DMT and the Psychedelic Pineal.

[Turtle]

haha turtle thats right up there with the true story to alice and wonderland! it seems that many old fairytales were drug induced, many of them were written during the height of opium use i THINK.

This is a myth. Author of Alice In Wonderland The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, AKA Lewis Carroll did not use psychodelics. The story contains deep mathematical & philosophical statements.

Possible Drug Use [of Lewis Carroll]

There has been much speculation that Dodgson used drugs, however there is no direct evidence that he ever did. It is true that the most common painkiller of the time—laudanum—was in fact a tincture of opium and could produce a 'high' if used in a large enough dose. We can infer Dodgson probably used it from time to time since it was the standard domestic painkiller of its day and was to be found in numerous patent medicines of the time, but there is no evidence he ever abused it or that its effects had any impact on his work. The rumour that he smoked cannabis is entirely without any foundation in any known fact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lutwidge_Dodgson#Possible_Drug_Use

[Tarantism]

some more DMT info:

 

 

DMT has a long history of sacramental use. Native shamans in South America have been using various DMT-containing plant preparations since the eighth century AD, possibly earlier, in their visionary and divinatory ceremonies. Ayahuasca, Yopo, Cohoba,

and Epena are some examples of the preparations. Ayahuasca means literally, “Vine of the Dead.” All of these brews allow the shaman to enter the land of the dead, for the purpose of guiding newly departed souls into the light, or defending his tribe from hostile spirits. The brews are still used today in the Amazon, but their use has spread throughout the world, as people within urban society begin to become aware of their primal, tribal roots.

 

The pure form of DMT was first synthesized in a lab in 1931 by the British chemist Richard Manske. Soon after, it was learned that DMT is produced naturally in the human brain, most likely by the pineal gland. It is a neurotransmitter that resembles serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) structurally; the serotonin molecule looks like a slightly stripped-down version of DMT, as illustrated below:

 

DMT is so similar to serotonin that it actually binds with the 5-HT receptors in the place of serotonin and acts as a neurotransmitter. The function of endogenous DMT is a fascinating mystery, and some interesting theories have been posed. Dr. Rick Strassman proposes in his book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, that DMT is responsible for spontaneous altered states of consciousness such as religious, mystical, and meditative transcendence, near-death experiences, and out-of-body experiences. More importantly, he believes that DMT is responsible for the death experience. Strassman administered over 200 intravenous doses of DMT to 60 subjects as part of his investigation of the physical, psychological, and spiritual effects of DMT, conducted an the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque from 1990 to 1995, while he was an associate professor of psychiatry. It is known that DMT occurs in a very high concentration in the brain tissue of human cadavers, while the concentration of DMT in living subjects is relatively low. This indicates that there is a massive release of DMT at the moment of death. This, coupled with the numerous reports of DMT inducing profound mystical states in even the staunchest of agnostics, leads to the theory that the DMT and death experiences are one and the same.

I believe DMT is a natural gateway to other dimensions. The chemical itself does not give knowledge; it simply opens the door. It is a mode of transportation. The DMT experience is an anticipation of the dying process, or, as the Tibetan Buddhists refer to it, the Bardo level beyond physical death. It seems likely that our physical lives are a type of launching pad for the soul. As the esoteric traditions say, life is an opportunity to prepare for death, and we should learn to recognize the signposts along the way, so that when death comes, we can make the transition smoothly.

 

ref.

[Tarantism]

and then...

 

The proposal by Dr. Callaway was the first to suggest a useful function for the endogenous production of DMT; i.e. to facilitate the visual phenomenon of normal dreaming.

 

that would be JC Callaway.

[Turtle]

and then...

The proposal by Dr. Callaway was the first to suggest a useful function for the endogenous production of DMT; i.e. to facilitate the visual phenomenon of normal dreaming.

 

 

that would be JC Callaway.

Finally! Something useful.:) In this light it is interesting to note the effects of sleep paralysis, wherin there is often described a being in the room or setting on the chest (the Old Hag).

More specifically, a hag or "the Old Hag" was a nightmare spirit in British and also Anglophone North American folklore which is essentially identical to the Anglo-Saxon mæra – a being with roots in ancient Germanic superstition, and closely related to the Scandinavian mara. According to folklore, the Old Hag sat on a sleeper's chest and sent nightmares to him or her. When the subject awoke, he or she would be unable to breathe or even move for a short period of time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_hag

Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up (known as hypnopompic paralysis) or, less often, shortly before falling asleep (known as hypnagogic paralysis).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnogogic_paralysis

Snicker snack went the vorpal blade....:hihi:

[Tarantism]

this thread gets ever more interesting, turtle!

