For Alheli Yirama and Abuela Teresa Rivas Chicahuaxochitl
This night happened last week but perhaps it is grounded in mythic time long long ago not sure
it was a healing ceremony for all participants the stars were out the fire (grandfather) in the middle kept us warm and lit we prayed to the noble spirits that guide us in planetary motion in the milky way of lactating voices and overflowing consciousness from dusk to dawn
There was a blue deer bright luminescent and a soaring multi colored eagle with talons and eyes wow power wow by the flames was a rabbit playing a harmonica with steady cadence a lil fence lizard, blue belly, kept running in and out of the fire best of all was song birds chanting and singing hearts bout beating outa their chests edge of lips curled upwards just so, smiling and radiant
Rattlesnake’s rattle kept the time while stick pounded an eight sided drum with the beat hikuri the globose cactus came from the faraway chihuahuan desert for a visit with long lost relatives blooming pink petals – elder, gramps, ancient brother, old time friend – granting good visions of people gathered together with thankfulness and joy
Five was the sacred and special number four directions four points of the cross the four square corners set at right angles from one another north east south west four directions, plus the fifth 4 + 1 = 5
Pray to the north for the star of direction, the pole of navigation pray to the white light blinding of the sun and twinkling of the stars pray to the cold snow covered north pray to the north for the white folks whites of the fair skin and light eyes throw in the olive hued, date colored, and sandy toned whites too pray for their families pray for grounding in the earth pray for contemplation pray to see the eye of God and the white light within each person prayer for my white brothers and sisters prayer for the north all my family all my relations aho
Pray to the east for the rising sun yellow orange rays of warmth and happiness another day of no way this is happening another day of dang sheer magic place a gift that is sick nuts, throttle awesome our spinning earth ball, web of life full of unusual beings warm glow busting over the hills… a curtain of color linens drawn over the backdrop of stars pray to the east for the folks we call yellow for lack of a better word you know, asians that range from porcelain white to dark brown guess just lump and average em, and you get ?yellow? funny pray for courage and bravery pray for freedom and liberty pray for the pursuit of happiness prayer for my yellow grandmas and grandpas with white hair and wrinkles prayer for the east all my family all my relations aho
Pray to south for the southern cross pray to cape horn, cape leeuwin, cape of good hope pray to the roaring forties and the gondwanan south pray for my favorite direction the very hot, very wet, very black south african black, indian black, melanesian black, aboriginal black pray for the blacks pray for kindness and compassion pray for presence and focus pray for dignity and honor prayer for my black uncles and aunts with the white and yellow sclera in their eyes prayer for the south all my family all my relations aho
Pray to the west pray to the sea pacific the west full of natives the west full of infinite possibilities because beyond the sierras beyond the edge of the sea beyond the horizon anything might happen you don’t know we are here now walking on red land, belonging to red territory, saluting and bowing down towards the red setting sun falling into the sea what part of red people is red?? funny is it the skin? the blood in the arteries? or that brown ochre iron red earth, mixed with limestone and copper, embedded in their hands and nails, flesh and sweat? red pray to the red police officer pray to the red teacher pray to the red hunter and weaver pray to the red rancher and farmer prayer for the red medicine woman on the road pray for abundance and fertility pray for the rains, pray for oceanic swells, pray for mussels and eels at low tide prayer for my red nephews and nieces prayer for my red cousin working on a basket that is woven of white willow roots, white skunk bush bark, white bear grass stems yellow tule, yellow sedge root, yellow porcupine quills black maiden hair fern, black devils claw, black sumac splints colored by elderberry and red redbud bark, red yucca root, red woodwardia fronds dyed by alder bark plus bits of abalone shells and quail top knots prayer for the west all my family all my relations aho
Four directions could be peoples could be geography could be the plants and animals too north for mammals east for reptiles and amphibians south for birds west for bugs and crustaceans and the like or, could be plant communities and biomes north for tundra east for grasslands and plains south for deserts west for forests and so on four is just a number, it is a tangible, not too big not too small number simple and easy not so big like six or seven not so little like two to three
