Say hello to my little friends... (otherwise known as Guerrilla Ethnobotany 101)

Papaver somniferum- The Opium poppy. This plant was worshipped by central Asian cultures, and goddess statues devoted to the poppy were found in some of our earliest cities in the Fertile Crescent.

The plant in the picture grew from seeds purchased at an organic foods store for fifty cents. A test subject identified the active agents- morphine, and a complex array of other opiates. The human nervous system produces its own opiates in the form of endorphins.

These poppies are legal to cultivate in the U.S., although law enforcement may be prone to do some weeding. It blows my mind that junkies that sell their souls and homes to get high on heroine from terrorists in the middle east could simply grow their own botanically purer, and much, much safer drug in their own backyard. America is truly stranger than fiction.


Ipomoea tricolor- the Morning Glory. This plant was worshipped by the Aztecs and Toltects primarily, but also by the Maya. active agents- Lysergic acid mono-amide, or LSA, a chemical relative of LSD. This plant was discovered by the Zealous Spanish missionaries who tried to burn it out of Mesoamerican existence. They failed. It was rediscovered by the '60's, but Uncle Sam doesn't seem to be worried about it. This one is LEGAL to cultivate. The human nervous system produces serotonine, which is related to LSA. LSA molecules bind to serotonine receptors in the central nervous system.


Psychotria viridis- "chacruna"- this plant is deified in Amazonian, Andean, and Central American shamanic cultures. active agents- DMT. Previously, the FDA and the DEA thought DMT was a synthetic hallucinogen, like LSD. DMT is actually one of the most potent AND widespread botanical hallucinogens. DMT is a phototropic auxin; it regulates the circadian rhythms of plants. DMT amounts concentrated in the leaves and stems are highest in the morning and after sunset. Curiously, DMT is also produced in the pineal gland of the human (and mammalian) brain (AND it also regulates circadian rhythms in animals). In effect, although this plant, being a botanical producer of DMT, is questionably legal to cultivate, it doesn't matter, because both the cultivator of the plant and the law enforcement officer that might arrest the cultivator of this plant are producers of DMT, a Schedule 1 narcotic under the 1969 Controlled Substances Act.

Funny how poorly informed, poorly written, and dangerously outdated laws can fuck up important facts about life on Earth.



Salvia divinorum- there's a lot of bad press about this plant. Its a damn shame when heresay and paranoia suffice for facts in the media, but that's our media! Salvia divinorum was and is still worshipped by the rural folk of Central America and Oaxaca, Mexico. Active agents- salvinorin A and B. Toxicity is low, and the hallucinogenic effects are potent yet short lasting. Salvia divinorum, or Diviner's Mint, was and still is central to shamanic divination in southern Mexico. "Ska pastora", (The Leaf of the Shepherdess, another christianized name) is an important medicinal herb as well. The salvinorin terpenes are anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral. LEGAL to cultivate and consume. It's too bad the monkeys in congress want to ban this artifact of ancient horticulture because the disillusioned children of America want to get high. We just might have something to learn from this plant.


Passiflora edulis- Passionvine- worshipped by Mesoamericans like the Aztecs and Maya. The Spanish tried to alter the religious (or "satanic") significance of the vine, and so convinced the natives to call the plant by the Christianized name, "the Flower of the Passion". Passionvine is a mild CNS depressant. Active agents- Harmaline, beta carbolines: MAOI (mono-amine oxydase inhibitor), thus, the leaves and sap were used to amplify the effects of other plant hallucinogens. This plant is LEGAL to eat and cultivate, although it's use as a drug is still cautioned.


Datura inoxia- a very potent hallucinogen, causing acute delirium that can last for days. The person intoxicated on datura can not tell dreams or nightmares from reality. active agents- atropine, scopolamine, hyoscyamine. Datura was worshipped by native america tribes. It was used during puberty rites to prepare children for adult hood. Medicinally, datura was used as an anelgesic, and to relieve insect bites. The Maya produced powdered drug extracts from Datura that were used to paralyze sacrificial victims. Modern Mesoamerican witchcraft and fringe voodoo cults still use drug extracts of datura to poison, curse, enslave, and kill.

