Jun 29, 2012

Bottle of ergot extract

Bottle of ergot extract, London, England, 1891-1950


Ergot is derived from a fungus and it was used by midwives and doctors in the 1800s to promote contractions in birthing women. Directions on this bottle state the content was only to be used under medical supervision. Ergot also stopped bleeding after childbirth, but was also a traditional remedy to induce abortions. This glass bottle of ergot was manufactured by the London subsidiary of American company Parke, Davis and Co. Ergot grows naturally on rye and other cereals. Eating too much can cause long-term poisoning, known as ergotism. The condition is sometimes referred to as ‘St Anthony’s fire’. In the past, local outbreaks of ergotism affected towns and villages across Europe. Symptoms include convulsions and hallucinations. The effects of the poison have been historically linked to accusations of witchcraft in affected communities.

Credits: Science Museum, London

Ergot alkaloids cmap


Claviceps Purpurea [ Ergot source - L-ergothioneine ]


fungi - Claviceps purpurea
From: Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit kurz erläuterndem Texte. Atlas zur Pharmacopoea germanica, austriaca, belgica, danica, helvetica, hungarica, rossica, suecica, neerlandica, british pharmacopoeia, zum Codex medicamentarius, sowie zur Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America by Hermann Adolph Koehler.
Gera-Utermhaus, Fr.Eugen Köhler, 1887, 1. edition, volume 2, plate 165. Chromolithographed plate (sheet 219 x 299 mm).


Köhler’s magnum opus
was published in parts from 1883-1898. The first volume was finished in 1887, eight years after his death. The set of three volumes with 283 colour-plates was a noteworthy achievement and included European plants of medicinal interest. From the botanical standpoint the finest and most useful series of illustrations of medicinal plants (Great flower books). The beautiful colour-plates after illustrations by Walther Müller and C.F. Schmidt, which were skillfully rendered in lithography by E. Günther.
* Nissen BBI 1085; Great flower books p. 62; Stafleu & Cowan 3806.


Jun 25, 2012

Sêdas

"Opium Smoking. The Man on the Left is Under the Influence of His Fourth or Fifth Pipe, The Other is Cooking a Pipeful of Opium Preparatory to Smoking it." (186-?-188-?)

Shanghai 1920's

Lélie, fumeuse d'opium

Raphael Kirchner (1876-1917) - Lélie, Fumeuse d'Opium

A Raphael Kirchner postcard, early 20th century, Kirchner's wife was the model for a lot of his images, and she was an opium smoker, the habit being perceived as 'glamorously decadent' amongst the artistic Parisian set...

by catherine Mackenzie oakleaf25

Jun 20, 2012

Lisbon Revisited

Fernando Pessoa em Flagrante Delitro foto para a namorada Ofélia.jpg
Fernando Pessoa na adega de Abel Pereira da Fonseca, em 1929.
Esta fotografia enviou-a ele a Ophelia Queiroz com a inscrição:


 «Fernando Pessoa em flagrante delitro».




Lisbon Revisited 
(1923)


NÃO: Não quero nada.
Já disse que não quero nada.

Não me venham com conclusões!
A única conclusão é morrer.

Não me tragam estéticas!
Não me falem em moral!
Tirem-me daqui a metafísica!
Não me apregoem sistemas completos, não me enfileirem conquistas
Das ciências (das ciências, Deus meu, das ciências!) —
Das ciências, das artes, da civilização moderna!

Que mal fiz eu aos deuses todos?

Se têm a verdade, guardem-na!

Sou um técnico, mas tenho técnica só dentro da técnica.
Fora disso sou doido, com todo o direito a sê-lo.
Com todo o direito a sê-lo, ouviram?

Não me macem, por amor de Deus!

Queriam-me casado, fútil, quotidiano e tributável?
Queriam-me o contrário disto, o contrário de qualquer coisa?
Se eu fosse outra pessoa, fazia-lhes, a todos, a vontade.
Assim, como sou, tenham paciência!
Vão para o diabo sem mim,
Ou deixem-me ir sozinho para o diabo!
Para que havemos de ir juntos?

