We have in our midst agents of such healing and transformative potency, that they could change the face of the world forever. They’ve been among us long before the beginning of recorded history. They’ve helped to guide our evolution as a species by improving our intelligence, wisdom, inner strength, self realization and best of all, our level of spiritual connectedness with God and Nature. This is why they are called “entheogens”, which translates literally as, “en” (in), “theo”, (God) and “gens”, (active agent). An entheogen is therefore a substance, usually a plant or a fungus, whose psychoactive properties are capable of boosting the user “into God”, and higher states of consciousness. One need not be religious in any way for this to occur. All that is required when we partake of the “plant guides” given to us by Nature, is that we focus ourselves respectfully upon inner growth and spiritual progress. This is known as, “right intent”.

There are numerous substances with entheogenic properties, and among these are marijuana, psilocybe mushrooms, peyote cactus, (LSD included), the ayahuasca vine and many others. Needless to say these gifts of the Earth, or “Teacher Plants” as they are properly known by indigenous people the world over, have been wrongly maligned by myth, politically motivated propaganda, undue hysteria, and such movements as, “the war on drugs”. When used properly with the right attitude and intent, entheogens are a ready pathway to greater self realization, fulfillment and spiritual progress.

Before we proceed, let’s take a closer look at the current social context in which we live, with regard to these marvelous substances. Those on the spiritual path soon learn that what we leave out of our minds, bodies and spirits is just as important as what we put it. As an example of what to leave out, an evaluation of prevailing attitudes and policies is very useful, as follows;

In reality, the war on drugs is not actually a war on ALL drugs, but only a tiny handful of substances out of a backdrop of tens of thousands of FDA approved “medications”. Prescription drugs are still DRUGS, and many if not most of them have been ill-researched as to their damaging side effects. The side effects of common prescriptions which ARE known, are very often much worse than what they supposedly cure. These damaging consequences then require other “prescriptions” to handle the side effects of the first, and so on, in vicious circle. In the Western world, far more people die every year from prescription medications than they do by both disease and illegal drugs. Regardless of what propagandists may say, marijuana is properly known as an HERB not a DRUG. A drug is an artificially refined substance which is usually made with a focus upon “active ingredients” and the profit that can be made from their manufacture. An herb on the other hand, is a naturally occurring plant which still has nature’s balance of subtle properties intact. This is an important distinction to remember, and it is one that helps take away the falsely negative stigma that has been attached to marijuana. Although potent in it’s effects, marijuana is no more of a “drug” than ginseng or garlic

Many contraband substances actually have the potential to cure and further evolve those who ingest them and THIS is exactly why they have been made illegal. It is not the potential of entheogens to do harm, therefore, which has primarily caused their condemnation by governments the world over. It is precisely because these substances have a great potential for doing good, that they are widely despised and feared by institutional forces, such as the pharmaceutical companies, consumerism-promoting ad agencies, religious hierarchies and mind-controlling/law enforcement government departments By “doing good” I mean helping to wake people up…..empowering them so as not to need governments, religions or the corporate world, in order to live happy, progressive, healthy and spiritual lives.

We live in a society that routinely takes drugs of all kinds for every conceivable purpose, from “sexual performance” and memory enhancement, to allergy formulas and pain relievers. While it is common knowledge that thousands of prescription “medications” have very hazardous side effects, this does not stop the pharmaceutical industry from peddling them to every neighborhood doctor. Nor does the fact that thousands of people die or suffer every year from the taking of these often poisonous and unneeded prescriptions, (with hundreds more being developed every year as a multi-billion dollar industry) stop the FDA from approving of their manufacture. Likewise, drugs like alcohol and cigarettes, laced with various chemicals as they are, are used by billions of people every year with proven harmful side effects. Yet these remain hypocritically legal and generally approved of. So when this culture speaks of any “war on drugs” it does not necessarily refer to the proven harmfulness of a substance, or of any negative social consequence that may arise through its’ use. It refers instead to the real underlying motive for this battle, which is a war on alternative and higher states of consciousness. The war on drugs is largely targeted toward so-called “hallucinogenics” because of what they do to the user. They expand consciousness and change the perspective of those who take them. When used in conjunction with meditation or other spiritual focuses, entheogens can actually help to evolve the user.