Lastly Pray to the center thats you, yes that is YOU pray to yourself pray within yourself pray inside out of yourself breathe in and out pray with love for yourself be generous with that love immerse in a meadow of flowers tuck yourself in with a blanket of petals listen to a bird song lullaby connect your tendrils to that of others spiraling colored grabbers on a dew dropped web of light the center, your center, is also the center of the universe, the core what it all revolves around you are the fifth of five the 1 of the 4+1 you are the axle in the wheel the eye of the storm the nucleus of the atom the sun in the solar system
And so, that is the path, it goes inwards your roots down and out your molecular vibrations, and your electro magnetic wave resonance, transcend and beam up to the sky, as they mesh and bathe in the radiation of the sun acknowledge the four directions and look up to the heavens, while we pray for anchorage pray for understanding pray for harmony pray for forgiveness pray from the stillness inside
Pray for the all the little kids pray that they grow strong and respected fierce and independent bonded and embedded in good community pray they make the cross of four directions white yellow black and red and bring the wobbly clay ball back to center on the spinning wheel of a steady boom boom boom boom beat prayer for all my family prayer for all my relations aho
Pray to the land and rocks and crystals pray to the plants and animals pray to the waters salty and fresh, water in the sky and water at the poles pray to the sky dark and light, rainbow strewn and thundering clouds pray to the fire in the molten core and the flames dancing within thats five that magic number again aho
Perhaps one day the butterfly might emerge from the chrysalis seems we’ve been meta morpho sizing for a long time now… you have dreamt this story poem, or something like it, before? well then we are sharing a thought and an emotion and a vision together, repeated in an infinite cycle there is a joke element to it, as well as a justice angle, and confusing as all heck too once you realize this, it is… endless hahaha laughter and thus grant us strength and endurance and patience so that we can work together enjoy each other’s being and pray in a circle around a fire for all my family for all my relations breathe out sigh hard let it go the bitterness and anger regret and sadness its not worth it we have just this moment in time treasure it aho
PS Prayer is that something denominational or religious? is it designed to keep some people in, some people out? does whoever pray the hardest, win? is the christian god different from the islamic god different from the communist god different from the black hole of exploding expanding universes god different from the stockmarket god? is praying to mother nature pagan and absolutely ‘the wrong god’? do you pray to statues and figurines, or pray to mountains and rivers? maybe you think you are God and act like it too LOL does it show weakness to pray? does it mean i am an irrational insecure and unreasonable person who believes in things unseen and difficult to observe? is there a right way to do it? a set routine you gotta follow? what does praying even mean? funny not sure
What I mean by prayer here is that you send your positive hopeful energy reciting, singing, playing, greeting, walking, cheering, laughing full bore open into the universe not judging, denigrating, putting down, talkin sh t, badmouthing, polarizing not poisoning the well, so to speak when you pray, you are not by yourself, you are not stuck in and on and within your own mind, ego, thoughts, riff raff, ding dong and so on we make a conscious effort to acknowledge, befriend, and give thanks to the planetary and cosmic forces that bind all of this together its all conscious, it is all sentient, it is a reflection of us thats all its one of them, simple, ‘duh’ and ‘oh’ things hahaha aho!
What is the dominant gas of our planetary atmosphere? Who makes the oxygen we and most of the creatures breathe?
Where is this person in a funny suit going? How will they breathe? What happens with regards to pressure, the deeper you go….?
What is decompression sickness commonly known as? Why does it happen? How can you prevent it from happening?
What happened here? Why is this person so swollen?
How does atmospheric gaseous nitrogen get ‘fixed’ and enter the soil? Who changes the ions of nitrogen between Ammonia NH3 to nitrate NO3 to nitrite NO2?
If we are talking about excreting nitrogenous waste as a liquid, what are the body parts involved in making this happen?
A solid form of nitrogenous waste is called a?
What is the difference between a steer and a bull? What nutrient is in green grass and alfalfa hay?
What kind of fertilizer is this? In English.
What is the active ingredient in this stump remover product?
What substance exploded at this harbor in Beirut Lebanon?
What important ingredient in gunpowder are they mining here?
Why does the military no longer fire rifles with black powder like in Civil War days?
BLACK POWDER INGREDIENTS
Early Gunpowder
An explosive mixture of 75% Potassium Nitrate, 10% Sulfur and 15% Powdered Charcoal. The first explosive known.