Não me peguem no braço!
Não gosto que me peguem no braço. Quero ser sozinho.
Já disse que sou sozinho!
Ah, que maçada quererem que eu seja da companhia!

Ó céu azul — o mesmo da minha infância —
Eterna verdade vazia e perfeita!
Ó macio Tejo ancestral e mudo,
Pequena verdade onde o céu se reflete!
Ó mágoa revisitada, Lisboa de outrora de hoje!
Nada me dais, nada me tirais, nada sois que eu me sinta.

Deixem-me em paz! Não tardo, que eu nunca tardo...
E enquanto tarda o Abismo e o Silêncio quero estar sozinho!


Álvaro de Campos

cette «substance magique», ce «révélateur d’âme»


The Acid Library: Collected pdf's 1949-2002

A.M. Becker . The LSD Papers, 1949 (pdf)

Cordula Becker . Subjective Visual Experiences of Colour and Form Induced by Temporally Modulated Light, 2005 (pdf)

D.B. Blewitt and N. Chwelos . Handbook for the Therapeutic Use of LSD-25, 1959 (pdf)

Betty Eisner . Remembrances of LSD Therapy Past, 2002 (pdf)

Aldous Huxley . The Doors of Perception, 1970 (pdf)

Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain . Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD, 1985 (pdf)

The Psychedelic Review 1-10 (1964-1969) (zip)

Jay Stevens . Storming Heaven, 1987 (pdf)

Alexanger Sulgin . Dow Psychopharmacology Notes, 1979 (pdf)

Zap Comix Issues 0-5 (1967-1970) (zip)
source: A∴A∴

Carta de Albert Hofmann a Steve Jobs 2007


Dear Mr. Steve Jobs,

Hello from Albert Hofmann. I understand from media accounts that you feel LSD helped you creatively in your development of Apple computers and your personal spiritual quest. I'm interested in learning more about how LSD was useful to you.

I'm writing now, shortly after my 101st birthday, to request that you support Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Peter Gasser's proposed study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety associated with life-threatening illness. This will become the first LSD - assisted psychotherapy study in over 35 years.

I hope you will help in the transformation of my problem child into a wonder child.

Sincerely,

A. Hofmann


María Sabina



"Hay un mundo más allá del nuestro, un mundo que está lejos, también cercano e invisible. Ahí es donde vive Dios, donde vive el muerto y los santos. Un mundo donde todo ha pasado ya, y se sabe todo. Ese mundo habla. Tiene un idioma propio. Yo informo lo que dice. El hongo sagrado me toma de la mano y me lleva al mundo donde se sabe todo. Allí están los hongos sagrados, que hablan en cierto modo que puedo entender. Les pregunto y me contestan. Cuando vuelvo del viaje que he tomado con ellos, digo lo que me han dicho y lo que me han mostrado."

María Sabina
(1894-1985)



Mayan mushroom stones 1000 - 300 B.C.
(Schultes & Hofmann 1979)

María Sabina: Mujer Espíritu

María Sabina: Mujer Espíritu (1978, Mexico)

An intimate portrait of the world-renowned Mazatec curandera and her extensive use of psilocybe mushrooms as a healing aid. Narrated by Maria's biographer, Alvaro Estrada; directed by Nicolas Echevarria. Hard coded English subtitles.


Jun 18, 2012

Mushroom Ceremony Of The Mazatec Indians



María Sabina - Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico (1957)
Original release: Folkways Records 8975, 1957



Recording by Gordon & Valentina Wasson in Huautla de Jiménez,
an the Mazatec Mountains on the northern corner of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, July 21, 1956

Participants: 

native Mexican curandera (witch-doctor) Maria Sabina, a male Mazatec indian, the Wassons and some research friends of theirs.

