Re: OUCH! = (t)ouch!

[lance glover <baumhaus@earthlink.net>]

ld thomson wrote:

> I can see the effects of all these "mind freeing" substances
> everytime I walk home from work.  People who could potentially be doing
> something other than laying in their own filth and trying to bum change 
>from
> me.  People who made very poor life style choices in the 1970's.

there's a tendency to throw out the baby with the bathwater when it comes 
to
these kind of discussions. psychedelics aren't "bad" because a lot of 
people
abused (or misused) them.

if you look at the patterns of psychedelic drug usage in indigenous 
cultures
throughout the world (and many of these traditions certainly predate what 
we
think of as civilized society (now maybe that can be considered an 
oxymoron!)),
you will find that such drug use has played an extremely vital role in the
rituals that connect humans to the web of life in the environment around 
them.

because we have lost the resiliency of a holistic culture that humans have
enjoyed over the millenia, finding a place for these "psychic helpers" can 
be a
harrowing experience, leaving many casualties. but a world without
psychedelics? horrors!


lance g.