Pychedelic Society/Law Enforcements Against Entheogens and Pearce

The articles by Sterling and McKenna were very interesting starting with Sterling's article, at the beginning he paints such a beautiful picture on that sunny beach and the energy the waves create. How through our experience we know the energy of these waves but when additional energy applied we see the "wave in a new light". This is true with this article, how Sterling transposes the energy of the wave "exposing God at work in creation, as the Great Designer of the interplay of the forces of life, as the Cosmic Choreographer." (165) "Entheogens", coming from the word entheos meaning en+ theos = GOD. The Law is constantly working to fight and protect the young from all this greed. As if these riches (entheogens) were or are going to corrupt us or open our eyes to other world/realities. "...the greed becomes power-one of the great evil powers of our times." (166) I understand that some drugs if taken or ingested without knowledge can be harmful or even fatal but what about all these written and rewritten laws covering and making very little distinctions among "all drugs".

The Peyote drug which is used for rituals within the Huichol people of North Central Mexico since 1620 and the Spanish conquistadors banned it as diabolic and made it illegal. This drug was never used "recreationally" or as a "drug of abuse" it was used in religious practices. Fortunately this drug was and is allowed to be used under the extended and regulated protection to Indian religions. Unfortunately for the rest of , we have been controlled from any usage of entheogens. Lastly, Sterling talks about how now these drugs don't have a "haven" and many are being arrested for drug charges , without knowing the primary usage of this drug. Law enforcements protect the youth because it is hard to distinguish what is the harmful street drugs verses the usage of entheogens in spiritual practices.

McKenna touches on a very important concept "If God did not exist, man would invent him." (60) As humans we are in constant search for something that is out there...the unknown whether it is a god or a statue or other world. It does not suffice to know that we are but the continuously transformation of information. "We all create our own universe because we are all operating with our own private languages which are only very crudely translatable into any other person's language." (61) We had spoken of "Language" as one of the themes for the Huxley book and we gathered that if we took language ( as we know it) out of the picture there wouldn't be OUR own PRIVATE language but a vast of openings without barriers...no different interpretation or translation but just ONE understanding. Just like the "photons" he spoke about and how we all can see something and interpret it in all distinct and different ways from each other.

I really liked when McKenna quotes Ludwig von Bertalanfe; he goes to say that there's an "anti-humanist tendency in all systems" (62) and that people aren't machines but when given a situation we act like machines falling into patterns and hold this concept and belief very close as if it were to dissolve away or something. I think this is very true. We tend to hold on to things that are man made because they are the "norms"(what we know) but sometimes we forget about the little vague things that mean the most. In the end we will exit with nothing but our bones and flesh to be recycled back into where we came from.