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Flux

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Posts posted by Flux

  2. Posted

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    For all you Sydney-siders here, The Australian Psychedelic Society is once again excited to initiate Cactus Day in honour of Aldous Huxley's seminal Doors of Perception experience on Sunday May 23rd from 1:00-4:00pm at The Giant Dwarf Theatre on Cleveland Street.

    This will be a day devoted to learning about the psychedelic Cactus; specifically San Pedro/Huachuma this year. We will be screening the Aubrey Marcus film Huachuma, having a discussion with Mescaline author and anthropologist Mike Jay, and presenting a cactus-growing workshop by one of our Shaman Australis elders Tony Davey. 

    * There will also be spot door prizes and a raffle draw for the chance to take home some amazing specimens of cactus.

    FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE: https://fb.me/e/1hxbxtqY1

    TICKET PURCHASE LINK: http://www.giantdwarf.com.au/events/APS/

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    • Like 2

  3. Posted · Edited by Flux
    adding image

    For all you Sydney-siders here, The Australian Psychedelic Society is once again excited to initiate Cactus Day in honour of Aldous Huxley's seminal Doors of Perception experience on Sunday May 23rd from 1:00-4:00pm at The Giant Dwarf Theatre on Cleveland Street.

    This will be a day devoted to learning about the psychedelic Cactus; specifically San Pedro/Huachuma this year. We will be screening the Aubrey Marcus film Huachuma, having a discussion with Mescaline author and anthropologist Mike Jay, and presenting a cactus-growing workshop by one of our Shaman Australis elders Tony Davey. 

    There will also be spot door prizes and a raffle draw for the chance to take home some amazing specimens of cactus.

    FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE: https://fb.me/e/1hxbxtqY1

    TICKET PURCHASE LINK: http://www.giantdwarf.com.au/events/APS/

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    • Like 1

  4. Posted · Edited by Flux


    It's coming up to that time where The Australian Psychedelic Society - Sydney celebrates Aldous Huxley's seminal Doors of Perception experience on Sunday May 23rd with a day devoted to psychedelic Cactus. Rather than covering all psychoactive cacti, this year we are choosing to focus on celebrating all things San Pedro/Huachuma in keeping with the more prevalent Australian species. We are super excited to be able to host full capacity events again and as such, we expect tickets for this to sell fast so get in while you can !

    We will be screening the Aubrey Marcus’ film Huachuma directed by Mitch Schultz. The film is a 45 minute excursion deep into the heart of the Peruvian rainforest to experience the magic of the 3000 year old plant medicine: Huachuma. 

    We will then speak to Mike Jay author of 'Mescaline: A Global History of The First Psychedelic’ about the traditions, customs and rituals of Huachuma culture, Chavin De Huantar, the Western discovery of San Pedro and the cultural implications and consequences for the Indigenous people and preservation of these customs to this day.
     

    To complete the day, we are privileged to have an SAB elder many of you may know Tony Davey, presenting a hand-ons demonstration of how to cultivate Trichocereus cacti from tip-cuttings, trunks and seed. Tony will demonstrate the basics of cactus cultivation using different methods and answer any questions the community may have about starting their collection or enhancing their existing gardens.

     

    WHEN: Sunday May, 23rd, 13:00-16:00

     

    WHERE: Giant Dwarf Theatre, 280 Cleveland St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 (please note Giant Drwarf have moved a few blocks up since we were there last time)

    TICKETS: www.giantdwarf.com.au/events/APS

     

    FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/events/168999428458131

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  6. Posted

    Hi All,

     

    The Australian Psychedelic Society is in the process of launching a program called Psychedelic Creatives. I'm posting here in hopes (and assurity) that we have a bunch of really amazing artists of all kinds in the SAB community here (remember the term artist broadly applies to all creative expressions). That you all may be able to suggest some great local artists that we could showcase too. So if you'd like to get involved, contact us through the new APS website link below  - or drop the contact details and examples of an artist you admire in the thread here. 