What do they put in sandwich meats to help them be preserved longer?
Are nitrates or nitrites ‘bad’ for you?
Are nitrates in vegetables natural? Where did they get the nitrates from?
Why do they put nitrogen in gasoline?
What are the basic elements in every single amino acid? Name four.
If you fold tuck and twist enough amino acids together, what do you get?
What is a good plant based source of tasty protein?
What are the funny nodules on these roots? What grows on the roots of leguminous bean type plants? What do they do? Why are they there? What do farmers call these kinds of crops?
In Mesoamerican agriculture, what are the three sisters? Why were they planted together? What do they do for each other? What is at the top of the corn plant (the dotted thing)? What is the stringy stuff coming out of the top of the corn cob?
What is your favorite high protein food? Which come from animals, and which come from plants? And which comes from a bacteria?
Which of these alkaloids have you met in person? What is the atom common to all these alkaloids that is colored in blue?
What is this man carrying on his back and head? What is being picked here? Is it a fruit or a seed? Does it grow in warmer climate countries or in colder countries? The main alkaloid it contains is?
Do you drink these liquids? Do you know somebody that does? What are these drinks? Do you like to drink bitter, sweet, or salty things?
What kind of plant is this? What are the round pods with a crown thing at the top? What part of this plant produces a alkaloid rich white latex? Do you know somebody in the hospital who was in pain and had to have a morphine drip or take oxycodone? Do you like to eat poppy seed bagels?
What is this plant? Where does it come from? What plant alkaloid comes from its leaves?
What is being manufactured here in the jungle?
Why do people snort white powder through their nose? Do you think this contributes to a healthy and happy society? Who should go to jail – the farmers, the processors, the dealers, the consumers, or?
What is this plant? Does it look a little bit like a tomato or an eggplant? How do you think the leaves smell?
In the middle ages, why do you think they thought a woman with dull dilated spaced out eyeballs was attractive? Do models of today have the same look?
What is wrong with this person? Why does their eyeball look like this?
What is this plant from the rainforests of south America that they called Jesuit bark or cargua cargua?
Who is this epic botanist? Where is he from? Where did he explore? What seeds did he collect?
What is in the tonic water of a gin and tonic that is beneficial to human health? Why is it advertised as ‘pleasant medicine’? What are you trying to prevent or cure by drinking this?
Which alkaloid has the nitrogen in a tertiary amino group? What plant has this alkaloid?
What plant is made into a stimulating tea in the desert? Why is it also called Mormon Tea? Why can Mormons drink it but not drink coffee or tea?
What is the primary active ingredient in some cough syrups and decongestants? Hint: it has a similar name as the scientific name of the plant picture above.
Have you seen people like this laid out on the streets? What happened to them? What did they smoke or inject into themselves?
What was the number one cash crop of colonial America?
How do some native tribes in the Amazon take their tobacco? Why do they use tobacco? What does it do for them?
If you are hunting monkeys with a blow gun and not a shotgun, what would you tip the darts with so that you can have monkey for dinner?
What might be another use for the poison used in darts, in modern day society?
If you have an aquarium, what particular nutrient do you have to be careful of such that it does not become excessive? From where does this nutrient come from?
If you have too much of this nutrient, what might grow in the tank? Where did it come from?
What makes green leaves grow? (Aside from the sun and water), what is the main plant nutrient? How do you make a yellowy lawn turn green real fast?
At twenty degrees Celsius, Nitrogen is in what form as a physical state (solid, liquid, or gas)? What is nitrogen’s crystal structure? What shape?
How many electrons does Nitrogen have? How many protons?
Thank you to all the photographers and artists who captured and made these images, and put them online for everyone to use and learn from.
