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EGA feedback?

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Just thought I'd start a separate thread from the EGA conference announcement one in the News & Notices section so that feedback from EGA is easier to sort through for the organisers and anyone interested in attending next year ( and you should be... )

If this doesn't work maybe it could be merged with the N&N thread.

EGA rocks! More on that soon

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Basically i loved EGA, but then i mostly love everything...right now i'm going maybe ask some questions about what i didnt understand directly or what kinda really pissses me off...

First of all...whats the point of EGA?

Is there a step by step defined methodology for acheiving the true goal of the Austrlian Entheogenic community...surely we arent merely concerned with getting together under the moon to once every two years somply to repeat the sentiments of years before...

It appears to me that yeah there are some seriously intelligent people giving speeches aboutimportnat things...funnily enough they are at home more in universities than being orated to an audience with an extreme tendency toward complte idiocy, and unawareness of context, a total disregard for the Quality of the information that "may" be contained within the response...and evn the courtesy of whther the speaker could respond...

as i see it...the EGA video is the closest thing, although primitive to propaganda that this community has...and i know that its filled with inane dribble from people who have no understand opf the fact that there is an overriding aim to represent ourselves as responsible, intelligent and IN TUNE...this may require a certain level of intuition, maybe some empathy, maybe the whole thing is staged, with pre planned questions and moles in the audience...

there is no way i would hand over a box a grenades to that group of people...let alone the keys to the cultural consciousness of an entire generation...

simply speaking there is a distinct lack of understanding of the processes by which the mind is returned to its original state, constructedd and integrated into a system of interlocking consciousnesses each with specified task performing certain roles reliably and in a way that represents the quality asked of by thecreator of said mind...

now there are no doubt, social programmers with enough inertia to be achieving these goals, they mostly work for the government...and they focus on things which concern real people, and their "real" daily lives...they seek not accession, not understanding and not truth, and we can give them everything they want...our group is different...there needs to be a curriculum...a set of understanding that is essentially necessary to even grasp the simplest of concepts being presented at the EGA corroboree face to face update ceremony...

i love the setup...the domes, the food, the people weree so friendly and compassionate...i love hippies...

the key word i have found which relates to our community is GOAL ORIENTATION...it is known that psychedelics in general, namely LSD severly disrupts a persons goal oriented abilities, there is little ability to work as a group and to identify goals whcih are worth achieving as a group...and even as COGS in the mechanics of the group...

the stalls that were set up, were awesome...does ayone have a reliable business plan for the setting up of these same systems? like a grow tech but for entheogenic/herbal products...i'd be interested to see it...and then it could colonise the country in no time...and be sprouting mushrooms as potent as the cow shit (austrlia) that it rises from.

i found that noone had these answers...nowone knew where to start...HOW do we do this they asked...

start making banners and flags...posters and flyers and pamphlets and magazines...start making music...start a fullfledged media war...there is only one way to get what u want...and its to cry like a baby, loudly...no surrogate step father babysitter type figure is gonna ignor that sound...

be strong and make sacrifices...do not be afraid of living your life...do not hide...do not keep secrets...talk openly and pump up the volume of your life....

learn "shamanic" skills that can be used in our "transitory" real world...massage, aramatherapy...theatre perfermance art...anything that you do skillfully refelcts upon your community...and allow you entry point of contact with the greater society...information flows through these channels and the greater the respect you are gettin the moreimpact you will have...

congrats to anyone who ahs already "done something" with themselves...

the bear is hectic...

you can buiy a TeePee from soulpad.com for 600 800 or 1000 bucks...if there is commonality we bond...and a cirlce of teepees would just be to awesome to look past...

also...BUY LAND!

peace.

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i get the image of the buddha giving perfected teachings and his audience sitting in perfect understanding apprehending the buddha land...

then i compare it to EGa and see we have a long way to go before we reach the perfection of a unified mind field.

an then they say " it's a good start isnt it" and im like " yeah but this isnt the start, this is the degenrated middle."

also i heard that EGA lost a donkey cart full of money...why did that hapen?

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This was my first attendance at EGA so I can't use previous ones for a basis of comparison but overall I thought it was very well done. Amazing set up, beautiful location (loved the koalas), collaboration of like minded people etc. I'm going to give pretty in depth feedback from my perspective on the conference (as opposed to community) side of things - mostly because down the track I am interested in possibly doing a lecture myself when I feel more qualified to do so.

Also please excuse my writing in advance - I know my sentances can be a bit long and convoluted at times.

---

If the organisers had a chaotic time behind the scenes it was well hidden, with every event guaranteed to present unexpected dillemas (i.e. not having a blender for the Bear's meat lol). It appeared to run smoothly for the whole weekend and seemed very well organised so big ups to Ronny and all the hard workers who made it all happen.

Some lectures were great but naturally there were some I did not like or gain much from. This is a good thing because it was means there was a versatile spread of varying perspectives, and the things I didn't get much out of would have been more appealing to other people depending on their approach, level of knowledge and what they sort to achieve by attending the conference.