1. Chjon Nka (2:53)
2. Chjon Nca Catain (4:45)
3. Santo...Nana (2:07)
4. Papa Papai (1:26)
5. Na? Al-Ni Tso (1:04)
6. Ji ñai na (1:46)
7. Jan Jesu Cri (3:42)
8. Ji ñai (4:20)
9. San Pedro (3:32)
10. Soso Soso... (2:38)
11. Name of Plants (1:35)
12. Pedro Martinez (1:17)
13. Don't Be Concerned, Old One (2:37)
14. Birds (1:37)
15. Humming, Etc... (1:52)
16. Soft Singing (4:23)
17. Finale (0:48)

download


 

The insert booklet is essential, and contains one of the relatively few photos of the Wasson couple, looking quite the explorers and a long way from Gordon Wasson's NYC banking background. See scans below for more background information and a partial translation of Sabina's rap.

Comments: This field recording is of substantial historical interest, both as the earliest known vinyl document of people under the influence of hallucinogens, and as part of the Wasson couples legendary forays into remote Mexican mountains on the trail of an obscure mushroom cult. Wasson's exploits became the subject of a Life magazine article which is a watershed event in the history of psychedelics, and the psilocybin shrooms would attract interest from the whole academic/literary/ethno-botanic hallucinogen set in the late 1950s. Although the Mazatec mushroom culture has been well documented over the years, this particular LP has drawn less attention than Wasson's works and the many subsequent essays and books published, but is obviously worth attention.



The actual contents feature curandera Maria Sabina (who would later become famous, as part of the Wasson effect) eating the shrooms and setting out on a transcental journey to invoke the mushroom spirit, reporting with a steady flow of words her experiences. The reports are spoken in her native Mazatec dialect, but an ambitious translation/transcription attempt by a linguistic expert can be found on the accompanying booklet. The mushroom cult is eclectic, combining elements of Catholicism with a pantheistic strain, in a way typical for many surviving plant cults around the world. Her voice is an old woman's, often tired, sometimes venturing into sing-songy nursery rhyme structures, and during the beginning of side 2 (where she's peaking, bro) moving into a very rapid, unbroken flow of words. Rather remarkable, and according to those who have tripped with it, an efficient guide despite not being a successful invocation of the mushroom spirit (see booklet scans below for explanation). Sounds of nature, nightbirds, barking dogs, and frequent mutterings from Sabina's fellow Mazatec traveller are also audible.

María Sabina




María Sabina decía:
"los niños santos curan las llagas, las heridas del espíritu. Los niños se toman de noche; para esto se celebra la velada frente a imágenes de santos de la iglesia. Soy sabia, curo con lenguaje".



Jun 16, 2012

Terence McKenna: Books, Articles & Transcripts


A collection of 7 books, 70 articles, essays & transcripts, some photos from the upcoming book, "The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss!" by Dennis McKenna and a preview of Klea McKenna's "The Butterfly Hunter".

A Terence Mckenna speech



Probably the most open minded, informative talk on different substances which grow naturally in nature and how there connection with humans have shaped many people's ways of thinking.
If you are interested in Terence Mckenna's speeches, a great link with all his full-length videos can be found here

Jun 15, 2012

Marijuana as Medicine


pdf 5mb

"Vicios Privados - Públicas Virtudes"



Marijuana Chemistry: Genetics, Processing & Potency

Marijuana Chemistry: Genetics, Processing & Potency, Second Edition
Ronin Publishing March 17 1993 | 199 pages | English | iSBN : 0914171399,0914171393 | PDF | 2.7MB

Marijuana Chemistry is a one-of-a-kind book that explains the various psychoactive constituents of cannabis, with full discussions of the effect of growth conditions, harvesting, and processing, and method of ingestion on potency. This new edition of the widely respected classic features 64 pages of updates based on current research and black market studies.


Jun 14, 2012

Death trip

Letter from Laura Huxley to Julian Huxley 16 days after Aldous Huxley’s death

Then I don’t know exactly what time it was, he asked for his tablet and wrote, “Try LSD 100 intramuscular.” Suddenly something became very clear to me. I knew that we were together again after this torturous talking of the last two months. I knew then, I knew what was to be done. I went quickly into the cupboard in the other room where Dr. Bernstein was, and the TV which had just announced the shooting of Kennedy. I took the LSD and said, “I am going to give him a shot of LSD, he asked for it.”