    The Psychedelic Creatives project will focus on those working as an amateur, semi or semi-professional creatives in order to support those making, or attempting to make an income in the creative arts within our community with a notable 'body of work' to demonstrate. Psychedelic inspiration can be explicit or implicit, but there needs to be a link that we can demonstrate. The project will take the form of an interview/article (either video or text) where we pose a series of questions to an artist in order to tease out their psychedelic influence and resonance, interspersed with pieces of the artist's work with links to their various project sites and platforms where others can support them in their work


    We are therefore calling for submissions from the creatives within our communities so that we can provide a window of support and exposure for the independent artists out there...be they visual artists/musicians/creative writers/poets/sculptors/film-makers/comedians/graffiti artists/performance artists/etc

    Below you can register your interest, and we will be in touch regarding your submission. We really look forward to seeing what this amazing community can do!

    https://www.psychedelicsociety.org.au/psychedelic-creatives

    • Like 3

  8. Posted · Edited by Flux

    I hope some of you managed to make it to the gardens. We usually start with a meeting point and post our final location (on the grass nearby) to the Facebook pages, but in future I'll try and remember to post final location details here too. We had a great turnout with about 20-30 people and it was super chill and a really nice day for it.

    It was good to see the cactus gardens again but the poor old Scop there just doesn't get a chance to grow coz of unscrupulous a-holes stealing pups and branches...given its age it should be a massive stand by now, but it's the same size as it was 5 years ago !!!

    Now that venues are open to full capacity again, the APS have a bunch of bigger events coming up - Including CACTUS DAY on May 23rd & MUSHROOM DAY on June 20th which will both be huge !!!  

    We also have a special FREE Bicycle Day LIVE STREAM interview and Q&A with Paul Daley - one of the main Shulgin Archivists at 3:00pm THIS ARVO on the APS Youtube channel: 
     

     

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    On 09/04/2021 at 8:25 AM, Raver Buddy said:

    Hi,

    Is there any plans soon for a meetup in Sydney?

     

    I've relocted from Melbourne and been to plenty of the SAB meetups there. Unfortunately I'm only in Sydney for a short while and was hoping I could go to a meetup if there's on while I'm here such as in the next month or two?

     

    Hi Raver Buddy & Thanks Wile E.

     

    The next Sydney APS meet up is our Bicycle Day Picnic this Sunday at the Royal Botanic Gardens 11:00 - 15:00 (we''ll meet at the cactus gardens and then move somewhere more comfy and private form there but will mark our spot with Purple Flags).

     

    Keep an eye on the Facebook event Page https://www.facebook.com/events/885955698866240

     

    We'll also be having an event for Cactus Day (May 23rd) with a film, workshop and speaker... then there's Mushroom Day on the 20th June 

     

    To stay up to date with APS events, sign up to the Sydney Newsletter https://psychedelicsociety.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=543c0c0d6e31f0f994a287a84&id=89e3b156a8&fbclid=IwAR26x_kBwTb-7Uq5mhG5UVKYo0tupLwygDDp1mF0xgX99T1XeXqu8FjtK4k

     

    cheers,

     

    Flux

    • Like 1

  13. Posted · Edited by Flux

    Thought y’all might enjoy this interesting conversation that James W. Jesso hosted with a few of us about where the Australian psychoactive Acacia species fit into the local psychedelic scene here, and how our interactions with these species connect us to a deeper connection with the spirit of the land: https://www.jameswjesso.com/drinking-the-psychedelic-acacia-trees-of-australia-psychedelic-cafe-5/?fbclid=IwAR1goTSu03e3fP0QGs_DjGLAL3fC62K8nBkYv3Pu4MgmfLJV6CA5RqG2uv0

    • Like 9
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  17. Posted

     

     

     

    PLEASE NOTE ! the location for the APS-Canberra chapters' inaugural meet-up this Sunday has been changed due to predicted rain !

     

     

     

     

     

    The event will now be at Weston Park, Weston Park Rd, Yarralumla ACT 2600. Details on the new Canberra page:

     

     

     

     

     

  18. Posted

    There are generally noted to be 2 quite different forms of Floribunda - domestic and wild both quite different on form and desired properties. 


    The common, domestic, garden store type has short thin phyllodes with short orange flowers.
    