The Tropane Alkaloids of datura mimic the action of endogenous acetylcholine and bind to cholinergic receptors in the central nervous system. These receptors seem to regulate dream stages to some degree, yet so little is still known in cognitive neuroscience. So much to learn!

Datura is LEGAL to cultivate, yet illegal to eat. Datura is sold at many garden centers around the nation.


Brugmansia aurea- a potent hallucinogen, causing acute delirium for days on end. It also causes amnesia. Highly toxic. worshiped by the Inca, the Maya, and Amazonian tribes. The blooms and leaves were used in Andean. Amazonian, and Mayan mind control political tactics: powdered extracts were blown at sacrifice victims to paralyze them before a sacrifice; drug extracts were also used to enslave or poison "wrongdoers". Active agents- scopolamine, hyoscyamine (more tropane alkaloids, see DATURA). LEGAL to cultivate, illegal to eat. This plant is sold at garden centers all over the nation. You can get one at Home Depot!


Cannabis sativa- one of humanity's first cultivated crops. ancient humans used it as medicine, as food, as fibers for cultural works, clothing, rope, twine, and tools. It is hands down humanity's most useful crop. active agents- cannabinoids like, THC, CBD. THC is a vasodilator, thus improving blood circulation throughout the body. THC is also effective at dampening overactive nerves, (like in M.S., and Parkinson's Disease), and easing pain. It can help regulate appetites, relieve glaucoma, eczema, and headaches. CBD has been shown to have anti-tumor properties, shutting off the growth of cancerous growth. As a food, cannabis seeds and seed oil are high in essential fatty acids, protein, and trace micronutrients like iron and zinc. It can replace a seafood diet. Essential fatty acids are necessary for healing damaged tissue. In this sense, cannabis is an all around handy medicine to use. It has remarkably low toxicity, and is not chemically addictive like tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, heroine, or coffee.

Curiously, the human nervous system produces anandamide which is our own endogenous cannabinoid (see also the Human Endo-Cannabinoid System). It seems that this plant is not the only producer of the "illegal drug" THC. Every human brain is too! None the less, cannabis is still ILLEGAL to cultivate in the U.S.

Makes sense, don't it?

So, are these plants dangerous drugs? Are they sacred entheogens? Are they special ethnobotanicals that influence the development of human society?

Why do these plants exist? Did God create them? Why do they produce chemicals that function as neurotransmitters in the human central nervous system? Why do humans have neural receptors that bind with the drugs produced by these plants?

Why have they driven economies, religions, and wars throughout history?

And why is it that the really dangerous hallucinogenic drug-producing plants are legal to grow in the U.S., but the less toxic, more beneficial ones are illegal?

Seem backward?

What exactly is going on here...?



are you ready for the truth?

Crossing the Threshold part III

the dollar fell, and I passed.

the steeple fell, and I passed.

the law fell, and still, I passed.

my security fell, and I paused,

naked.

dignity fell,

identity fell,

pride fell,

and still, I was.


The rain falls, and we pass.

the hail falls, and we pass.

the sky falls, and we pass.

the mind is free at last.

Crossing the Threshold part II

No more lies.
No more partisan flies maneuvering for access to shit.
I quit.

You can have this broken american dream.
This token is flawed at the seam.

Take the wars, the debt, the wounded lives, the dead.
Take the pills, the trends, the bottomlines, the talking heads.
Take the polls, the tolls, the overcrowded roads, and the stress.
Take the Starbucks, the celebs, the schools, and all the rest.

Take it and rip it to shreds.

Then, we can be free.

Crossing the Threshold

(insert name) believes in doing good.

(insert name) believes in helping those in need, defending the poor and the sick, and healing those who have lost their way.

(insert name) is a shaman. His morality sets a high standard:
violence is wrong
deceit is wrong
greed is wrong
pride is wrong

(insert name) does not worship money, or material wealth, or human authorities.

(insert name) does not seek trouble, but he does seek to relieve crisis.

(insert name) yearns for the truth.