The doctor had a moment of agitation because you know very well the uneasiness about this drug in the medical mind. Then he said, “All right, at this point what is the difference.” Whatever he had said, no “authority,” not even an army of authorities could have stopped me then. I went into Aldous’ room with the vial of LSD and prepared a syringe. The doctor asked me if I wanted him to give him the shot—maybe because he saw that my hands were trembling.

His asking me that made me conscious of my hands, and I said, “No I must do this.” I quieted myself, and when I gave him the shot my hands were very firm. Then, somehow, a great relief came to us both. I believe it was 11:20 when I gave him his first shot of 100 microgrammes. I sat near his bed and I said, “Darling, maybe in a little while I will take it with you. Would you like me to take it also in a little while?” I said a little while because I had no idea of when I should or could take it, in fact I have not been able to take it to this writing because of the condition around me. And he indicated “yes.”

We must keep in mind that by now he was speaking very, very little. Then I said, “Would you like Matthew to take it with you also? And he said, “Yes.” “What about Ellen?” He said, “Yes.” Then I mentioned two or three people who had been working with LSD and he said, “No, no, basta, basta.” Then I said, “What about Jinny?” And he said, “Yes,” with emphasis. Then we were quiet. I just sat there without speaking for a while.

After half an hour, the expression on his face began to change a little, and I asked him if he felt the effect of LSD, and he indicated no. Yet, I think that a something had taken place already. This was one of Aldous’ characteristics. He would always delay acknowledging the effect of any medicine, even when the effect was quite certainly there, unless the effect was very, very stong he would say no.

Now, the expression of his face was beginning to look as it did every time that he had the moksha medicine, when this immense expression of complete bliss and love would come over him. This was not the case now, but there was a change in comparison to what his face had been two hours ago. I let another half hour pass, and then I decided to give him another 100 mg. I told him I was going to do it, and he acquiesced. I gave him another shot, and then I began to talk to him. He was very quiet now; he was very quiet and his legs were getting colder; higher and higher I could see purple areas of cynosis.

Then I began to talk to him, saying, “Light and free,” Some of these thing I told him at night in these last few weeks before he would go to sleep, and now I said it more convincingly, more intensely—“go, go, let go, darling; forward and up. You are going forward and up; you are going towards the light. Willing and consciously you are going, willingly and consciously, and you are doing this beautifully; you are doing this so beautifully —you are going towards the light; you are going towards a greater love; you are going forward and up. It is so easy; it is so beautiful. You are doing it so beautifully, so easily. Light and free. Forward and up. You are going towards Maria’s love with my love. You are going towards a greater love than you have ever known. You are going towards the best, the greatest love, and it is easy, it is so easy, and you are doing it so beautifully.”

Once I asked him, “Do you hear me?” He squeezed my hand. He was hearing me. I was tempted to ask more questions, but in the morning he had begged me not to ask any more question, and the entire feeling was that things were right.

Later on I asked the same question, but the hand didn’t move any more. Now from two o’clock until the time he died, which was five-twenty, there was complete peace except for once. That must have been about three-thirty or four, when I saw the beginning of struggle in his lower lip. His lower lip began to move as if it were going to be a struggle for air. Then I gave the direction even more forcefully.

“It is easy, and you are doing this beautifully and willingly and consciously, in full awareness, in full awareness, darling, you are going towards the light.” I repeated these or similar words for the last three or four hours.

Once in a while my own emotion would overcome me, but if it did I immediately would leave the bed for two or three minutes, and would come back only when I could dismiss my emotion. The twitching of the lower lip lasted only a little bit, and it seemed to respond completely to what I was saying. “Easy, easy, and you are doing this willingly and consciously and beautifully—going forward and up, light anf free, forward and up towards the light, into the light, into complete love.” The twitching stopped, the breating became slower and slower, and there was absolutely not the slightest indication of contraction, of struggle. it was just that the breathing became slower—and slower—and slower, and at five-twenty the breathing stopped.