     
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    The rarer-seen, wild bush type has long broad phyllodes with large bushy white flowers (the contrast is not really noticeable in these photos):

     

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    There are obviously a number of forms that fall somewhere in between which are no doubt the result of hybridisation.
    The MooseZeus-  I do have some seeds that are from a type with long phyllodes but quiet orange flowers grown on a friends property from SAB seed I believe

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  19. Posted

    Sadly, it looks well dead Pedro99 :(

    I've had a couple do this and its almost always been under-watering (and unexpectedly hot days) each time ...but given you've had the opposite conditions with rain, perhaps it is over-watered and also I would think that 3-4 days of rain would possibly wash out any fertiliser (but then again maybe not if its sitting in it).

    I've always been told that they don't like their feet in water and can get root-rot if left on a tray to absorb water 

  20. Posted · Edited by Flux

    Announcing the Canberra APS Chapter 

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    Artwork My Inspiration by Canberra Artist Valentyna Crane 

     

    Australian Psychedelic Society is super excited to announce our newest chapter in Canberra!

     

    APS-Canberra will be hosting this significant inaugural Chapter Meet Up on Sunday March the 14th at The Australian National Botanic Gardens.

     

    Join Chapter lead Ash & Emma in the beautiful Botanic Gardens for the first APS-Canberra chapter meet-up. This event will be a relaxed, family friendly picnic, followed by a wander through the gardens where people can meet other members of the community and share their diverse interests in psychedelics.

     

    Please feel free to let your family and friends know about this event and encourage them to come along and hear the myriad of different perspectives and approaches folks have towards psychedelics and the incredible benefits they get from them. Meeting will commence at the Ducrou Pavillion at 12pm. 

     

    In order to view the Picnic event page and register your interest (this helps is maintaining gathering numbers) please send a ‘join request’ to the the Australian Psychedelic Society-Canberra facebook Page first; which will also keep you up to date with future happenings. For further details or enquiries about Sundays event, you can also contact Ash or Emma through the APS-Canberra Facebook Page or email [email protected]

     

    Please note that all APS meetups are drug free events. 

     

    WHEN: Midday, Sunday, 14th March

     

    WHERE: Australian National Botanic Gardens; Clunies Ross St, ACT

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  21. Posted

     

    APS-Sydney is excited to bring you all our fifth instalment of Book Club ....for which it was collectively decided that this time, we choose the seminal text: 

     

    The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by Jeremy Narby.

    (free PDF here)

     

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    Narby is a Canadian anthropologist and author and has several books that examine psychedelic/entheogenic psychology, Indigenous Knowledge and Intelligence in nature.  

    The Cosmic Serpent is an adventure of science and visionary insights through unexplored jungles of the Amazon and the uncharted aspects of consciousness to the heart of knowledge.The Cosmic Serpent is a first-person narrative of discovery that presents new perspectives on biology, anthropology, and the limits of rationalism, revealing how different our perception of the world around us appears when we open our minds to alternate ways of seeing. Narby interlinks shamanism and molecular-biology, to reveal DNA as a universal language contained in all life around us that can be accessed and downloaded by shamanic entheogens. The book reveals how the Ayahuasca brew invokes serpentine visions that parallel those of ancient cultures the world over, and can be seen as a 'bio-technology' that allows access to molecular information from the DNA that ‘animates’ all livings things.

     

     

    WHEN: 6:00pm - 9:00pm 

     

    WHERE: The Temple On The Park, 158 Australia Street, Newtown.

     

    TICKETS: $15 https://events.humanitix.com/sydney-book-club-the-cosmic-serpent

     

    FACEBOOK LINK: Please mark ‘interested’ or ‘going’ to help us gauge numbers of people attending  https://fb.me/e/1YyHocgNp

     

    Hope to see some familiar SAB faces there, some new ones and the Sydney community coming together for this really cool book and great conversation.

     

     

     

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  24. Posted

    Amphibians on Earth - by Shy Violet

     

    Amphibians evolved from fish about 400 million years ago, when the amount of dry land on Earth increased greatly due to climatic conditions at the time. Certain fish, (possibly Tiktaalik Rosea) adapted to these changing conditions by gradually developing limbs to crawl and lungs to breathe with. Such organisms came to be known as amphibians, a name that means “double life”.  Many of the species that developed during this period no longer exist. The groups of amphibians that survived to the present day can be traced back no further than 200 million years.

    The word amphibian itself comes from the Greek amphibios, which means “living both in water and on land”, which refers to their distinctive feature as the only vertebrate group that generally possess an aquatic phase of life (larvae), and a terrestrial one (adulthood). This renders amphibian populations sensitive to alterations in both environments, leaving them in a particularly challenging ecological situation.

