<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nursey: JESUS!It's beginning to resemble a GOTH CLUB down there! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> So....what are you waiting for? Put on your best black dress and join us!
Aw, come on! Pimp trusts my judgment! And beside, you look good in black... And, if Little Lamby has fake ID, he is welcome to join us too.
Silence oh wily golden headed beast of prurient means who ~dwelleth~ with his black leather trousered cronies within the filthy sweatful,rotting bowels of Lucifer's truculant nether regions...taking little Rossy to your goth club would be like a lamb to the...GASP!!! [ August 27, 2002: Message edited by: Nursey ]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nursey: Silence oh wily golden headed beast of prurient means who ~dwelleth~ with his black leather trousered cronies within the filthy sweatful,rotting bowels of Lucifer's truculant netherly regions...taking little Rossy to your goth club would be like a lamb to the...GASP!!! [ August 27, 2002: Message edited by: Nursey ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The counter-compliment was well-received, my dear.
GASP!!! Be gone ye fiend of Satan's legions and cast out with ye thy odious demonic visions! [ August 27, 2002: Message edited by: Nursey ]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nursey: GASP!!! Be gone ye fiend of Satan's legions and cast out with ye thy odious demonic visions! [ August 27, 2002: Message edited by: Nursey ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> "He is your little Lamby and you love him so...." No kidding.
Do not believe That is not the lamb of God's girlfriend!!!I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to !Little Rossy! "Ah," says Satan, "I will at least besmirch Rossy's whiteness; I will associate Him with sodomising malefactors and turn loose the stupid rabble upon Him, railing and casting dung into the air." Hold your dung you petulent baying delinquents!Hurl it at...... [ August 27, 2002: Message edited by: Nursey ]
aww nursey, how could I have doubted ur love for me!!!!!!!! I don't need a damn fake Id to go to a club people, Rossy is all man, with a little bit of lamby in him.
and he ain't ever gonna be a lamby with a little bit of man in him... not with demonslayer nursey around.... so eyes off foul stenched hordes of hell
Kevin? Are you there? Speak to me, Kevin!!!Are you THERE!?!!Just do a post - "YES" to let us know! I thought this was quite interesting and in some parts relevant to some of the things i was saying before... The Role of Entheogens in the Creation of The Bible by Nick Sandberg Acknowledgments - The author wishes to thank Winfried Gerbracht for his insights into the chemistry and psychoactivity of the tryptamines. Winfried is currently seeking sponsorship for research into the ibopyrines, a range of synthetic analogs of iboga alkaloids that offer potential for the low-cost treatment of drug and alcohol addiction. Interested parties are asked to contact him by e-mail. The author would like to apologize for the poor quality of some of the drawings in this piece. Introduction In this, provocatively-entitled piece I would like to present some insights that seek to establish the notion that the writers of The Bible may have relied on psychoactive plants to induce the visionary experiences that allowed them to undertake their literary work. Having been interested for some time in both biblical metaphysics and the chemistry of psychoactive drugs, I have often been intrigued by the similarity between the molecular structure of the indole alkaloids, with their characteristic hexagonal and pentagonal rings, and the significance placed on the number "65" in the Qabalistic interpretation of The Bible and related esoterica. In this piece I will therefore be examining an esoteric interpretation of the Old and New Testaments, taken, principally, from Qabalah (usually pronounced "kub-ál-ah"), the doctrine that is the principle source for the majority of the Western esoteric schools of thought.1 I will point out similarities between the symbolic attributes of the number "65" and the characteristic molecular structure of the tryptamines, a range of indole alkaloids characterized by their psychoactive properties. In addition, I will explore the possible significance of tryptamine-induced mystical experiences within a variety of contexts. The idea that The Bible, among other noted religious literature,2 might be symbolically alluding to the use of psychoactive plants in several of its more prominent texts has been covered extensively by other writers.3 However, I hope to go further than other researchers in this field and suggest that the use of psychoactives, at a variety of stages in our physical, cultural, and spiritual evolution, was merely a temporary measure, and one that occurred only prior to the development of a natural means to experience the visionary states of consciousness associated with entheogen usage. I am referring here to the increasingly-recognized existence of a spontaneous psycho-physical transformational process known in the East as "kundalini-awakening." This fascinating and controversial concept is regarded by some Qabalist groups as the means by which mankind proceeds to the final evolutionary state. In this piece I will suggest that both our primate ancestors and human forebears utilized psychoactive plants, at one time or another, as a means of accessing visionary states and that this was necessary in order for our species to develop to the point where such states could be accessible without their use. One problem of producing a work of this nature is that I will be attempting to place within one framework notions from the scientifically-established field of organic chemistry and concepts from the, at best, shadowy world of esoteric belief and practice. It is simply not possible to utilize the same criteria when assessing the source and accuracy of ideas of each. I hope that the reader will appreciate this