Catacombs of Paris

Here I am in the catacombs of Paris, standing amongst the neatly stacked bones of over 3 million people.

Buddhist Monkey - Enter The Garden

;-)

Dreams - Underground Party & Yertle Dies & Python

These dreams all took place during the same night.

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I'm uncertain as to what country this dream took place in. I was at a huge rave-like party. Sitting on the edge of the stage was a box full of various pills and quarter blotter sheets (25 hits each). As I rummaged through the box, I picked up 4 or 5 quarter sheets with various signature pictures. I wasn't wanting to do the acid in this setting but thought nobody would notice if I pocketed some for later. Just then, a woman ran into the party and exclaimed that the cops were on their way and that everyone should get the hell out. Acid in hand, I headed out the door and down the street.

Soon, I was at an airport. Apparently, I had to either fly home or back to whatever country I was working in at the time. I recall setting in the airport contemplating whether the doses were worth smuggling. I knew that there was no scent or way to detect them but also knew the consequences if I were caught.

FYI - I've not done acid in about a decade.... I think it comes up often in dreams because the dream state is so similar to the acid state.
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Yertle is our pet turtle. In consensus reality, she has only one head. In the dream, she had two heads. In consensus reality, she lives in a terrarium. In the dream, she lived on top of a table. Yertle appeared very agitated. She kept diving off of the table, onto the floor. I repeatedly picked her up and told her that she was going to hurt herself if she didn't stay on the table. I set her on the table again. This time she walked over to the other side of the table, next to a large red and yellow snake/lizard. The snake pounced on Yertle, swallowing her whole. Now, I understood why Yertle had been acting so crazy. Brandi, my wife, grabbed the snake and poked a pencil up it's butt, trying to push Yertle back out of it's mouth. She succeeded and freed Yertle. But, it was too late. Yertle was dead!

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(vague) There was a cut in the hill, a 15 foot tall muddy cliff. Along the side of it was a giant python-like snake....

Albert Hofmann Dies at Age 102

Albert Hofmann, considered to be the "Father of LSD", died on Tuesday April 20th, 2008 at his home in Burg im Leimental. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Hofmann who discovered LSD hoped that it would make an important contribution to psychiatric research. The drug exaggerated inner problems and conflicts and thus it was hoped that it might be used to recognize and treat mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Regardless, the U.S. government banned LSD in 1966 and other countries followed suit. Hofmann maintained this was unfair, arguing that the drug was not addictive. He repeatedly argued for the ban to be lifted to allow LSD to be used in medical research.

The focus of scientific LSD research has been primarily in relation to behavior modification. Some researchers have indicated that LSD assists with the imprint of new neuropathways, a state called imprint-vulnerability. This "vulnerability" is said to have been exploited by various governments in brain washing experiments. If research were directed in a more positive way, LSD might have proven useful not only in treatment of psychological problems but also for rehabilitation due to brain injury or strokes. But alas, until research is legalized, the world will never know the full potential of Hofmann's discovery.

Joke: Zen Dog

Question: What did the Zen Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?

Answer: Make me one with everything.

Dream - Author of Book About a Temple

I was in an outdoor market. On a table was a book that looked very interesting. I picked it up and was shocked to see the author's name on the cover. Excited, I exclaimed, "I know Jules C___! I didn't know she wrote a book." (Jules is a co-worker who lives in a different State). I hadn't seen her standing near-by. She turned to me and asked, "Did somebody say my name?". The book was about a temple in Eastern Europe that was dedicated to many different religions. The book was fairly short and came with hand-made soap and little doll-size replicas of ethnic clothing.

The Acacia Tree

The acacia tree was called the "tree of life" by ancient Egyptians. It's quite possible that this is the same "tree of life" that was in the garden of Eden. The Hebrew word for it was shittah. It's a thorny tree the wood of which was used to make the ark of the covenant which holds the ten commandments. The wild acacia (Mimosa Nilotica), under the name of sunt, is believed by many to be the type of plant which Moses witnessed as the "burning bush" atop Mt. Sinai. This is also the most likely plant to have been used to create the "Crown of thorns" that Jesus wore during his Crucifixion. Acacia contains the powerful hallucinogenic DMT.

Today, many news organizations are writing about a recent article published in the Journal "Time and Mind". In this article, Benny Shanon, professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has concluded that psychedelics extracted from the Acacia tree may have been used by Moses and his followers. He believes that this helps explain the burning bush on top of Mount Sinai. One such article can be found here:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/960407.html.

Calling upon the four directions

Long ago, I used to attend moon lodges. Here is a little song that we'd chant or sing to begin circle...

Ho
To the East
Land of our dawn and birth
Bringer of the air
Bringer of the eagle of spring

Ho
To the South
Land of our youth and sun
Bringer of the fire
Bringer of the lion of summer

Ho
To the West
Land of the peoples twilight
Bringer of the water
Bringer of the dreaming bear of fall

Ho
To the North
Land of Grandmother midnight
Bringer of the earth
Bringer of the winter buffalo

Ho
Great Sprit
Earth, Air, Fire, and Sea
You are all around us
And you're inside of me.

Alan Watts: Music and Life

I've always been a big fan of Alan Watts. His book titled "The Book; On the Taboo Against Knowing Who you Are" is one of my favorite reality models.