Theres something about hand done stone work that is warm, dynamic, and filled with feeling
tiles, pebbles, carved granite, brick, cut limestone and such
no the pavings are probably not as uniform, likely not as ‘safe’ especially on a rainy day, compared to concrete pavers
they look a bit more rustic country than upscale polished
for sure it takes more time and is less ‘efficient’ to install or craft or build
it seems almost antiquated at this point, its for sure not the ‘in’ look
but maybe this style will make a come back one day
I love the variation and wobbly ness of its character, its perfect non symmetrical nature, and its uneven sometimes ragged blotchy weathered edges textures and colors
it is like an extension of the earths laughter wrought through human hands and imaginations
well found some examples of this sort of stonework in the Iberian Peninsula on the walkways and the plazas. heres a bit of a photo essay:
In recent years plenty of folks I never thought would partake of magic mushrooms have expressed the desire to eat them or drink them established older people in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s folks in the military, in the hardcore sciences, in industry folks well embedded in the rational, logical, material and reasonable universe you might on occasion call them conservative I see this trend following in the veins of self improvement, personal growth, empowerment and human development, going way out to explore the edge in all the ways or perhaps it is just the seasonal flavor of the month, innate human curiosity, fascination with drugs of all kinds, and a kinda of circular timing that brings us back to where we started like a sick bear in the woods chewing on roots and leaves and things looking for some kinda medicine that will heal it from that tummy ache or head throb or mental angst or existential don’t know don’t matter what it is, I won’t reflect on the why too much, more on the how and the what for the seekers
Basic instructions: You are having communion with an organism that is about three thousand times older than humans, has worldwide dominance, and is the ultimate recycler destroyer. Have some respect, take the time out to slow down, take flight, come back to land and ground, reflect. If possible, give it a good two days. Say Saturday afternoon into Sunday rest. If that is not possible, cause you gotta rush back to do the million things on your calendar that are really important and your mind is going a billion miles per second with notifications and updates, then at least devote a good six hours to being still and listening to the earth’s rhythmic beats.
The easiest is to make tea. Drop the mushrooms in a pot of water and let boil say 12-14-16 minutes or so. Best to cut em to little pieces rather than leave them whole. That may help the extraction of psilocybin into solution. Boil till the water is colored and has that shroomy smell. Boil as much water as you can drink happily. Strain and pour it in a thermos for going somewhere or in a cup for drinking on the spot. You can eat the bodies of the mushrooms, or not. Probably get a lil extra kick if you do, but most of the goods is in the tea. Some folks like to add a bit of honey to sweeten it up but I prefer it bitter, like my coffee. Almost forgot, if possible, fast before, say all day until you drink the tea. Or even the whole week leading up to the day of, eating super plain foods like rice or plantains and a bland protein or two. That is like priming the engine of the guts. Keeping the intake simple and the body more or less cleaned out, focus for a special event.
Where is the best place to have your tea party? It has to be safe and warm enough to be comfortable, without distractions. That is the basic. Ideally outdoors is better than indoors. Cause the sky and the mountains stretch into infinity, while a house is a box of a square cave no matter how luxurious. Plus in the great outdoors there is the sound of the wind, songs of birds, and the changing light. Think old time native vision quest where you go off in the desert and sit still in a circle. That would be ideal. But, in modern times, you might be sitting there, and an ATV will roar by, then the helicopter, then five recreationists on their mountain bikes, then a couple of climbers strolling past hauling fifty pounds of rope and clankity clanks, and so on. Then the yahoos shooting up the signs too. LOL. Yeah no good. Especially when you are in the thralls of fantastic visions.
Next best would be a quiet back yard or living room space that you are familiar with. Just let people know what you are up to, so the kids don’t suddenly barge in with five of their friends and start cooking in the kitchen, the Amazon delivery doesn’t keeps ringing the bell, and your partner does not call you for a ride cause their car broke down, and other such ongoing interruptions. If you are indoors, try to shut down the modern stimuli and stage the primal ambiance. By that I mean no TV phone computer blah, and yes to sweet scents like frankincense and myrrh, palo santo and copal. Have a lighter ready for those resins. They help to scent and ‘clear the air’. When staging try to mimic a calm, beautiful garden of sorts. A little music is nice, again ideally a person (you?) is playing rattles and clapper sticks, or hollow wood and goat hide drum skins. The music keeps the energy flowing and in motion. See below for accompaniment and reasoning.