    Because amphibians are highly sensitive to changes in their surrounding environmental conditions (i.e. temperature, humidity, water and soil pH, for example) they are considered indicator species. Given this, healthy amphibian populations are usually a sign of healthy ecosystems. On the other hand, as their populations and diversity decrease, so do the number of healthy ecosystems around the world, possibly signaling the loss of numerous other living species. In such a manner, amphibians give a rough idea of the local and global health of the planet.

    According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is the most comprehensive information source on the status of wild species and their links to livelihoods, and who publish  the “Red list”, which assesses the extinction risk of species, in the last 25 years, more than 120 species of amphibians have disappeared. The planet's amphibian species are becoming extinct at a thousand times higher rate than normal, according to the study by more than 500 scientists from over 60 nations that have contributed to the Global Amphibian Assessment: http://www.natureserve.org/conservation-tools/projects/global-amphibian-assessment

    This is an alarming circumstance, especially considering that modern amphibians have been on the planet for more than 200 million years, even surviving the dinosaur extinction and all subsequent natural global climate changes, including extreme droughts and ice ages. However, the current rate of amphibian extinctions might be due to a particular sensitivity to anthropogenic environmental disturbances.

    Scientists have theorized that this alarming decline in the numbers of amphibians and amphibian species around the world is due to a number of factors: pollution of freshwater ecosystems, the destruction of amphibian habitat by ever-spreading human populations, and possibly increased ultra-violet radiation due to ozone depletion. 

    With regard to the toad in question on this forum, Incilius Alvarius, it is a large toad in the family Bufonidae that can grow up to 7.5 inches long and live up to five to 15 years in the wild. Its presence on the planet dates back to just prior to the formation of the Sonoran Desert roughly 8-10 million years ago to which its natural habitat almost exclusively coincides with. In the regions it is native to, Incilius Alvarius is protected by state and federal law.

    None of the states in which Incilius Alvarius is, or was native to legally allows a person to remove the toad from the state. In New Mexico and Arizona it is unlawful to capture, collect, intentionally kill or injure, posses, propagate, sell or transport this amphibian. In Sonora, in order to capture or collect any amphibian, a federal permit is required.

    Based on the IUCN’s Red List assessment of the status of this toad species conducted back in 2004, Incilius Alvarius is categorized as a “least concern” species, based on its “wide distribution, tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, presumed large population and because it’s unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.”

    Historically the Incilius Alvarius toad was found from southeast California, eastward across much of southern Arizona into extreme southwestern New Mexico, and southward through much of Sonora to northwestern Sinaloa.

    No authors have noted declines of the Incilius Alvarius Toad in Sonora, however, in 2014 Yaqui Tribal members said the species had declined in the vicinity of Vicam and Bácum, and surveys at various sites in that region by retired biologist J.C. Rorabaugh and others in July 2014 failed to detect the species, although other anurans expected in the area were commonly encountered. 

    This called the attention of a field biologist who has taken an interest to develop proactive measures to prevent the decimation of their populations. The species is monitored yearly in Arizona and no declines have been noted, but biologists have explained that the human impact would not be noticed immediately, but rather a few years down the road, when it may be too late to take proactive corrective action.

    Since 2012, Incilius Alvarius has been undergoing ever-increasing human environmental pressure. The popularity of the naturally derived compound from this unique toad, its venom, has grown as the result of particular individuals who, although with good intentions to help people, have overexposed this once obscure little desert dweller in an exponentially global way, thus placing the toad populations in a precarious situation.

    It is important to note that none of the states in which Incilius Alvarius is endemic to, legally allows a person to remove the toad from the state. In New Mexico and Arizona it is unlawful to sell or transport this amphibian across state and international borders. In Sonora, although you need a federal permit in order to capture, manipulate, or collect the venom, laws are a bit more malleable in Mexico than they are in the United States, which has resulted in vulnerable populations of toads south of the border.

    The Mexican state of Sonora has seen an influx of foreign visitors over the past five years who, after learning about the unique feature of this toad through media outlets such as the Vice episode that documented the use of the toad-derived psychoactive compound, have decided to take it upon themselves to journey to Sonora, to places like Magdalena, which are easily accessed after crossing the border from Arizona into Mexico to get their own supply of the toxin.