(insert name)'s society is the opposite of (insert name). (insert name)'s society acts or supports those moral conditions that are the antithesis of (insert name)'s ideals.

This causes much anger in (insert name), and anger is poison.

(insert name) is at a threshold.

On (insert name)'s side of the threshold lies a poisonous, toxic environment. On the other side of the threshold lies a new path for (insert name), one that conforms to (insert name)'s ethos.

What will it take for (insert name) to cross over to the other side? What will this mean?

"government can not make me free, only I can," thinks (insert name).

The Threshold awaits...

Ascendency

Climb.
Don't look down or up.
Climb.

It's not easy.
It never will be.
Climb.

the nail breaks
the skin bleeds
the muscles ache
the head needs
peace.

but there's no time for peace.

climb
don't ask why or how
climb.

this is life
forever it will be.

The Entropy of Community

It begins with apathy.

Then turns to destiny.

First, the wages leave, then the pride.

What follows is sex, drugs, and crime.

It is the end of home.


The natural progress

of widespread social regress

introduces the guns and gangs,

where empty love hangs

outside the broken walls of home.


Another murder on the streets,

another cocaine rage beats,

but the real cancer is in the way we think.

Don't deny the mind the right to speak

the light of human sovereignty.


The body bags are getting full.

The future has left school.

This world is getting smaller, now.

Will we teach ourselves how

to rebuild a home?

puppets on semantic strings...

High energy photons scatter through the solar system, yet we can't see them.

Low frequency sound waves in the cycle range 2 Hz - 4 Hz can influence and change the states of the mind, making people sleepy, irritable, and angry. We can't hear these sounds, but they exist none the less.

Dogs hear high frequency sound waves above 20 kHz as an essential element to their genetic survival. We do not.

Flying bats see the world in an entirely different acoustic and optical model than humans. We must invent technology to see the world as bats do.

The human Central Nervous System is a filter that blocks out most environmental data that would otherwise overload the system. Our brains are finely tuned, yet biased, filtered, and never capable of knowing all universal data.

So why do we pass judgement when we are so cognitively flawed?

because we are human.

What defines us is not so much physiology (although this has much to do with identity), but culture, and this has no physical existence outside of human cognition.

When it comes to culture, it all comes back to the data, and we all know how imperfect the system is at storing data accurately.

So, our identities are defined through self-limiting physiological forces and the arbitrary, biased perceptions of historical culture.

It is commonly known that history is written by the victorious, and that it rhymes with itself. Like the universe around us, "history" is replete with data that will never be recognized. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to re-learn those lost elements of human history. Unfortunately for the liberation of the self, it is to the advantage of the power elite to censor the history of their people.

Mind's are easier to control that way.

if we don't learn of the data we have censored from ourselves, we will never learn the bigger picture.

we will remain puppets on semantic strings.

Token Maddness

Survival Tokens: material objects, usually shiny and metallic or paper with depictions of great ancestral Alpha Males, that represent the ability of a human individual to survive. The term was coined by R.A.W.

Today, Survival Tokens are a menace to modern society. They are required for education, for healthcare, for food and basic subsistence, water, energy, and property.

Americans have sold their freedom to Survival Tokens.

The problem with Survival Tokens is that they are arbitrary, and most of the time, they depreciate (we live in entropy, mind you).

What ever happened to true survival, where a human individual could eat from the land, drink from the spring, and work for a harvest? What ever happened to true survival?

Apparently, it went out with progress.

Today, Survival Tokens typically out weigh common sense, rationalism, ingenuity, and truth. Survival Tokens have intoxicated the masses into believing greatly in imaginary values.

This is a warning to all parents, your children will be slaves, bought and sold with Survival Tokens in a system that will use them, abuse them, and then spit them out into nursing homes where they will hide away until death, the victim of an endangered and broken family unit.

You should know.

It could happen to you...

the value of Mind

The Creative Ones sit in geometric honeycombs, brainstorming the next big hook.

"What can we do to influence the behavior of people, including their cognitive and actionable behaviors, to compel them to exchange their Survival Tokens for our Cultural Artifacts that have nothing to do with survival?". The Creative Ones ponder intently.