point and be inclined to look upon this piece with an open mind. It should be regarded, perhaps, more as an interesting introduction to an area about which little has been written rather than an attempt to empirically validate what is, admittedly, a fairly loose hypothesis. Students of esoterica might further like to note that the school of Qabalist thought with which I am principally familiar is that revealed by Dr Paul Foster Case through his organization Builders of the Adytum (BOTA).4 Descent and Return Before introducing any specific material, I will briefly elucidate the fundamental concept at the heart of most esoteric belief systems - that of "Descent and Return." Whilst it is neither necessary to fully understand this concept, nor remotely accept its validity, an appreciation of this notion provides a useful backdrop onto which one may place the various elements of this piece. In the doctrines of Hinduism and Qabalah, which between them represent the principle sources of esoteric wisdom in the East and the West, there exists one key concept around which all others revolve.5 These schools of thought assert that there exists an infinite, unlimited consciousness from which our limited world descends and to which it will eventually return.6,7 In attempting to relate to the reader any notion of what this unlimited consciousness might be like, certain conceptual problems have to be recognized. Language, like the human mind in normal consciousness, is dualistic in nature and cannot therefore deal directly with theoretical concepts of total unity. Indeed, language has only three options when attempting to convey some notion of infinite consciousness. It can relate what it is like, it can relate what it is not like, or it can relate techniques and practices intended to allow the individual to experience it first-hand.8 Here I will make use of the first option and first assign this infinite and unlimited theoretical concept a name - the Void.9 From this Void, this unlimited source, all creation, all space and time, unfolds and, according to these doctrines, to this Void all will return. Whilst the cosmologies of both Hinduism and Qabalah make frequent reference to the descent from and return to the Void, neither deals, in particularly explicit terms, with the actual process of "return," though hints as to the mechanism involved may occasionally be found.10 For this reason I will include my own ideas of how this "return" proceeds in the synopsis of the overall "descent and return" process that now follows. The primal "mind-stuff" of the universe, created by the descent from the Void in the event known to scientists as the "Big Bang," brings about its eventual return by progressively evolving itself into a series of increasingly developed "vessels of consciousness" - living life forms (also minerals). These "vessels of consciousness" are grouped by Qabalah into five ascending levels, or kingdoms - minerals, plants, animals, humans, and "enlightened" humans. These levels are often referred to as the first, second, third, fourth and fifth kingdoms, each with a corresponding level of consciousness - mineral consciousness, plant consciousness, animal consciousness, human (or self-) consciousness, and superconsciousness, (see Figure 1). "Mind-stuff" evolves in this way because to develop consciousness is to transform itself into whatever the conscious entity experiencing it experiences it as. In this school of thought, therefore, a cat, for example, is a creature which transforms "mind-stuff" into animal consciousness, and we, as humans, are creatures that transform "mind-stuff" into hunan consciousness, that is to say, whatever it is that is appearing around us. The human level of consciousness, usually termed "self-consciousness," is the level immediately beneath the highest level of consciousness, known as superconsciousness.11 Superconsciousness is direct experience of the Void - timeless, infinite consciousness. To experience superconsciousness is to transmute "mind-stuff" back into its unlimited source for, as mentioned above, "mind-stuff" becomes whatever it is experienced as being. Throughout the ages, men and women have felt drawn to pursue various physical and spiritual disciplines in an attempt to develop the ability to periodically experience superconsciousness. These disciplines include yogic and tantric techniques, initiatory rituals, and the use of psychoactive plants and herbs, nowadays known as entheogens. Those who have succeeded, after entering superconsciousness, return to self-consciousness for, as yet, insufficient people are capable of entering superconsciousness to cause all creation to irrevocably return to its unlimited source. As time passes, however, so more and more people will develop the ability to experience superconsciousness and one day sufficient number of them will enter the state such that, instead of them returning to self-consciousness afterward, all creation will instead be rapidly driven out of limited existence, and back to the Void. The "return" of limited consciousness to its unlimited source, an event sometimes called "the ascension," will have taken place. Individuals capable of entering the state of superconsciousness are referred to as being "enlightened."12 There is, in fact, a specific psycho-physiological process by which individual humans may develop the ability to enter superconsciousness. It may manifest either spontaneously or through the following of specific practices and is usually known as "kundalini-awakening." An extensive discussion of this fascinating subject, which both Qabalah and Hinduism assert is the means by which humans proceed to the final evolutionary state, is beyond the scope of this piece but the interested reader is referred to the notes section, where my own work on the subject and that of others is referenced.13 'THE VOID' Figure 1 depicts this cycle of "descent and return." The vertical axis relates the level of consciousness and the horizontal, time. As minerals, plants, animals, and