It is commonly known that consumerism depends heavily upon the predictability of the general public’s beliefs and buying trends. Without that predictability, corporate profit margins cannot be easily stimulated or maintained. Thus it is in the interest of the international corporate agenda, to keep the public’s mindstate well within strictly defined boundaries. International corporations believe their advertising and products must continue to literally define what is desirable in life and what is not, for the people of the world. In their view, to not accomplish this may be likened to a form of financial suicide. They know very well that a dumb consumer is a good consumer. It is unacceptable to them that dumb consumers can be transformed into spiritual leaders and visionaries, by ingesting the right plants.

In the modern age the corporate game is not so much the mere manufacture of needed goods for the marketplace, but the stimulation of the desire for unneeded goods in prospective buyers. Would-be buyers who have been “turned on” and “tuned in” by entheogenic substances, may well be shaken out of their consumeristic stupor that is promoted by the mass media. They may then be made far more capable of questioning the programming they’ve been given, about how to live and what to buy. In other words, with the help of such substances as marijuana and peyote, people have a greatly enhanced opportunity to take back from the media their self guidance and independent thought. Teacher plants allow an opportunity for the mind to go beyond the shallow trends of thinking we see in the modern day, summed up perfectly by most television commercials. Through entheogens people can become much more self and socially aware. “Tuned in” people can realize that we all live in a much bigger universe than that small shoebox described by fashion magazines and media hype. From the corporate point of view, people who are waking up from TV-ad hype-nosis are not dependable buyers or, “good citizens”. Alert and intelligent people must therefore be quickly, “brought back into the fold” of unthinking consumerist buying and selling. THIS is the actual bottom line of the so-called “war on drugs”, not the supposed troubling moral issues which parents must face, when their teenagers want to smoke marijuana flowers.

Entheogens have a startling potential to transform our inner worlds for the better. Rather than relying on the dark motives and lack of credibility of the mass media, it is very advisable for the intelligent person to investigate that potential for themselves on a first-hand basis. There are those in this world who have already done exactly that, and these pioneers of the inner landscape, (consciousness) are every bit the intrepid explorers as veteran astronauts and deep sea divers. What they have found is echoed back to us in the scriptural, sacred writings of all cultures. Like yoga and marital arts masters, they realize that the answers and keys to life can be found within. This is especially true of those which advocate meditation and the attainment of greater enlightenment, through various spiritual disciplines. Indigenous cultures have long known that entheogens CAN aid us greatly in our voyage of inner discovery, and are not to be taken lightly for that reason. Many have been traditionally used in rites of initiation into adulthood, as healing agents and particularly, as a learning vehicle through which various “vision quests” are carried out. The use of ayahuasca by Central and South American shamans is but one example. Another is the use of peyote in places like Mexico and the Southwest, and mushrooms by indigenous tribes the world over.

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Those who assume that the effects of so-called “hallucinogenic” substances is pure fantasy and “mind tripping” have entirely missed the point. Even the Western label of “hallucinogenic” is a misleading term that enters bias into the use of psychedelic substances, before they are ever given a fair hearing. When used for the sake of gaining greater clarity, energy, wisdom and intuitive knowledge, entheogens have a profoundly meaningful impact on the user. What is Seen therein is NOT a hallucination, but aspects of the truth. It is when they are used as a joy ride, or with no particular focus in mind, that their great power and potential most often goes astray, resulting in imaginary effects on the user Thus the common, “bad trip” is not the fault of any given power plant, it is the fault of the user whose imbalanced mental focus brings chaotic results to the experience. The point is that not all of these “hallucinogenic” effects are imaginary or meaningless. On the contrary, and depending upon the seriousness and intent of the user, the experiences shown to us by entheogens can be rightfully called both “visionary” and “transformative”. By that I mean they can reveal to us deeper levels of our own soul, the Spirit which animates Nature and the universe in general. They can reveal TRUTH. Entheogens have the capacity to expand our degree of clarity, and with the right inner focus, can do so on a permanent basis. They can also help us to permanently raise our vibrational level, our psychic and intuitive powers, and supply fundamental information regarding Cosmic Reality. I do not say this speculatively or lightly, I speak from repeated personal experience. When traveling to Peru during the winter of 1999, I stayed with a shaman near Iquitos Peru at his Amazon forest camp for 4 months. During that period I took about 60 doses of his specially brewed ayahuasca, and this gave me the needed boost to write a book called “The Evolution of God”. Using this work as a base, I then wrote all the current articles which now reside in the World Mind Society Library at http://www.eoni.com/~visionquest I contend that there has NEVER, (at least to my knowledge) been written a more comprehensive collection of materials on the expansion of consciousness, right living and the purpose of life. Much of this effort I owe to the use of entheogens.