 

last week i was laying in a park relativley near to my home. i was attempting to nap, as i had been awake the entire night before. it is important for the purposes of my story to note that i am totally and completely sober.

 

so, i go to close my eyes, and for some reason before i can even finish making my world dark my eyes begin to move to REM and my eyelids flutter. my body become unmovable, and instead of panicing i just sort of "go with it". i figured there isnt much to worry about.

 

when eyelids shut (by no fault of my own), i instantly am somewhere where i was not just minutes ago. i am standing in from of a Seven-Eleven, and my friend is there. i still cannot move, and i am speaking. my friend is there, and i am asking her questions. she is answering them. after a few "minutes" (in dream time), i finilly have had enough and i force my eyes open. i then can once again move my body.

 

this happens three times in a row on that same day while i am trying to fall asleep.

 

thanks to some discussion with Orb, i have almost positivley narrowed this down to sleep paralysis. what really alarmed me was the lucid state that i was in during the hallucination/dream.

 

i had learned QuiGong Meditation not a day earlier, and had been meditating hours before. the old indian woman who taught me told me that sometimes when you are at peace and have been meditating often, if you have questions for people they will answer them in your dreams.

 

perhaps there are ties to the DMT in the human brain and not only dreaming but meditation??

 

hm.

[Turtle]

Tracing back the Old Hag to Baba Yaga we start seeing themes common to DMT experiences:

In Russian tales, Baba Yaga is portrayed as a witch who flies through the air in a mortar using the pestle as a rudder sweeping away the tracks behind her with a broom made out of silver birch. She lives in a log cabin that moves around by means of a pair of chicken legs that dance. Her fence outside is made with human bones with skulls on top. The keyhole to her front door is a mouth filled with sharp teeth. In another legend the house does not reveal the door until it is told a magical phrase: turn your back to the forest, your front to me.

 

Her house is connected with three riders: one in white, riding a white horse with white harness, who is Day; a red one, who is the Sun; and a black one, who is Night.

 

She is sometimes shown as an antagonist, and sometimes as a source of guidance; there are stories where she helps people with their quests, and stories in which she kidnaps children and threatens to eat them. When people do seek out her aid, it is usually described as a dangerous act. An emphasis is placed on the need for proper preparation and purity of spirit, as well as basic politeness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga

 

I have added the red highlight myself as emphasis. In particular, "purity of spirit" may relate to the intent or "current state of mind" we have discussed in other psychoactive phenomena threads, as well as the rules Tart mentioned.

[Turtle]

Tracing back the Old Hag to Baba Yaga we start seeing themes common to DMT experiences:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga

Carrying further Baba Yaga's story like a hound on prey, we arrive at yet another entheogenic reference.

The only way for her to de-age herself is by drinking a special tea she brews from blue roses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga

 

Blue Rose

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphinidin

 

Blue in flowers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphinidin

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthocyanin

 

Violets...

Morning Glories...

[Tarantism]

cool info turtle! im researching speculations on DMT and dreaming, as well as its possible role in meditative nirvana, to little avail. though i did just turn up an interesting page...

 

Since these same Psychoactive tryptamines occur in humans, it is possible that their activity may be promoted by the actions of endogenous beta-carbolines for normal psychological processes; e.g. the production of visual / emotive imagery in sleep. The periodic altering of consciousness in sleep may even be necessary for the maintenance of normal mental health, since only a few days of sleep deprivation will result in a seepage of hallucinatory phenomena into the waking state. On a similar line of reasoning, an offset dreaming mechanism may explain some aspects of hallucinatory psychoses. The willful induction of a psychedelic state presents us with another option which is probably an extension of an intrinsic desire, at least in some, to know. Such an experience offers a unique glimpse of the soul as a temporary dream-like state. Thus it seems quite normal that some choose to induce such a state for the purpose of examining the psyche within the frame work of a waking state of mind.

[Turtle]

cool info turtle! im researching speculations on DMT and dreaming, as well as its possible role in meditative nirvana, to little avail. though i did just turn up an interesting page...

Thus it seems quite normal that some choose to induce such a state for the purpose of examining the psyche within the frame work of a waking state of mind.

 

I was thinking of this in relation to the other thread where Craig pointed out the error of equating meditative states with psychoactive states. Perhaps it is better modeled by dream & sleep states alone? What's the term for directed dreaming....??? Lucid dreaming! I'll sleep on it.:hihi:

[Tarantism]

from what the article said, Anthocyanin appears to be quite common in flowers....i wouldnt be suprised if there was an abundance of these flowers in Russia...thus explaining the trip.

 

here is a list of psychoactive flowers with a violet, red or blue hue:

Morning Glory

Opium Poppy

Deadly Nightshade

Sacred Lotus

Blue Lotus

Nightshade

[Turtle]

from what the article said, Anthocyanin appears to be quite common in flowers....i wouldnt be suprised if there was an abundance of these flowers in Russia...thus explaining the trip.