Neurological Radiations become Electronic Circuits.

Electrons spin as ideas become Logical Binary Memes.

Production is set in motion, and the Memes take on new virtual life.

This new virtual life is enacted in Real Life, yet recorded for mass experience on other Electron Spinning Machines that convert Light into Matrix-Packaged Logical Binary Memes.

These Matrix-Packaged Logical Binary Memes are recorded on Magnetic Resonance Disks, or Rotating Optical Disks, and exchanged for Hyper-Inflated Survival Tokens.

The Hyper-Inflated Survival Tokens are deposited wthin Bank Accounts, and used by the Creative Ones to purchase extravagant Cultural Artifacts that have nothing to do with actual survival.

Meanwhile, The Matrix-Packaged Logical Binary Meme Disks are sent to powerful Encoded Light Transmission Stations.

These Encoded Light Transmission Stations then re-encode the Matrix-Packaged Logical Binary Memes and transmit them through the air (and space) to be received by billions of smaller Matrix-Packaged Logical Binary Meme Encoded Light Receivers.

These Matrix-Packaged Logical Binary Meme Encoded Light Receivers are then viewed by additional billions of People, who sacrifice their Mind to sit and stare at the Boob Tube.

Your Mind is valuable to someone. Is it valuable to you?

ROOTS

before i go to bed...
I prepare for work...
at work, i solve problems...
more problems than i can count...

"what's wrong with my plant?" someone asks with a decayed branch in their hands...
i tell them.

"how do i grow this?"
i tell them.

"where can I find this plant?"
i tell them.

"i want to become a gardener. where do i start?
i tell them.

if you have a problem with a plant, tell me about it, and I can tell you how to fix it.

a customer calls on the phone, and wants to know if the Texas Olive is edible. I say, "yes it is, but it is intoxicating."

a customer stops by complaining about dandelions and sticky weed in his lawn. I say, "they are edible, and at one time were used by native americans as medicine." the customer decides the broadleaf herbicide is best.

someone discovers that I know about medicinal plants, and they hunger for more information... information that I must break the law to describe.

a shaman never rests...

at home, i watch television programs where reporters, scientists, activists, and politicians outline the problems that face our nation and our globe. I know the answers, because i know plants.

plants are the foundation for all life on earth. when humanity finds a problem, chances are the solution can be found in plants.

it's that simple.

don't believe me? then come with me on this journey. you'll see.

we must return to our roots if we are to save our people.

bingo!

it worked!

strike the right tone, and someone will come a knockin'...

and when they do, you can nail them with the truth.

they'll be so shocked that you're not just another mindless American zombie that they'll actually listen to the truth.

and after listening, they will be changed.

one person at a time...

that's how you steer the flock.

Knight to F3

The pawn has shifted,
the storm draws near.
God rolls the dice, now
blinding all that hear.

The numbers will fall,
the lemmings will cheer
but the victory goes not
with the flinch of fear.

the rain will rush
the wind will tear
large roots, hold true
for truth never wears.

The pawn has shifted
the storm draws near
God has rolled the dice,
igniting all that hear.

The History of Humanity through the Witness of Cannabis (with a slight American bias)- ABRIDGED

12,000 B.C.
Cannabis was just a ubiquitous central Asian weed when it was first domesticated by early hunter-gatherers. These people found it useful as a nutritious seed-oil, and a good nutritional replacement for seafood. These people also used cannabis to make clothing, fibers for rope, paint, fuel for torches, and building materials. These people were also familiar with the healing properties of cannabis; its oil, and pain relieving, circulation enhancing resin. Because cannabis can grow from seed to harvest in three months, early people found it easy to cultivate and breed. Hence, cannabis plants spread across the Eurasian continent like wild fire where it was embraced and propagated by countless Old World populations.

10,000 to 6,000 B.C.
Cannabis becomes one of the first domesticated crops used in intensive agriculture to feed and fashion the earliest cities. At this stage, cannabis as a commodity becomes forever locked into human economies.

