chilli

So 'love' is exempt as a mere human language element, then? What is your criteria? Is there such a thing as false or insincere love? If so, then how do we discern the true from the false?

I suggest maybe Crime and Punishment for starters, I will certainly get back with more info regarding Dostoevsky in a few days, but I'm in a rush.

Hi Wandjina, I know exactly what you mean, except for maybe the ads... If I see an animal suffering, I get all torn up, but then I can be a hard hearted bastard to my loved ones without blinking. Even though inside I recognize I'm being a bastard, and a part of me wants to stop, and just cave in and forgive and stop being cold, there is some defence mechanism that is very strong and hard to overcome. I guess that maybe that's just what people who have been hurt a lot get like. My heart goes out to you... I think the fact that you feel like you do may indicate that you are a very sensitive person (in a positive sense), and it is usually the most sensitive who get the most hurt in this hard-edged world. As for recommendations, I would highly recommend the rather unorthodox combination of Dostoevsky and Calvin and Hobbes... if you need some more specific recommendations in the Dostoevsky arena, feel free to PM me. Oh, and maybe some fruit muffins and tea.

Hey, check this out, there's some really beautiful cacti in this slideshow... http://www.peyote.net/gallery/slideshow.ph...albumName=Cacti Sorry if this has been linked to elsewhere.

Well, I can't recall any dreams specifically about plants, but I did have a strange and rather vivid dream just a few weeks ago that I will relate. In this dream I was on Earth sometime in the future, and I was at a giant space station that was actually on Earth, but it was like an airport for travelling through the galaxy. A little while later, I was outside some kind of prison, and I was painting it green. There was a voice speaking to me telling me that the king (apparently the whole earth was under a monarch), was cruel and he would lock me away without any human contact for transgressing his laws. I turned around to see who was speaking to me, and saw the figure of a man on a pedestal, like a statue, except it was talking to me. Anyway, I didn't really look at his face, but I started painting him green also, he had robes around his waist, and I distinctly remember the green paint flowing over the folds. The next scene, this character had come down from being a statue, and was taking me on a boat along a beautiful river surrounded by mountains. At this time, I could see his whole body, and he was broad and bare chested, middle aged but still sprightly with greyish curly hair and sparkling eyes. What was most remarkable was that he had mossy vegetation draped over his shoulders and torso, in multiple shades of green. For some reason, I was singing "green man form the south, shine your light on me." The dream continued on with various other scenarios involving this green man, but I won't bore you with any more details here. I woke up feeling quite disturbed, and the dream seemed significant in a way that only a few of my dreams ever had. Well, I had this green man character stuck in my head for the next few days, so I decided to do a search for green man on the internet, and lo... there are all sorts of theories about some kind of arcehtypal figure known as the green man who has appeared in various guises over millenia. Some have speculated that he is an archetype of our oneness with nature... hence, my reason for posting this here. I do not consciously recall ever having heard of the green man before, although the term had a vague familiarity about it... Almost a feeling of deja vu. Bizarre

I am thoroughly guilty of anthropomorphising animals - all my pets have distinct 'voices' and carry on conversations with me, each other, and the rest of the household. This is pretty weird for people when they come over and you get the cats out and they don't know why the hell I'm saying "I hate you, you dickhead" (this is the kind of thing the animals 'say') in a funny screeching voice. To make it worse, I sometimes do the same thing with people's dogs when I stop to pat them... the owners usually get moving pretty quickly when I say things like "DON'T TOUCH." Nevertheless, as much as I don't think I could kill an animal that was a pest, I tend to agree with Rev when I see people spending so much time and energy on animals that could be used caring for foster kids, the elderly, and physically and mentally retarded. At the same time, I would be a hypocrite if I told other people that they shouldn't spend their time protecting animals, given the fact that I spend such a disproportionate amount of my own time pissfarting around on this forum, and doing many other things that don't help and may even hinder disadvantaged people. I can also relate to those animal welfare activists, because sometimes animals seem to make such better friends than humans... and some people become so disillusioned with their fellow man, especially when they ravage the environment, either directly or indirectly. Which leads me to further agree with Rev, because when the animal in question has been introduced, and is a pest, it is destroying native animal's habitats, not that I consider native animals better, but I don't want them to be extinct either. Mind you, I got the impression that this sparrow was not vermin, but a protected species in the country where this happened, perhaps I'm mistaken?

I think that listening is OK, but just accepting what these beings tell you seems a little bit naive... you wouldn't trust what some stranger in a dark alley told you, so why does this not apply to supernatural beings? It seems that in this case, we should be even more cautious, as these entities are perhaps beyond our understanding or ability to discern accurately. I'm not saying they do not sometimes deliver very accurate information, it has been my experience that in fact they do, to the point of accurately predicting the death of people I have known in horrific freak accidents. What I am saying is that this is not necessarily a reason for trusting the intentions or philosophies of these beings... what if they predict it, and then carry it out? What if they are not all sweetness and light, full of goodwill for all humanity, but malicious and deceptive spirits of death?