Religious Art & Spring Break

During spring break back in 1992 a friend and I were at a party near Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Someone at the party said we should drive to Daytona. I thought it sounded like a great idea so the three of us left right then and started our 9 hour drive. Once in Daytona, we didn't even think about what hotel we were going to stay at. Instead, we just went to the beach and started partying. That evening, some fellow partiers asked what hotel we were staying at. I said that we had just gotten in town and didn't know where we were going to stay. He then offered us the sleeper sofa in their time-share on the beach. So, two of us slept on the fold-out bed and one of us on the floor. If we had planned the vacation, it'd have not been as cheap nor as fun. The next evening, blotter acid was being passed around. After a rather interesting trip, we began the drive home.

We decided to stop in St. Augustine to eat and possibly rest. We were still feeling a bit trippy. Saint Augustine was a really cool town and for some particular reason many people were in period costumes wondering the streets. We found ourselves in a beautiful garden within the walls of an old Spanish building that is now a college. Then, we wondered into a small old church that I think might have once been some sort of Spanish missionary. On one wall was a beautiful mural. The image was etched into my brain. When I got home, I drew it in my sketchbook but of course I took creative liberties when drawing it... the result is the picture above.

In the picture note the following:

1. Coyote Howling at the Moon
2. Naked Pagans Gathered under the Full Moon
3. Ghandi Sitting bottom left
4. Budha in Front
5. Pan Resting
6. Marijuana Growing in the Crevice
7. Angel throwing down blotter hits depicting golden keys (or musical notes?)
8. Nativity in the Middle with Virgin Mary adoring New Born Child.
9. Nativity Goat with inverted pentagram looming over the baby Jesus.

I'm not sure what I intended by the subjects that I added to the nativity. I can only assume that they depict various other religions. Perhaps it represents the chaotic mismatch of religious beliefs. Maybe the demonic goat is a threat looming over the blissful child... you tell me what you think.

Robert Anton Wilson On The Joy Of Art

Robert Anton Wilson: About Timothy Leary

I met Timothy Leary back in 1992 at the Atlanta Hilton Towers. The first day, he struck me as extremely intelligent. He also had an aura about him where people who would normally hate him couldn't help but like him. In person, he didn't seem psycho as he is often portrayed on TV. On the second day, he was obviously fucked up... still getting high even in his 70's. Given his life challenges, his spirit was never broken. Good for you Tim. Good for you. May he rest in peace.

From the sketchbook... Mac Attack!

From the sketchbook... Fractals of Consciousness

Back in my acid dayz, I was stuck on a reality model based on what I called "Fractals of Consciousness". In this model, everything existed as part of a large super complex fractal pattern. It made a great deal of sense to me back then. Now, the idea seems so abstract that I barely comprehend my own writings on the subject. Looking back, I think what I was trying to articulate was the way the brain works (encoding signals and making connections). I drew the picture above. In some way, this depicts an explorer amongst a small energy sub-set of these fractals of concussions. I know it sounds crazy. But, sometimes, I think that "insanity" isn't necessarily wrong simply for being based on a different reality model. After all, the map (brain) is not necessarily the territory.

Dream - The Stars Said You'd be a Dreamer

My co-workers and I had missed the last train from Paris to Rueil Malmaison so we took a taxi. Upon arrival at our hotel, I saw my mother. She invited me into a back room, just off the lobby. This room resembled my mother's sun room at her own home. In the room was a small glass topped table with 3 chairs. I sat down in the empty chair across from a man and a woman who were in their mid 50's. The man had dark black hair and the woman had reddish brown hair.

My mother said to me, "D___, I'd like you to meet my sister." I was a bit confused and then realized that she meant that they were very close friends.

The lady said to me, "I'll be that you don't remember us." I recognized them as Lauren and Kay, friends of my parents when I was very young. I don't think I'd seen either of them since I was five years old. I said, "you are Lauren and Kay... Kate."

She corrected me, "Kate". Then she said, "Your mother sent me an e-mail the other day with a link to your son's blog. I noticed that the name in your e-mail address was neuronaut. This is why I wanted to meet you. I always knew you would be a dreamer. It was written in the stars when you were born. You see..." She then proceeded to explain the position of various stars and consolations at the time I was born. I don't really buy astrology and didn't really listen to what she was saying.

I interrupted her, "excuse me for not following all of this. I've had a long crazy trip today and am a little bit spacey."

She said, "I understand completely."

I asked, "how are your two children? As I recall you have a girl my age and a boy a little younger."

She corrected, "we have three children. Here is the newest addition to the family." And, she pointed at a small puppy in baby clothes being cuddled by Lauren next to her.


Comments: I am kicking myself for not picking up better on the queues. Almost the entire dream was a discussion about dreaming yet I never realized that I was asleep! If I had only realized that I was in a dream state, this could have become an intense lucid experience where I could have asked Lauren and Kay some serious questions about the dreaming mind!!!!

The Last Taboo

The last taboo is religion... I wanted to share this video that I happened upon.

From the sketchbook... Cosmic Egg

Zeit Und Kunst

http://www.wasistzeit.de/zeitundkunst/a5.htm

Interconnectedness

This morning, in Paris, I was sitting in a hotel lobby reading a book. The book is "Mr. Vertigo" by Paul Auster. In it, he was talking about the Buffalo Bill Show (late 19th century to early 20th century). He also was talking about a coincidental link between the plot of the main story coinciding with the airplane "Spirit of St. Louis" that crossed the Atlantic in a single flight that took 32 hours. Soon after, I found myself in a natural history museum where they had a display with old pictures of the Buffalo Bill Show. Then, later, on the subway, I saw a billboard containing a picture of the airplane "Spirit of St. Louis." What’s the chance of these seemingly random encounters? Don't you just love synchronicities?

Recognize this famous landmark?

I'm traveling again... Do you recognize this famous landmark?