Coming from a scientific approach (doing a B. Medical Sciences atm with intention of Pharm or Med as postgrad) and with horticulture under my belt as well, the aspects of entheogen focused ethnobotany I personally am interested in and would like to see more of down the track would be the botanical, chemical and medicinal aspects... with latter encompasing psychological, neurological and pharmacological\phyto-pharm. elements.

The reason for this is I believe an unbiased and scientifically approached emphasis is the key to educating people in a methodically legit manner as to why the prohibition of certain substances needs to be re-evaluated by....

  • Showing what is happening physiologically and psychologically when people take entheogens
  • Showing why and how these substances cause such effects
  • Education to possible adverse consequences like all psychotropic substances\medicines will have to varying degrees
  • Proving why entheogens are just as safe or possibly even safer than many modern medicinal therapies
  • ...and most importantly giving sound evidence as to why people individually and collectively benefit from the use of entheogens, why people should utilise them in their lives and what is the best way to go about doing so.

 

Since Owsley reiterated that the whole reason for his attendance was the hope that somebody there listening had the connections to make something happen re: drug legislation... well IMHO the best way to go about making changes to the laws conventionally is to be able to present scienitifically (as well as sociologically and economically) to those in a position of power that the plants they took away from us are not harmful and instead can benefit many people if the laws were to change.

Just my 2 cents anyway :).

P.S.

I remember that there used to be another conference held back when I first started posting on EBA and SAB called Ethnobotanica or something... it would be great if there was a small seperate conferance organised that encompassed the other practical elements of ethnobotany... by that I mean the ones that serve to benefit isolated indigenous communities (instead of just us) by providing skills and knowledge of propagating food and medicine plant sources in a more viable manner to those without access to medical and educational facilities.

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oh dude reallly sounds sweet , you know how far i gotta walk to mee t sumone so similar experience/cactus wise doesnt happen ,mate you kno w how drunk i am you know how saaad i am having missed ega?/ well know wot hey salkieoooopp

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  1. Lights in Toilets !

     

  2. Local FM Radio Station

     

  3. Move Power Generator Further Away From Speakers

     

  4. Have an economically sustainable event

     

 

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Out of curiosity Ronny, is EGA becoming more or less economically viable as the years progess?

Again, massive props to you and the crew.

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hahahaha, less... a loss of 10% is unfortunate but acceptably.... sadly we are not close to that yet, but much more behind.

but i do not wish to dwell on an otherwise fantastic event, but it is important for people to be aware of the energy, work and loss involved in a volunteer run event such as EGA.

In plants we Trust

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much thanx to big red,volunteers,workers and participants......the best ega yet!

i feel a bit guilty getting all that for $100 ticket price but as a disability pensioner it is much appreciated.....

a friends boss googled entheogenesis and said he found it on wikipedia but i cant find it there ?

t s t .

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i had a fantastic time, i was only there a short period, but the time i had there was awesome, good to catch up with some of you fullas there

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I suppose that with anything it's a matter of what you bring into it. Too many self obsessed, self important, messiah-like figures trying to show the(ir) way.... And then I learned the beauty of retracting ones own projections, to stop painting ones persona onto the real world; to try to actually see it. This letting go was fun, and a real learning experience i always forget.

"just open your ears and listen..."

Learned a lot about myself, the community and the world at large.. all in hindsight. This whole living in the now is so cliched i want to punch all these hippies in the face for even thinking it... but it's good advice, if only i could take it.

Reptyle, you cannot expect such a young entheogenic culture to be that well acquainted with the theo. We're just getting to know the big guy/big mummy. Your disappointments almost smell of holier than thou, which is the stinkiest aspect of smelly hippies, i can smell it on myself sometimes *shudder* Be happy to be part of this swirling psychedelic soup of chaos slowly crystallising. If the metaphor is apt than the hotter and slower the process the purtier these crystals will be.

It is very nice to see at least all these cells in communication, that the body may just heal itself with some strong willed anti-bodies. This communication corroborates that knowledge of self and that confidence in ones power we already have, which will help heal the sickness, if not necessarily groundbreaking stuff to people that already cracked open the head, it is nice to have a conceptual temple that we all build and refurbish and strengthen by collectively abiding there.

As for a collectively held goal, and a cohesive group mind compartmentalised into specialised functions that compliment one another like some kind of beehive or ant colony or supercomputer. That is the ideal... or is it? Where comes the spark of separation if all is uniform? What is the purpose of ego? cuz I like it, and I feel a strong attatchment to it, as who I am, but is that my true identity? ...this might just turn into another of those conversations.

-what a tangent, just saying this aint no buddhist retreat, this is a community of people that dive right into hectic mindspaces and tend to take back all the colour and distortions of that perspective, as well as some tripped out insights.

...There is no real goal apart from learning and connecting with people. So for those reasons I loved it, I just wish i knew how to talk in real life.