humans progressively develop from the primal "mind-stuff" that is their essence, so, simultaneously, evolves consciousness. Note that I have used a non-linear time-scale and that the movement from one level of consciousness to the next occurs, not gradually, but in leaps. According to Qabalah, consciousness is "quantized" - existing only in discreet levels.14 The Bible The Qabalistic interpretation of the Old and New Testaments relates this "descent and return" process via symbolism and metaphor. The Old Testament focuses in particular on the early development of consciousness, from the original "descent" (Genesis), through to the evolution of mankind and the selection of a physical body type which might, at some time in the future, facilitate the experience of superconsciousness. The story of the Israelites, and their symbolic journey out of Egypt in search of the "promised land," is a metaphor for the process by which consciousness develops towards the final state.15 The New Testament explores the same process from a more emotional perspective. It relates symbolically the nature of the inner struggle that the individual on the path toward enlightenment must undergo, affording insights that will help this process unfold in relative comfort.16 Qabalistically, The Bible may be regarded as a literary vehicle that allows the dissemination of esoteric teachings to the few, whilst maintaining an outer appearance of relative mundanity to the many. The metaphysical symbolism of The Bible, like that of its close relative, esoteric Tarot symbolism, may be understood as applying on three distinct but related levels - that of the developing human being (microcosm), that of the developing mankind, world or culture (macrocosm), or that of developing consciousness itself. Qabalah asserts that it is the latter that brings about the existence of both the former that it may proceed. Throughout this piece, I will explore concepts within the context of each of these three levels. Five and Six In creating literature depicting the "descent and return" process, the learned men of Christian and immediate pre-Christian times made use of one symbolic metaphor in particular, that of the "microcosm" and "macrocosm." The "microcosm" was the individual human being, understood as being both a physical, psychological and spiritual entity, and a "point of awareness" or "transmutation," existing within a larger entity - a "macrocosm." This "macrocosm" was the world, mankind, society or culture, essentially any larger body into which the processes of the microcosm could be placed. It was believed that both these entities were brought into existence by developing consciousness as it returned inexorably along its path to the source. An interesting aspect of the microcosm-macrocosm concept relates to the high degree of symbolic parity that was believed to exist between the development of each over time. As mentioned in the previous section, Qabalah asserts that the processes of the microcosm - man - symbolically resemble the processes of the macrocosm - humanity, the world, society or culture. Use of this insight made it possible for the ancients to make predictions about the future of the world by examining the processes at work within man. In esoteric manuscripts, the microcosm and macrocosm are each assigned a number - five for the former, and six for the latter. The numbers 5 and 6 are of central importance in Qabalah. 5 symbolizes the microcosm, Man. The number may be thought of as representing the four elements, earth, water, fire and air, plus the element of spirit, which the ancients believed placed man above the rest of creation. In addition, the number of the senses is five, and those individuals capable of experiencing superconsciousness are referred to in Qabalah as members of the "fifth kingdom," minerals, plants, animals, and "non-enlightened" humans making up the four preceding kingdoms.17 6 symbolizes the world. It is the number of faces of a cube, the Qabalistic symbol for the three dimensions. Many natural processes revolve around the number six and the six-sided benzene ring is at the heart of organic chemistry. The numbers 5 and 6 together usually take the form of "65" in Qabalist and alchemist literature and this number thus symbolizes the movement of man and the world, as products of evolving consciousness, towards the Void. The number 65 is thus a numerical metaphor for the progressive evolution of consciousness. The importance of the number is reflected by its prominence in key esoteric texts. The word "lux" means "light" in Latin and is usually written esoterically as "L.V.X." As Roman numerals, these letters are 50, 5 and 10, which add to give 65. Members of esoteric orders derived from Qabalah use the phrase "In L.V.X." at the conclusion of communications to allude to the common goal that they share. "Light" symbolically means "consciousness" and thus to "enlighten" is to develop consciousness. The word "enlightenment" is used to refer to the state a person enters when he or she has developed the ability to enter superconsciousness. In addition, both modern psychology and Qabalah assert that the individual achieves true maturity through becoming progressively aware of mental processes at work within them of which they were previously unconscious. In the esoteric interpretation of the Old Testament, great prominence is given to the figure of Enoch, who first appears in Genesis 5. Enoch, symbolically or actually, is regarded as the first individual to achieve superconsciousness. The action of him doing so is understood as having "charged" the whole of matter with the presence of superconsciousness, making it possible for future generations to also enter this state. Genesis 5 relates the first ten generations of man, from Adam through to Noah. Enoch is the seventh. It is related that Enoch lived for 65 years and then "walked with God." At this age, he also fathered a son, Methuselah, and then continued to "walk with God" for a further 300 years until his physical