    With the continued popularity of this underground little creature partly through the release of films such as Episode 1 of the series titled “Shamans of the Global Village”, which features details such as how to identify the toad, where to find the toad and how to extract the venom, the threat posed for the continued existence of this toad is real and significant.

    With more and more people each year going to the Sonoran desert from faraway places such as Australia and Spain to collect venom to take back home and, in some instances, actually removing the toads from their natural habitat, the viability of the species is being put at risk, and with it the health of the overall ecosystem in the Sonoran desert.

    Even though Incilius Alvarius has a large reproductive capacity with large toads laying clutches of up to 8000 eggs each, their livelihood is challenged when the uninformed see it as a harmless action to remove the toad from its habitat. According to amphibian experts, when big specimens are removed from their habitat, the reproductive capacity of the species can be significantly compromised, and indeed lead to the decimation of an entire population in a given area.

    Although amphibians are very susceptible to changes in their environment, they are also incredibly resilient. I think that while it may be fair to say that no harm has been done, we can take proactive action and develop a deeper attitude of reverence, gratitude and respect for the toads by simply leaving them alone. I feel it would be wise of all practitioners to stick to using 5-MeO-DMT in its synthesized form for their healing work, which is so valuable on this beautiful planet of ours.

    As someone who is very interested in seeing clinical outcomes as well as mechanism of action studies conducted with this molecule, I fear that the wave of neoshamanism that has been fostering irresponsible and unsustainable use of this finite natural resource could effectively shut down our chance to get scientific work off the ground.

    I would like to make a call to action to make sure we act out of the wisdom of our hearts, and not the nearsightedness of our mind. That we move forward with discernment and congruence, and not operating out of our blind spots.

    At the rate things are going globally for all amphibians and locally for Incilius Alvarius, it would be wise for us to assume the worst case scenario and foresee that the species may well be decimated in the wild over the next decade if we keep up what we are currently doing as a community and continue to tolerate and turn a blind eye to the types of abuse going on – with the toads themselves, with unethical practices, with the incongruence of our actions, with the profit model that is commercializing this sacred gift of the Earth. 

    Incilius Alvarius has been around the planet for 10 million years, can you imagine how devastating it would be if in a matter of 10, 20 or 30 years, humans came to wipe out what nature has so elegantly crafted in such a beautiful and delicate balance?

    The dissonance between what people say and what they do is concerning. Please, let’s all wake up and get it right. What a wondrous opportunity this could be to rise above ignorance, greed, and stubbornness. If it wasn’t so tragic, it would be almost comical to think that while pursuing enlightenment and healing for the world, we are compromising the viability of the little peaceful creature we claim to love so.  What a powerful lesson the toad is trying to instill in us, don’t you think? It is almost like a cosmic test… let’s not fail this, let’s rise, use our deepest human wisdom and transcend the pattern of anthropocentrism and narcissistic tendencies that have characterized our species.

    “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin”.
    -William Shakespeare

    • Like 2

  25. Posted · Edited by Flux

    Hi Wile E,

     

    How's it going !? In regards to the synthetic 5-Meo/Bufo secretion conversation, did you see

    where he discusses the relative ease of synthesis from other precursors or novel pathways to synthesis (albeit also ones that preserve the entourage effect of Bufo secretion which I think is important as in my experience there definitely feels like a definitive qualitative distinction). He's done a pretty good job of following up on some mistakes he made in the toad episode of Pharmacopiea (mostly concerning the identity of Al Most around which he was duped) new episode released a few days ago too.

     

    Also check out the 'Ethics & Ecology'  section of the 5meodmt.org forum as there is some really amazing research contributions there: especially posts by 'Shy Violet' like the one entitled Amphibians on Earth (I'll copy and paste it below for those not members of the 5-Hive forum). Also the 'save a toad exploit a chemist' hashtag was created by Malin Uthaug, the author of the PsychedelicsToday article and she posts on the forum a bit as well as

    at Psychedelics Today. There's another good article over at DoubleBlind called 'Is it Worth Kidnapping Toads to Extract their Psychedelic Venom—When You Could Make it In a Lab?'

     

    cheers,

     

    Flux

    • Like 1
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