2,000
Cannabis as a medicine is archived in legend under Chinese Emperor Shen-Nung. The earliest Chinese medical writings praise cannabis for its universal healing powers.

200 B.C.
Cannabis found many uses for the people of Asia, Africa, Arabia, Europe, and England. It was an important fiber for city folk and sea farers alike, especially in the Mediterranean. Cannabis remained an important medicine to the people of the Old World during this time, although the growth of urban development and economic trade reduced the demand for cannabis food stocks. Cannabis wasn't really considered an "intoxicant" either, because the Old World was replete with more intoxicating substances. Hence, the novelty of a "marijuana high" fell behind that of alcohol, amanita muscara, erogtine, peganum harmala, mandrake, belladonna, etc.

0
Cannabis incense is burned in the chambers of Roman birthing rooms. No doubt, the Romans found good use of the pain relieving, circulation enhancing properties of cannabis smoke. The Scythians did too. A few daring theological scholars have even suggested that cannabis oil, not calamus oil, was the true anointing oil used by rabbitical priest in the Jewish tradition before the time of Christ. This would mean that Jesus Christ himself was anointed with cannabis. We may never know (for reasons seen below)... this secret is between cannabis and God.

400 A.D.
The Roman Empire is in a state of collapse. The perpetrators are religious, gnostic-hippie zealots fueled by a new, cultic religion following the return of their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Emperor Constantine, to stabilize his Empire, establishes Christianity as the sole Roman theology, and wages war on the temples, relics, and people of the old pagan ways.

700 A.D.
A Papal decree from the Elite of the Roman Catholic Church mandates that parishioners and clergy ban cannabis and the witches that use it from God's sovereign territory. Thus, the West's War on Drugs begins. Cannabis cultivators, users, and healers are chased out of society, excommunicated, or worse, burned at the stake. The Church makes clear, only God and the Church can heal.

In Asia, cannabis continues to be an important ethnobotanical resource. Cannabis cultivation becomes highly refined in the Middle East, China, India, and Northern Asia. Exotic foods and "mind-altering" deserts are perfected in Arabian and Indian cuisines. Religious cults flourish under the divination uses of cannabis in every ethnic region and in every mainstream religion. The Middle East becomes a continental center of trade and cultural, intellectual prosperity.

700 - 1400 A.D.
The Dark Ages.
European populations are ruled by theocratic totalitarianism. Cannabis is banned from mainstream society, although rural folk far removed from the reaches of the Church continue to practice the ancient ways of healing, and cannabis cultivation. They are called witches.

War is waged between the Church and the rising tide of Islamic warriors that dispute for control of the Holy Land. Ironically, neither of the sacred texts of these cultures mention cannabis... at all, never mind any moral judgement on its usage. Yet, it came to be that the fundamentalist sects of these two religious super powers banned cannabis use among their constituents.

Hmm, maybe if they partook of Allah's/God's good graces, maybe they wouldn't fight with each other some much... but I digress.

1500 A.D.
The Renaissance.
The power structures of the Church begin to collapse. Population migrations between the Arabian world and the European world cause a re-introduction of cannabis based products into Europe. Exotic foods and medicines reach European populations from Arabian and central Asian producers.

Botanically inclined Monks of the Church have begun documenting the medicinal plants of Europe. Officially recorded plants retain the species classification, OFFICINALIS, as in Salvia officinalis, Mellissa officinalis, etc. Cannabis is not classified this way. It will be later classified by a more scientifically inclined mind as Cannabis sativa (sativa is latin for "useful").

Cannabis paint-oils and fibers become integral with the material explosion of Renaissance artwork (the word "canvas" is derived from the word cannabis). Daring European kings break with the Church's ban on cannabis and begin mandating that farmers grow it to make fiber for naval expansion. Cannabis fiber becomes essential to a strong imperial navy. Europe sets sail, and conquers the world.