Do you do this alone, with friends, or ?? Should there be a ‘sitter’ in case something goes south? So you drink tea but they don’t and can keep an eye on things? Call for help. Can they be trusted to sit quietly with you the whole time without getting antsy bored and start watching videos on their phone or making sighing noises and falling asleep? Or, maybe yall should drink together, 2-3 friends or so and make it a nice lil party. Each person taking an active role in the whole process. It is like anything really, theres some experimentation, guesswork, and practice involved before you get it down. Alone is nice if you are comfortable with yourself, with friends its more fun and there is less of a tendency to get bogged down in your own thoughts. If you want to do it once to be able to just check it off your list, then that is the experience you will have, ‘did it, done, now the next thing’.
In old times there was sometimes a guide, something like an odd combo of a non formally trained doctor, musician and poet. The generic term these days is shaman. Supposedly they had access to the invisible spirits in the universe and would channel them for healing, or had been gifted some kinda magic powers to suck out the illness that is ailing you and disperse the darkness so to speak. I dont know about this, cant corroborate or disprove any of it. Are there modern day shamans? Are they a bunch of cons going through motions and song and dance routines? Theres got a be an authentic one somewhere, in the jungles of the amazon or the mountains of the himalayas or the deserts of the gobi? if i pay em enough money will they fix me? again I have no idea sorry.
At the tea party, imagine that there are energy gates or mind portals that are opening and closing. Theres the psychic drama and emotional hurt baggage we all carry around with us. Plus there is the societal hardened shield shell plates we wear that protect us from dealing with things we dont like to deal with or that defend our basic ego core. Add to that the blinders prejudices tunnel tubes that limit what we want to see of the world. If under the influence of shrooms these are all shed then some folks start to melt down or have these cathartic crying type journeys. Yes you gotta face em and come to terms with em. Who you are. What are you. The good part about the old time shaman was that they could help you out there and do some symbolic gestures, give you some reassurance, hook you with a tune, and carry you outa there, the scary stuck place. This is the kind of scenario that does not happen if you have that recorded speaker playing new age meditation falling water indian flute music in the background, because the music is then not in tune with or dialed in to the dynamics with the highs and lows of the experience. That is alright. What is important to remember though is that the whole idea with such substances is that the metamorphic elements is on you in you, it is within. If you place too much emphasis on the heroic shaman external type figure for life saving then you are missing out, and tend to fall into this ongoing ‘help me help me’ theme which in old times societies few people did because they emphasized self reliance and personal responsibility as a matter of survival and outlook. Change comes from the inside. Didnt nobody have satellite phones and emergency beacons, airlift helicopters and things.
Sound is important because that is the chain and drive of the natural world. Crickets frogs rain pitter patter bird melodies swishing leaves the whole thing. This comprises a pattern repetition and steady almost monotonous rhythm that is more cyclical than linear. That is what you want to mimic in the tea ceremony. Hence a simple clapper stick of elderberry, a ki kaw ki kaw of a rasping stick, or the fast boom boom boom of a three legged water kettle drum or a thundering taiko. They all serve the same function, the beat goes on, life is full of movement and motion, keep going in a circle but forward in time, planetary orbit stuff. Traditionally this is the case. But, that said, if you want to bust out the guitar and start playing some Johnny Cash song, or press the play button for Katey Perry on your spotify, that is okay too. I might save that though for the last part of the journey when you are coming down and hopefully at ease. Don’t know, music and its ties are real personal. I do know that if you are playing dj busywork while you should be meditating concentrating that takes something away from the trip.
How much should I take? There is the matter of dosage. Have people died directly from overdose on hallucinogen psychedelic entheogens the way they do on alcohol or amphetamines or opiates? Did they have some kind of pre existing health condition already? Or did they die from a mental freakout leading to an accident? Not sure. Maybe somewhere it has happened. Do I know how to use a scale and calculate milligrams per body weight in kilos? To be absolutely sure I am taking 50 and not 150 milligrams of said alkaloid. Do I do that no I do not. There is a lot of variability in a natural product that is hard to measure and standardize. My feeling is that if you are going to fly from San Francisco to London the plane should go at a high altitude, and fast. If you are going swimming in a cold lake you ought to just jump right in rather than putting in a toe pausing for ten minutes, then another toe. If you got to kill a chicken for supper I would not do an elaborate ritual for the soul of the chicken, pluck off every feather slowly, then take little cuts on it until it is bleeding all over and finally dies. Just go!!!