Hey, I'm not sure what's funnier, the fact that people took this seriously and got uptight, or the guy who created it... Behold, the most Most Highly Exalted Reverend Brendan Powell Smith: His website has a different hilarious picture and subtitle every time you refresh it... I'm up to 60 so far, and its still going. Check it out at www.thereverend.com The "Bible" is not a single book, but a collation of at least 66 texts written by different authors over many centuries, it contains various kinds of literature, all with different messages and objectives, and so any attempt to treat it as a book with a single specific message or theme is facile at best. Torsten, it seems to me that to speak so vehemently about something you admit a basic ignorance of is quite arrogant, and somewhat hypocritical in comparison to your subsequent post wherein you espouse tolerance and understanding of other faiths as desirable virtues. I have known some Christians who were horrible people, and some who were amongst the greatest people I've met, but the vast majority are just ordinary people like you or I, trying to make sense of the world... likewise, I have known Atheists, Polytheists and Agnostics who meet the same criteria. I'm sorry if I am coming over as harsh or unduly critical, but I'm seeing some very simplistic arguments here which seem like attempts to dress up ugly prejiduces.

Yeah, sorry, quick post and I guess I only presented half the equasion... It seems naive people are often sucked in by flattery, while the more skeptical among us get the shit scared out of them... I don't think anyone's life is perfect though, unless that remark was facetious I don't know, it just seems a little sinister... my bro's been messing around with Salvia extract, and a lot of the stuff he's heard/seen seems pretty evil to me. No offense to those whose experience has been different though, I've just seen some very accurate entities do some very evil stuff in the past.

I didn't even notice the mispelling... but yeah, it's the idea of the human mind being the core to all existence that I consider frightening, not mid, although that sounds pretty scary too .

What a frightening thought.

It's not really an issue of whether or not a majority of people agree with it, but if the information is true and accurate, and if it is presented fairly... I totally disagree with current U.S. foreign policy, and pretty scared about what's going down lately, but articles like this do little to actually convince people, and use the same kind of misrepresentation and distortion of facts to suit their own agenda, just like the mainstream media do... with the difference that the media tend to use a little more subtlety. The truth can stand by itself, it doesn't need emotional jeremiads by spin doctors to help prop it up.

I certainly believe in the existence of other entities, beings, spirits, or whatever you may label them as, but what disturbs me is the way that a lot of people who have some kind of contact with these spirits uncritically accept what they tell them, especially in light of the fact that these messages often seem flattering or simply "what we want to hear." In a lot of experience reports, its bizarre when people are like "yeah, I was fully freaked out and it felt really dark and sinister, and it seemed to be trying to steal my soul, but I am sure that it is a wise teacher and I have much to learn, and I know it would never want to hurt me." This just seems extremely naive, there's alot of evil in the world.

I have heard TJG contains little to no mescaline... does anyone know if TJG are psychoactive? If they contain little or no mescaline, but are psychoactive, what are the alkaloids that cause a psychoactive effect?

Hi... whilst waiting for this to callus, it obviously got a little bit over eager and kept growing, with this result... It has no roots yet, but its potted, what can I do to slow down the growth and halt the etiolation? Thanks

Oops, I posted the wrong picture for the first two... I have removed it now, so zee_werp's comment referring to the second pic is actually the first one that you can see now... How confusing

Hi, these are some of my Trichocereus, can anyone help me with some ID info? They were all sold as Pachanoi, but there are a few things that throw me off, namely: The very brown areoles and greater segmentation on this one... The brown areoles on this one... And this one looks a little like a Scop, although its pretty dehydrated, and I have seen more from the same person that are much more like a more typical Pachanoi... I'm probably betraying my gross ignorance with regards to identifying Trichocereus, but I suppose I have to start somewhere... Thanks everyone.

How dark is dark? Should I take it out of the soil?

Thank you Benzito!

Hi, can anyone help me ID this little pup that arrived in the post yesterday? Sorry about the big images... can someone tell me how to use the clip feature? Thanks

Ok, here are a couple more pics of another pup from the same plant that just arrived yesterday... This one looks a little more typically peruvianoid, doesn't it? Oh yeah, and any help on how to use the photo clip feature would keep me from going nuts...

Ok, here are some pics... I did get a growing tip this week, which I am assuming is from a pup that grew of the old gnarly bits that I got last week, the only thing that gives me pause is that the younger pieces are a much darker shade of green. Here is a new piece and an old piece side by side... A close up of an old log... A close up of a new piece... The new piece again... And again... And a top down of the new piece... The piece that was apparently bioassayed was the big, light green log.

Hey zee_werp, from my limited experience, it doesn't look like a scop, aside from which, the same person I bought this from has just posted some Scop tips with the next 2 metres of logs... I'm a very happy camper at the moment. Rev... I had a bit of trouble figuring it out exactly, but it seems like it might be as much as $300, and around $20 per cutting... don't take my word on it though, I've only briefly scanned the info AQIS sent me. Also, that's not taking into account the various state import requirements, which I have no idea of. I'll be back in Oz each Christmas, so timing it to be sent maybe August 2006 would work out pretty well for me (allowing for three months import).

Hi zee_werp, All I have is some fat log style cuttings, no tips, but I will post some pics next time I get on the net... The lady I bought them from has Trout's notes, and is active on another entheogenic forum, so I kind of trust her... the only thing that I recognize from descriptions I have read is the sunken areoles and almost no spines...

Hey Rev, I have just been trying to decipher the AQIS import info, and the best I can make of it is that it may have to sit in quarantine for 3 months... is that right to the best of your knowledge? This is probably not much help, but I'll be moving back to Perth for at least 6 months in 2 years, and if you still don't have any by then, I'll halve the import costs with you.