In this article series I’ll attempt to share with the reader some small part of what I’ve personally learned from the use of entheogens. It is my hope that you’ll want to repeat and validate such experiences for yourself, for the sake of greater spiritual fulfillment and personal power, and perhaps even the gaining of spiritual power on a group basis.

I began using marijuana in 1987 at the age of 21, subsequent to a five year enlistment in the U.S. Navy. At that time I found that the effects of this herb upon my consciousness were quite profound, and with no real effort on my part. I noticed however that this was not so much the case with those I knew, and I attributed this difference to my existing practice of meditation. It soon became apparent that the combination of meditation and marijuana is a potent one, offering incredible opportunities not only for self knowledge, but what I came to call, “the gaining of personal power”. And power is a well chosen word for its’ right use! The very first boon I gained from pot, was a greatly increased level of energy, or “chi” as it is called in China. After one puff my energy level would double, triple of quadruple depending on the conditions at hand, and those with whom I was smoking. After a time, I learned that by focusing upon my energy level before and after a puff, that I could raise even more energy from the Earth at will. Later I also learned to gain chi from the sun, immediately after a puff. Such energy can then be stored in the body, or put to immediate use in various spiritual tasks which I’ll describe hereafter. I don’t expect the average reader by the way, to even believe there is such a thing as “chi” initially. Nor is it likely that there are many who will read this who are expert in its’ handling. What I would like from the reader is that you keep an open mind, and wait to test the validity of what being said here on a personal level, through personal experience. None of it requires “faith” only patience and clarity.

It is also important to understand that what I describe herein, is in no way “mystical”, “occult” or “superhuman”. On the contrary, the principles and potentials described are very practical measures, that can and should be taken by anyone. Entheogens are a high road to spiritual progress, both on a personal and group level. Their influence could change our world society to such a degree, that the near future would be almost unrecognizable to the average human being. They could shift world consciousness, as almost happened in the 1960’s and 70’s. But to achieve higher evolutionary levels of being through the use of these substances, requires a very serious and intelligent spiritual focus. Herein lies the catch when it comes to most users...they simply do not and probably will not, employ the necessary internal discipline, particularly in the sense of right mental focus, in order to truly gain significant increases in personal power. I can show ANYONE how this can be done, particularly in a person to person setting. But since most people are thoroughly trained and conditioned by their televisions to have only those views which the corporate world wants them to have, it is extremely difficult to convey the concrete reality of entheogenic benefits. But describe them I must. To be realistic though, this article is admittedly written to those few who can still think for themselves, and who have some measure of their natural spirit left.

Many have asked me to explain, that if entheogens are indeed such powerful spiritual agents, then why is it that most people seem to gain nothing from them? The reason for this is simple....people gain little from them most of the time, simply because their focus is upon playing around in a casual manner, as a type of “joy ride”. I compare this to casually lighting sticks of dynamite for a “fun bang”, and then wondering why things have gone wrong. When you’re dealing with a powerful and potent substance such as an entheogen, the first thing to remember is that you MUST approach it with respect, just as you would a great spiritual figure like a Christ or a Buddha. With such a respectful, serious and learning posture taken, many benefits will then be received from the ingestion of the Power Plants. However, having received gifts of wisdom and power from these agents is only half the equation for self evolution. The other half entails employing the necessary force of will, and intelligent acceptance of what is revealed, so as to be PERMANENTLY advantaged. The consciousness-raising effects of entheogens CAN make lasting impressions on mind, body and spirit, but this is more a matter of personal will, (intent) than anything else. The practice of meditation is essential in this regard. It allows a sustained and transformed mental focus upon the desired effects of marijuana’s high, for instance, thereby enhancing those effects in a stable and conscious fashion.

Other effects from psychedelics that can be repeatedly experienced, (as well as made PERMANENT) are higher energy levels, higher vibration body-wide, greater clarity, enhanced intuitive and psychic powers, (particularly in relation to the various chakras of the body) more alignment between the body/mind and soul, communion with that which is called God and Nature, greater health, speed and stamina, higher mental function, (genius) and a host of other effects too numerous to mention at this time. In essence, all of these effects can also be gained by rigorous and austere spiritual disciplines, usually over years of time, such as those described in Vedic writings. But when we use the mighty, transformative power of the Teacher Plants in a progressive way, there is no end to what we can achieve in a comparably shorter period of time. In Part 2 of this series, we’ll begin to explore the specific nature of entheogenic effects, and how the serious user can take best advantage of them.

Matthew Webb visionquest@eoni.com
The World Mind Society http://www.eoni.com/~visionquest

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