James

Just read about this meet now. Been away for a while and really miss you guys. I'll try making it to the meet this time. Gotta give JDanger back his book too. Hope it doesn't rain.

Been away for a while. Hope this post activates the PMs again. Thanks

http://www.bialabate.net/news/understandin...anto-daime-case

I think the main issue is not whether the information is public or private. It's how it is presented. Western culture tends to degrade the Sacredness of these plants. This community should be walking in the opposite direction, in an effort to sanctify the plants and their spiritual paths within modern culture. Not directly related to this subject, but worth mentioning, is how modern culture goes by deteriorating the "meaning" of things. A clear example of this is the act of giving names to things, thus benefiting from inheriting the somewhat established meaning but degrading the meaning for future generations to come. It might seem "cool" for some rock band aspirant to name his band with some word which refers to a plant or anything else by the matter, and it might seem he is even honoring that subject, however, the once established meaning has now become just a product of consumer capitalism, a google search will probably return more information related to the band than to the original meaning of the word. The same applies to movies, business names, product names, anything that can be marketed and sold... Now the question to ask is "am I worthy of it?". Did I ask permission?

Things are changing but very slowly. Besides the Vienna meet in April theres the California bill on the way... http://www.canorml.org/ Anyone living in the US can show support, just log on to the website... Late 2008, Ayahausca was declared a National Cultural Heritage both in Peru and Brazil. Slowly things are changing... Sometimes I think the 2012 milestone might actually be when western society finally begins the process of coming to terms with these substances. It stills shocks me how it's socially accpetable for one to tie a rope on his foot and jump of a bridge (bungee jump) or spend the whole day in amusement parks on roller costers and other "toys", but there still isn't an established place in society where one can safely alter his mind and perception, not even under medical supervison? It shocks me how the medical society (and artists too) are hypocrites and don't have a firm position on the subject. It's like as if slavery was still in place and most people didn't care to act, or if womens rights were still undermined. As Terence said "it is a birth right". Law could only enforce certain principals such as: restricted to certain areas and/or under supervision, restricted when undergoing any activity that requires interaction with the public, etc...

It was really cool meeting you guys. Thank you everyone for coming along and sharing your knowledge. Regular meets would be an excellent idea for sure. Maybe we could also plan on other types of gatherings to practice yoga, meditation or drumming maybe? Keep the spirit Peace and Love

Just google "Amazon with Bruce Parry torrent"... There are 6 episodes. Was on BBC2 late 2008 This post mentions the first episode: http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/inde...showtopic=18996

Sad to see some people advocating forest clearing as a means of preventing bushfire damage: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/10/2487587.htm In their minds it's ok to preemptively kill thousands of animals and plants just to reduce risk?

Yes, obviously, but the impression I have is that the potency is also greatly associated with the people that participate. In other words, the overall effect on the group could be enhanced by efforts of meditation. I recall Sasha mentioning something similar in relation to a San Pedro ceremony in which two groups had the same brew but completely different effects.

Medicine Men Go Wild, tv series on Channel 4, twin brother doctors travelling to isolated villages in search of natural medicine plants... Season 1 episode 4 shows a bit of Takiwasi and some local shamans in south america, might be worth watching... UTSE: "Medicine Men Go Wild S01E04"

Cool video, thanks Legba.

Happy birthday Wandjina Sinto saudades de voce

Children say younger than 7 won't even have the racional understanding to figure out the logical and intentional association of the imagery to the "so called causing factor". I'm surprised to find support for the government here. Well, if they are winning here, then I guess I'll just have to accept the defeat and understand that the world will just get worse and worse from here onwards... probably the best I can do is "let it be", but educate my children differently, showing them the difference and giving them the tools to enlighten their spirit and hopefully they will be reborn in another planet where people really CARE and LOVE each other in such a way that even displaying a disturbing image is considered an act of violence... By the way, let's display some brutal imagery of wounds and cuts on Knife packs just to remind our fellow men that knives can cause damage too, oh and Car advertisments should show disgusting crash scenes with bodies torn apart just to remind people what can happen if they don't drive properly.... yes, bring on the ugly and brutal, yes that's what HE want's, huh heheh, sorry for being so negative

Is there a limit on what the government can display on it's anti-smoking campaign? I mean, the campaign itself might be causing damage, at least psychological damage to the kids that are being exposed to the imagery. One thing is to display the disturbing imagery on the cigarette pack, but having it displayed on public buses all over the city ! Isn't it just going over the top? One of the major reasons for the so called "war on drugs" is to "protect the children". Now exposing the children to all sorts of sickening imagery is ok??? Couldn't the imagery psychologically disturb the children? Where are the psychologists ??? Doesn't anyone care ??? Fuck, I don't smoke but I'm so pissed off that I'm just about to start lighting cigarretes instead of candles in my ceremonial works !!! God bless thy smokers, for they represent the liberty of decision and freewill as to smoke or not to smoke.

I've been away for a while, but I'm keen on getting back in touch with the community. Would be nice to chat on msn. PM me please Peace and Love