I need it for Betel nuts), but googling for a place it might be available at has yielded nothing. Any suggestions of where to try?

horses? horses.

I'll definitely make an effort to produce something, those prizes sound great! Got any specifications for the logo, like dimensions or shape? Or maybe even just a spot on the website where you're going to put it? Any of these details would help a lot with making something that will match the rest of the website properly.

haha... yeah. it's a "dream" for a reason.

Permaculture seems like a lot of work when it's small-scale and individual-based. What I'd love to see is the start of an actual community based on permaculture. Imagine having a little island with a community of likeminded people, all just making a sustainable living for themselves, and helping each other out whenever necessary. That's the dream for me!

get it... because if they win... they already have the biggest sunflower :D

the biggest sunflower on SAB forums, delivered to your backyard instantaneously! amazing!

terence mckenna is laughing in his grave

competition time~

holy moly

I met the mushroom spirit today, and finally became aware of what's been going on. He has been doing what a mushroom does; growing, solidifying, making himself at home in whatever substrate he had been presented with. In this case, it seems that it's his energetic body at work here, and the substrate is my physical one. Unfortunately I have realized that my body is too fragile to host him any longer. I have kindly asked him to leave, as his presence in my system now appears to be one of the many causes of my poor state of health. My body has begun to clear his energetic presence from my meridians, and he is not resisting my efforts to cleanse him from my system. However, I am not angry. I have learned much from this meeting. It it not the mushroom's fault that I am ill; I'm the real criminal here. I've been neglecting myself. Hell, I put the mushroom spirit there. Not that he's a bad guy. After lying down for a while, and observing the cleaning process, I have realized that my organs all have their own lives, and personalities. They just go on, doing their thing, and I've been feeding them crap and smoke and drugs that they all have to deal with. In realizing this, and giving thanks to my own body (I'm especially grateful to my liver, who, as I write this, is hard at work scrubbing the mushroom spirit out of my blood), I feel like I've reconciled my errors to some degree, realizing my mistakes. I have this feeling of having come home to a group of old friends that I've been neglecting until now. I look forward to hanging out with my best buddies, my organs. Along with this feeling, I have come to realize a great sense of responsibility. I feel somewhat in charge, now that I have realized how helpless my friends, my organs, are to defend themselves from my stupidity. I must do what I can to keep the community that is my body peaceful and harmonious, by ensuring that it is needs are provided and well catered to. I must maintain order, such that no organs get angry and rebel against each other. My organs must work together to produce a harmonious community, a kingdom even, and I must do my best to facilitate it. And only once my kingdom has flourished, can I hope to provide support to help improve the dire circumstances that every other kingdoms is dealing with. Dude.

that's quite possibly the best thing i've seen all week lmao

A notification on the forum to the user that an email has bounced might do the trick. The message could remind the user to either update their email, or disable the emails (and thereby the annoying notifcation!)...

That might be why it's worse at this time of year, but I've definitely got a serious condition. Definitely not localized to the liver, either. I've been seeing people about this for around two years now, and I'm not self-diagnosing, despite having already done diagnosis (I don't want to be skewing my readings by having expectations); I have collapsing yang, deficient qi, and a deep invasion of cold. My intention here was mainly to take note of the changes that occur after having taken some, to try and get an idea of the nature of the mushrooms in a TCM sense. Don't get me wrong though, I'm by no means qualified to do this yet - which is why I'm not claiming anything definitive about it yet. I'm just making observations at the moment, and they're likely going to be skewed by my poor state of health. Once I've done herbs properly and improved my health, I'll be able to deepen my understanding and hopefully draw some conclusions. I've thought about it, but I would really hope that one of the many doctors I've seen would have picked up on that if it were the case. Any parasite in my gut would be suffering a hell of hot and warming and spicy foods and herbs though, so I can take solace in that at least. Might consider doing a wormwood flush just in case. Terence McKenna, fascinating ideas as always. I wouldn't be surprised if he was correct, but I'd still be wary of trusting such a creature unconditionally. Just because it's a higher dimensional inter-galactic being, doesn't mean it hasn't got its own unstated motives.

haha, i just bought me some of that stuff online. i've been sniffing my sleeve like it's crack since sunday! soon i'll be rolling in ladies.