Low doses are better for that haha wander around recreational thrill, a higher dose will force you to go inwards because of the sheer intensity and enthrallment of senses. Every person has a different threshold and tolerance for risk, danger, fear, drugs. I will say that if you are fixed in your idea of what the world is and should be, think that there is nothing more out there other than what we are able to perceive as humans, and are ‘set in your ways’ in a manner of rational speaking, then it will be harder to crack the shell of your being. Because your will resists anything more and beyond. Because you do not believe in magic. The magic of this world, our day to day existence, the boggling forces that are at play. The awe. Another way to think about it is like that ol warrior samurai mentality where you face death daily, live on the knifes edge, and know that one day it will end, maybe today. Sounds scary and sad in a way but the end result is that you live life fully and without regrets and in all honesty. The opposite of that is living a scared fearful life of anxiety and clinginess because you are wrapped up in this material world and only this world exists so you hold onto it as tightly as you can even while you are not really partaking of it just skirting around the eventual inevitable.
If you imbibe a lot then it is likely that when you close your eyes, or if you are in a darkened place squintingesh, you may see waves of geometric colors awash all over. You may become so swamped with energy lines that you realize that these rays are traversing throughout the universe all the time and you are a part of this phenomenon. Its not just a visual thing, it is your whole entire being. Enjoy it but know that the visions are ephemeral. Hopefully the lessons you learn are not. By ‘a lot’ my experience is about four big mushrooms. For an obstinate mind that ‘a lot’ might be actually eight or ten fungal bodies to crack the nut open. You will feel something with two to three a general loosening and perception come and go of color waves, and one mushroom drunk is a real subtle inkling that maybe things are not as one thinks feels or believes but you wont be able to put a finger on it. As friend Colin once described after a few sips, ‘its nice, I feel open’. Master Bateau, a somewhat seasoned sailor on the cosmic seas calls the experience ‘wide awake dreaming’, or ‘sedentary journeying’. !?!
What is the proper mindset going into the ceremony? Love and respect, that is all there is, hold to that and you will be fine. Commonly I’ve heard people being purposeful and having intention. Do you ask a mushroom for stuff? Set goals for the experience? Have benchmarks for success and criteria to measure future expeditions? LOL. I dont know, maybe? Another common saying I first heard from friend Dahlia was that the fungus or plant or ‘teacher’ gives you what you need not what you want. But what is it that I want? Or need? I dont know that either hahaha. peace? union? in the pulse? You will figure that part out later… In essence though the mind of no mind, beginners state, no expectations pre conceived notions sort of flow being in the moment the zone that is okay if you know that state and can stay in it while just sitting. Spirit body mind all working in unison with the world planet universe all. Or if you know the mind state of a tree, that is one of the best. Grounded, bridging earth and sky, drinking sun and water, providing for all the creatures. Bird brains and ancestral reptilian minds are worthy mindsets to emulate too but now this tangent has gone far enough.
General warning: Magic mushrooms are a federally illegal substance, deemed by government to be prone to abuse and having absolutely no medical value whatsoever. You might die if you have a pre existing cardiac condition and have a heart attack. For obvious reasons if you drink tea and drive or operate any kind of power or heavy equipment that is a bad combination and not a wise choice putting both yourself and others in danger. If you drink it away from home safe sweet home then be prepared to go up, come down, settle the mind before you jump in the car and drive away. Say at least 8-10 hours total with additional safety margin. Okey dokey have a nice trip and come back safe!
PS What are some good activities to do while in tea ceremony? Well if you are being as calm as a mountain, with good posture then focus on breath. That is all there is that lies between life and death and oxygen is really great stuff. The whole six hours in and out, in and out, dont say a word. But that is pretty super hard for most people. Playing instruments or chanting is great, like I mentioned before – circular droning heart beat like rhythms in general better than the linear story time melody songs which can take you into analysis and reason modes. If you are in nature then a walkabout with mushrooms is awesome too, but mostly I’d say that is better in the last third of the voyage where the peak is over, you begin to turn that inward gaze outward, and you can use your new found perception on everything around you. Again, recommended to stay away from electronics and their screens and magnetism, and people crowds harsh stimuli. Listen to the earth, be with your mom.
Mission Azul 