 

here is a list of psychoactive flowers with a violet, red or blue hue:

Morning Glory

Opium Poppy

Deadly Nightshade

Sacred Lotus

Blue Lotus

Nightshade

 

The reference of Russia of course in regard to Baba Yaga, AKA the Old Hag. Perhaps the fairy tales - which come from oral traditions - serve a purpose similar to the secret symbolism in the dances and songs of enslaved Africans? The Old Hag is really old hags...the witchdoctors or shamans.

Here's a photot of the first Blue Rose that C1ay put up in the Gallery. Interesting it is one one the most viewed images on the whole site, if not the single most.

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=119&catid=searchresults&searchid=25

[Tarantism]

ok, now to trace the origins of these psychoactive plants. im assuming our Hag was conjured and Documented before the days of globalization?

 

Morning Glory is apparently found all over the world. i cannot find a specific location where they were first seen or documented to exist...thus still a contender for the blue flower contest.

 

Opium Poppy has been used for civilizations for over 30,000 years, documented use has been traced back to neadrathal man! it has been cultivated in the ancient civilizations of Persia, Egypt and Mesopotamia (what is now Iraq, Syria and Southern Turkey), also ancient Rome and so on throughout history. i wouldnt count it out, though it takes some preperation to make opium active, i dont think that eating the poppies or the seeds would induce psychedelic states.

 

Deadly Nightshade was used back in the middle ages in "witches brews". still used in witchcraft to this day. the way to induce psychoactive properties is to place a slimey pigment from the plant tissue or flowers on the skin. there is large amounts of documented use in italy.

 

the sacred lotus bears great significance in eastern religion, where it is known as a plant that bring s about feelings of enlightenment and joy. there is also mention of it in homers 'the odyssey", when Ulysees and his crew land ont he island of the lotus eaters. the only aspect of the lotus that fits our flowers description is the fact that it is "often brewed into a psychoactive tea".

 

Blue Lotus could be a better bet, as it is infact blue and is also used in a tea. the ancient egyptions revaled in its use as a "visionary plant", and even attributed the worlds current state to it, in an indirect way.

 

i cant find any info on the nightshade, but its flower is purple not blue, so taht rules it out already.

 

there you go my friend in a half shell, make of the info what you will.....

[Tarantism]

blue roses are synthetic, though beautiful nonetheless.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_rose

[Turtle]

Lost a post to the ether! Opium is out; not psychoactive. I'm afraid we have drifted into the Shaman thread material. Alas! We are doomed!:hihi: My pineal is throbbing.:eek2:

[Tarantism]

i would say that the most likely canadates for the "im the mysterious blue flower" award would include, but not nessesarily be limited to...Blue Lotus, Moring Glory and Deadly Nightshade...the nightshade being the lest likely of the three.

 

i ahvent ever heard of a brew being made from morning glory, though ill bet its possible. alas, i am no shamen, at least not the morning glory kind. my brewing expertise tends to be more directed towards mexican and south american brews, not eurpoian.

 

still, what progress! and there is so much more that can be discussed. im afraid that its difficult to find any more information on Callaway's specualtions on DMT and dreaming, though he did publish several books that i belive have an abundance of the information that we require.

 

damnit, i want a machine that can instantaniously poof required matter at the push of a button! i want to learn Katabatak, too! :hihi:

[Turtle]

i would say that the most likely canadates for the "im the mysterious blue flower" award would include, but not nessesarily be limited to...Blue Lotus, Moring Glory and Deadly Nightshade...the nightshade being the lest likely of the three.

In the legend described of Baba Yaga, the Blue Flower Tea was to de-age herself, which suggests to me an antidote. It may not be the psychoactive itself, but a buffer.

 

damnit, i want a machine that can instantaniously poof required matter at the push of a button! i want to learn Katabatak, too! :eek2:

So be it! Learn Katabataks Here No entheogens required; so simple, a child can learn it.:hihi:

[Tarantism]

ahh that changes things a bit! ok well, canidates remain quite the same...though the fact that she used it to de-age herself suggests that perhaps the brew brought about "good feeling'....

 

the sacred lotus bears great significance in eastern religion, where it is known as a plant that bring s about feelings of enlightenment and joy. there is also mention of it in homers 'the odyssey", when Ulysees and his crew land ont he island of the lotus eaters. the only aspect of the lotus that fits our flowers description is the fact that it is "often brewed into a psychoactive tea".

 

assuming that the tales came from Russia, it would have been easy for word of this "good feeling" plant to travel to Russia from the east by way of Mongolia.

 

whadduya think?