Edited by The Dude

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Very hit/miss music wise, i suppose not everyone can have taste :P

Aural rapage aside, an amazing event all round, my hat goes off to everybody involved! Kudos! And of course thanks to the plants!

Edited by The Dude

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In terms of specialization, you have to know what you are good at and actually strive to do it...and when these functions interlock in an organised way, life emerges.

In terms of whats holy...I am.

I have put effort into being intelligent, into being communicative and clear, and into being understanding and compassionate. I wasn't always a nice person, i taught myself how to be. Funnily enough the sacraments allowed me the self referential perspectives to see what needed to be changed. I have a vested interest in the quality of our communities works, simply because as part of it, it represents who i am.

Fair enough...there is work to be done to bring everybody up to speed...and admittedly, there is much i still have to fully grasp...however i don't think, and i'm talking to the thou now, that there is any need for playing the role of amateurs or the "young enteo culture". At a certain point you learn to grow up...the things is, it mostly happens once you realise you've been left behind...

Not dissimalar to the so called posting rules of this forum...

At this point we are a nominally a bunch of poor, in-cohesive individuals with no real functional bonding...other than the odd cactus trade and an illegal blotter.

This needs to evolve, there may be space for identifying skills publicly, such that these may be offered for trade to construct a large much more functional unit...it needs to be done now, before the lid is lifted and big business or the church removes the potential value of this artform.

I suppose there are small "hoods" of people working together to achieve their goals...happy herbal highs is a perfect example of providing the material...as the Order of the Gnostic Sacrament doctors to the psyche.

The point is, reliable, demonstrable and integrated social systems need to be developed...

think tank anyone?

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The point is, reliable, demonstrable and integrated social systems need to be developed...

think tank anyone?

Maybe you should've had a talk at EGA

I must admit I actually agree with your sentiments, although as you yourself mentioned, growing up doesn't happen until you've been left behind, and nobody is going to listen to you telling them they're slow.

A communal integration of skills is necessary yet it will only occur when said skills are developed and marketed and their demand/supply is made clearly visible. Coming together to communicate our needs is key.

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In two years i certainly shall preach to the converted my methodologies and techniques for social integration and human ascension...but for now, i am working on something far more relevant to my own life...

I'm going to court on Monday for possession, apparently your not allowed to nominate bodies for spirits to live in...i didn't know they even had machines that could detect foreign spirits in people...

When they wouldn't believe that i was from heaven, they made a big mistake...and now i must explain to them clearly and precisely why you cant just go around injection Haloperidol and other poisons into peoples systems after their under arrest, because that's torture...as indicated by the many years of this technique being used in the Soviet Union to "significantly alter the integrity of an individual"

Simple fact is...i am legitimately communing with my environment using sacraments...and for a being that is 4.6 billion years old...its a hard habit to drop.

"So, please, doctor...explain to me why you didn't believe me when i told you i was from heaven?"

Simple fact is...i am going to win this "war" before i die, again.

Also you might be interested in this funny little quote from the ofice of Nicola Roxon to the Order of the Gnostic Sacrament stating that the "protection in using a currently restricted plant substance in sacramental practice is an important aspect of your spiritual beliefs”.

Hold on tight, I'm riding a white elephant and in my footprints i leave behind glowing white lotus's giving birth to infinite Bodhisattva's as i traverse the universe...

talk to me in a few weeks if i don't get into jail...

think tank KaXien? oh why yes...i knew these voices would come in handy...

peacefully yours...

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EGA was a awesome amount of fun for the Freaky Chicken!

It was my first and hopefully not my last.

Kudos to the organisers.

The talks were great.

I really enjoyed meeting some of you guys and talking plants.

Till next time

:)

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As usual, EGA rocked, this time even more than ever :)

Shame I had to leave early but such is life!

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EGA was brilliant. Met so many awesome people, learnt so much.

The talks were great, I really loved how everyone came from such different walks of life.

Can't wait until the next one! :)

Edited by tripsis

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I just wish i knew how to talk in real life.

You said 'thanks for the lentils' that was enough for me :) Next time I'll bring at least twice the amount though and a bigger pot!

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Aaah I can't wait for you to upload some more photos Ronny!

The view of the stars there was amazing. Very nice location!

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To say that EGA was fantastic is a total understatement. If you're humming and haa-ing about going next year, don't- just go.

The organisation was smooth, seamless and comprehensive- at least that's how it seemed to an outsider :)

Spent most of it catching up with old friends, which was a total luxury

Wasn't the hugest fan of Owsley, but Robert Jesse- his talks were so inspirational they were worth the trip there for their own sake

Lots of good stuff coming out of local speakers. I prefer the science bent. Missed Fri night due to work commitments but can't wait to hear Robin's talk recorded, and faustus'

Izwoz added their gorgeous sparkle to the visuals

Ah- and the veggieburgers... the food was great but the veggieburgers were superlative

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Ah- and the veggieburgers... the food was great but the veggieburgers were superlative

Those vegie burgers were supreme!

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