–8 December 1963

Jun 13, 2012

Aldous Huxley

cecil beaton - aldous huxley 1936.jpg
Aldous Huxley by Cecil Beaton 1936

He does for humans what his grandfather did for apes. Cecil Beaton

Conhecem este cogumelo?


Lindo, não é? Trata-se do Amanita muscaria, conhecido como agário-das-moscas ou mata-moscas é um fungo basidiomiceto natural de regiões com clima boreal ou temperado do hemisfério norte. Possui propriedades psicoactivas e alucinógenas em humanos. O componente activo é o ácido ibotêmico. O pesquisador Robert Gordon Wasson, no seu livro Soma - Divine Mushroom of Immortality, sugeriu que o cogumelo está associado ao Soma, bebida sagrada dos Vedas, os mais antigos textos religiosos. A bebida é citada nos hinos do Rigveda, que foi escrito por volta de 1700 a.C. - 1100 a.C., durante o período védico em Punjabe - onde havia a presença de tais cogumelos, consumidos pelos xamãs da região.

Na cultura popular, cogumelos vermelhos com pontos brancos, como o Amanita muscaria, aparecem, por exemplo, no jogo Super Mario Bros., no filme Fantasia da Disney de 1940 e nas ilustrações do livro Alice no País das Maravilhas, de Lewis Carrol, em que Alice aparece conversando com uma lagarta que está estendida sobre um Amanita muscaria enquanto fuma um narguilé, em visível insinuação psicadélica.

2 Livros


Xochipilli
Dios de las plantas y las flores (Cultura Azteca)
"Piedra Hongo"procedente de El Salvador, período 300 a.C . -200 d.C. (Cultura Maya)
(33.5 cm de altura)


Acid


Acid - delirio dei sensi (1968)
Directed by Giuseppe Scotese

Jun 12, 2012

The Psychedelic Experience



The Psychedelic Experience - A Manual Based On The TIBETAN BOOK OF DEAD
by Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Richard Alpert - 1964, Academy Editions 1971

download pdf 


Original LP Broadside BRX 601, Made in USA 1966

Original LP Pixie CA 1069, Made in USA


The Psychedelic Experience Short Movie (1965)

The Psychedelic Experience / LSD - (CD Bootleg) - Readings from The Book.

This is a rare visional portrait of the psychedelic experience narrated by Timothy Leary and with the music of Ravi Shankar. This movie focuses of the spiritual aspects and experience of the individual. This was done in 1965 and due to controversy at the time it was banned for nearly 20 years. You won't find a Imdb reference for it or similar. Enjoy this enlightening rare gem. (You get both the movie and documentary in this file). Please share this rare gem with your friends.


download movie

"Leary was the one going round saying, take it, take it, take it. And we followed his instructions in his 'how to take a trip' book. I did it just like he said in the book, and then I wrote Tomorrow Never Knows, which was almost the first acid song: 'Lay down all thoughts surrender to the void,' and all that shit which Leary had pinched from The Book Of The Dead". 
(from John Lennon Anthology.)

Jun 2, 2012

Opium Museum

Opium Smoking in China circa 1890
Opium San Francisco 1900
19th century rice paper painting Chinese opium smoker

Opium Film, Dandy Pacha, France 1908 - 1918

New York City Opium Den by Winslow Homer

French nude postcard, ca. 19th century
White Women in Opium Den, Chinatown, S. F.
From Album of views of California and the West, Canada, and China ca. 1885-ca. 1895 - Louis Philippe Lessard
capa de "Le Petit Journal" de 5 de julho de 1903 - "French opium den"
english school, the opium traffic, chinese selling opium from the illustrated london news, 4th february 1882
Opium Smokers - illustration by Thomas Allom (1804-1872)

ChinaTown San Francisco, California 1880
Chinatown N Y - Pell Street