Liber LI and the Residuum of Paradise.
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It's some of the long time occultist I have known have repeatedly told me that prolonged use of ANY drug causes damage to the BOL. The fact that I used to be a copious user of marijuana, especially during meditation and ritual, caused me not to take their remarks to seriously. That being said I have had to inadvertently be "drug free" for a while in order to pass an important drug screening. The drug screening was delayed time and time again so I ended up in sobriety for three months!
I took the time as challenge to purify myself by detoxing and juice fasting, and simultaneously my A/C broke in my car during the middle of summer. Needless to say the THC stored in my fatty cells is long gone, it took about two months before it completely left my (not merely falling below threshold for a 5 panel UA). And I can say this: I have never felt so clear, so powerful, and been able to enter such deep states of meditation. My general level of awareness is through the roof almost to the level of clairvoyance, and during ceremonial magic my "astral eytes" open up almost immediately with elaborate visualizations. Asana is easier and I derive more energy from Pranayama.
I can say that after this "experiment" that there seems to be some truth to the idea of aura damage and drug use. I am so sensitive now that even a little nicotine from my hookah gives me a tremendous buzz. So, IMHO, I think that the idea of the "rube, stoner, and mystic" as being similar is a bit short sighted. It is my feeling that the may have access to similar states of consciousness, but without the benefits of discipline those states are damaging rather than useful.
Will I ever use pot again in ceremony? Probably, but with much caution and a great deal of respect for the plant.
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Robert Anton Wilson:
" By 1904, the Beast had come to the conclusion that all he had seen and performed, among the Magicians and among the yogis, could be explained by combining the known psychology with the emerging beginnings of psycho-chemistry. He had pushed mysticism as far as one can, and retained his Victorian Rationalism."
As we all know, this was before he met Aiwass.
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Oh, I know, I wasn't making any critical point. I just happened to be reading that when I read the article.
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Now you're making me feel bad, bro.
Seriously, I meant it as an add-on to your points, not a contradiction.
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Yes good Frater, I totally agree with your point of the chemical similarities between the brains of the three. However, I made my point that "newbies" would not take an idea and run with it.
I was into chemical gnosis for years and I can easily see it's pros and cons. I think in the beginning a little pot can break open the head for some real dense students and maybe a little LSD might open them up a whole lot more. but some individuals mistake an initiation for the method and end up lost down a short road to nowhere.
By the way I am a huge RAW and Leary fan, and I have to say that these modern studies on DMT really excite me! I think though that more attention should be paid to the chemical process that take place in the mind of an initiate, that may be really telling!