1776 A.D.
The Europeans cultivated cannabis on every land they settled on. Cannabis crops escaped cultivation and ran loose around the American continent. However, because of the prohibition of cannabis during the Dark Ages, European and American farmers knew little about the medicinal cultivation of cannabis which requires the removal of all male plants from the females during sexual maturity. For this reason, at the declaration of the new American nation, cannabis was known only as Hemp, the fiber that made boat sails, soldiers uniforms, backpacks, and socks, not to mention the Flag and the paper that the Revolutionaries were fighting for.

Cannabis was an essential commodity to early Americans, and farmers could pay their taxes with the equal value of hemp stock. Cannabis remained an important ethnobotanical resource for people all over the world. This weed was set to take over the Earth.

1850 A.D.
Cannabis remains an important economic crop to Americans, and other nations as well around the globe. In the South, white hemp farmers allow their black slaves to keep a certain portion of their cannabis crops, due to its prolific growth and harvestability. Many slaves buy their freedom through saving and selling hemp stock.

1929 A.D.
Mexican, Chinese, Arabian, and African people reintroduce the "exotic" form of hemp called "hash", "kif", "tea", and "marihuana" into predominately white towns and cities. Ethnic paranoia drives an initial attempt by U.S. Congress to ban "marihuana", but because cannabis medicines frequent American medicine cabinets, the Medical Community rejects, and cannabis is removed from the list of banned drugs that included cocaine, opium, and later, alcohol.

1939 A.D.
Cannabis is frequently used by black jazz musicians, who's new music is infecting young white teenagers and promoting a "non white" lifestyle. Cannabis is most often used by poor people, and America is becoming filled with poor people. The U.S. Congress passes the "Marihuana Tax Act" which doesn't ban cannabis, but just raises the tax on it enough so that poor people and ethnic minorities can't use it legally.

1942 A.D.
The Imperial Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and cut off U.S. supplies of Manilla hemp. The U.S. Department of Agriculture initiates a program entitled "Hemp for Victory" to train American farmers how to grow cannabis to support the war effort. American grown cannabis is used to make sea-faring rope for the U.S. Navy, as well as soldier uniforms, parachute cables, and many other products.

The U.S. won the war, and then effectively banned cannabis cultivation again by maintaining the high tax.

1969 A.D.
The criminal tax rate didn't work. Cannabis use spreads from the ethnic minorities deeper into white territory. Cannabis users are found in College universities expressing profound insights into the nature of political control and human dignity. Things get out of hand, and the U.S. Congress defines Cannabis as an addictive substance with no medicinal value. Cannabis becomes documented as a dangerous drug on par with LSD, cocaine, morphine, and heroine.

Cannabis is officially banished from American society...

or so they thought...

5- 2- 2008 A.D.
Cannabis is America's number one cash crop, generating more dollars than corn, wheat, or cotton.

America leads the world in drug abuse, addiction, mental illness, and the number of incarcerated citizens.

Most Americans believe cannabis is "bad", and they no longer know of its vast industrial, medicinal, or subsistence uses.

Farmers that grow cannabis are defined as criminals.
Sick patients are defined as criminals for using cannabis.
Mentally ill citizens are defined as criminals for abusing cannabis.
Artists and musicians are defined as criminals for using cannabis.
Scientists, doctors, and ministers are defined as criminals for using cannabis.
Teenagers are defined as criminals for abusing cannabis.
Average, honest Americans are defined as criminals for "abusing" cannabis.

Meanwhile, scientists investigating the medicinal properties of cannabis in nations where it is legal have found volumes of evidence to support its legendary healing status.

TOMORROW A.D.
History is ours to write.

The Way of the Shaman

Love is stronger than Hate.
Suffering is met with Healing.
Truth has no boundary.
Sickness is ubiquitous.

The weak are stronger than the strong.
Power is intoxicating.
Pride is ignorance.
Wealth is dead.

This life is most important,
although it is incomplete.
Humanity is a state of mind
that bends to be slave, or free.

The Way is eternal.
The Way is feared by those seeking power.
The Way is in danger,
The Way is elemental.
The Way is a conduit for love.

No one can stop the Way of the Shaman, though many have tried.

The Way is the heritage of our people.

The Way is older than time, and it is the future.

The Way is already here.