This article, entertaining the similarities between the fly agaric and our Santa legend, I found to be both enlightening and yet ridiculous. I appreciate the author's efforts to assimilate the two; sure- they are both red and white, they both provide for an adventurous journey, reindeer love the man and mushroom, and both include the "Christmas tree" in their identity. These examples, I feel the author backs up nicely, and if I were under the mushroom spell, would totally be on board with this theory. However, I feel that the reindeer names symbolizing shamanic experience was a bit of a stretch. What would Rudolph's name signify? If he has the "red" nose that guides the rest of the team, is he representative of the shroom itself? How about the bear reference...again a little far-fetched for me to accept. I'm not sure why the author suggests they are an animal that is often "included in images of Christmastime" except to only be able to incorporate this into his theory. I don't remember seeing bear decorations, ornaments and what-have-you during the holiday except for maybe in an inflatable yard decoration?! The anagram example portrayed is what I consider to be simply coincidental. In this case, one could also debate that God and dog are also alter egos - sure, man's creator and man's best friend! I don't think so. Finally, in discussing the importance of the three colors: red, white, and black, I found the quote offered on the last page interesting. "The fairy tale hero or heroine...who chances to see a drop of red blood fall from a black raven into the white snow, sinks immediately into a yogic trance. That suggests the vast power red, black, and white have or have had over human consciousness." I hope the next time I'm shopping at Target, watching a Campbell's soup commercial, or playing checkers- the red, white, black trio doesn't spontaneouosly send me into an ASC. Sorry for all the sarcasm, and although I don't agree with all of the author's correlations, it was entertaining and at least got you to think about the material.
Walsh's chapter took me back to the basics. I felt this chapter was a great "recap" of what we discused in the beginning of the semester. There are three stages of induction; the first requiring some sort of destabilizer (this reminded me of the first article we read). In the next stage it is determined how long the ASC will last by "patterning forces". Any disruption during this phase will jeopardize the final stage- almost what we used to refer to as "buzzkills". "Zen teachers...relate how they trailed students, crept up behind them, and suddenly yelled at the top of their voice." This example left me with an image of such a disruption or buzzkill. Of extreme interest to me was the mention of timing on pg 188. I always wondered why it seems that seances, "ghost hunts" (as depicted on tv), and even the ahauasca ceremonies we witnessed in the classroom movie are always held at night. If spirits (regarding the former two) and an ASC (the latter) are always obtainable or present, couldn't these take place during the day? I was always skeptical of such events becuase of this fact alone. However, I appreciate and understand now due to the explanations given in the text (the imagery of the house lights helped). Lastly on Walsh, regarding the arguments over drug-induced religious experiences on pg 195, I feel I should play devil's advocate with #3. Being a Christian, I support this notion - however, if God created herbs and plants and also created man and woman with the power of free will, to do as he/she chooses, couldn't this argue the argument itself? Sounds as if I need a drug-induced experience at this point!
Hughes, as always, was an enjoyable read. I thought the description on 163 about opium, "Within the opiate-induced coccoon of perfect invulnerability, the individual's strangest unconscious material feels safe to venture out". I thought this gave the reader a great understanding of what an opium-induced state entails and also another example of how one emits creativity (not that I propose it). The topic of synthesia was fascinating - the phenomenon to hear color and see sound. Mentioned alongside of this was Louis Armstrong and his renowned talent and use of cannabis. With the explanation of synthesia and Louis Armstrong, could there be more behind the lyrics to "What a Wonderful World"? Were the trees really green and what were the red roses saying? Just a funny twist on the two topics :)
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