death. The knowing reader is alerted to Enoch's immense significance by the presence of the phrase "walking with God," a metaphor for achieving superconsciousness. Enoch's importance is reinforced by the presence of numerous esoteric devices in the text at this point. Enoch lives, in total, for 365 years, a year usually containing 365 days, indicating that something of a "grand cycle" is being completed here. In addition, he is the seventh of ten generations, numbers esoterically associated with completion. Enoch's son, Methuselah, born at the time Enoch achieved superconsciousness, himself lives to a highly symbolic age - 969 years. The number 6 surrounded by two 9's symbolizes the world being drawn toward the completion of the descent and return cycle. It is related that Enoch "walked with God and was not," meaning that, in the superconscious state, time is transcended. Finally, of course, Enoch achieves the final state at the age of 65, the number again symbolizing the movement toward superconsciousness. Thus we can see, from the above examples, that the number 65, as a combination of the numerals 6 and 5, symbolically represents a variety of processes all associated with increasing levels of consciousness or awareness. On one level it can represent the psychological process of individuation, brought about as a person becomes progressively aware of automatic mental processes working within them. On another, it can symbolize the evolution of self-consciousness to superconsciousness, which, in my opinion, the ancients believed would one day bring about the return of all creation to its unlimited source. The Tryptamines The tryptamines are a range of chemical alkaloids that share one common molecular feature - an indole nucleus with either a cyclic or non-cyclic side-chain commencing from the "3" position attached. The indole structure itself is a six-sided "benzene" ring bonded to a five-sided "pyrrole" ring. Likely the most interesting feature of the tryptamines is the well-known ability of many to facilitate so-called "psychedelic" experiences. Most classical hallucinogens" - LSD, psilocybin, DMT, etc - are tryptamines. In addition, some neurotransmitters, substances the body uses to communicate within itself, and related substances, such as serotonin and melatonin, are tryptamines. The molecules below are examples of tryptamines. <A HREF="http://www.fugly.com/ornot/fugly/images/upload/indole.gif" TARGET=_blank>The Indole Ring with positions numbered</A> Tryptamine DMT N,N,dimethyltryptamine Serotonin Psilocybin LSD Integrative Experiences and the Tryptamines The experience of ingesting tryptamines such as LSD or DMT is now well-recognized as bearing certain similarities to the visionary experiences recorded in religious literature.18 Particularly noteworthy are the following aspects of each: - "transcendental" or unitive experiences in which the sense of separation between objects in the visual field, or the coherent individuality of other sensory perceptions, appears to be diminished or entirely absent. - sense of time dilation or non-temporality. - the making conscious of repressed situations from an individual's personal past. These three characteristics, in particular, place the experience of ingesting certain tryptamines strongly within the context of the experiences referred to by the number "65" in Qabalist literature. It is therefore intriguing to note that the molecular structure of these compounds appears to closely, if not fully, relate to the experience of their ingestion via number symbolism, and one might validly ask - is this mere coincidence? It must here be mentioned that it is not the presence of the linked hexagon-pentagon shape alone that seems to bring about the quasi-religious visionary experiences associated with tryptamine ingestion. Instead, it seems that it is a specific modification of this characteristic structure that does the work. Modern neuroscience reveals that hallucinogenic experiences, of the type associated with the ingestion of LSD or DMT, appear to occur as a result of partial agonistic action at the serotonin 2 (5HT-2) receptor. This seems to occur only with indoles where the "2" position (see indole figure above) is occupied by either a hydrogen or methyl group. The presence of larger groups at this position appears to proclude 5HT-2 activity and thus not lead to DMT-type hallucinogenesis. Unfortunately, I have not as yet been able to draw a meaningful association between the molecular structure of compounds capable of creating DMT-type hallucinogenesis, (as opposed to simply indoles themselves), and concepts found in, say, esoteric geometry or astronomy. Perhaps research into the characteristic bond angles in the "3" position side-chains will later reveal some relationship but, for the time being, I will limit myself to drawing the molecular structure-esoteric numerology association on the basis of the indole (hexagon-pentagon) arrangement alone. If we say for the moment that it is not merely coincidence that the link between the structure of psychoactive indoles and Qabalist numerology exists, then a further interesting question comes to light - Is the attribution of these numbers to the Qabalistic "microcosm" and "macrocosm," to some degree, the result of the use of tryptamine-based entheogens by the ancients? Whilst the traditional reasons for these attributions are those listed earlier, there may be room for other perspectives with regard to exactly how and why these numbers came to be selected for so central a symbolic role in the depiction of the evolution of consciousness process found in Qabalah and related doctrines. To examine more deeply this question, one might usefully look at what esoteric schools of thought hold to be true about geometric structures such as the hexagon and pentagon. Qabalah asserts that both the body and the world are originally derived from geometric forms, that the structures of geometry are, in essence, archetypes for the world of form.19 If we assume for a moment that this is so, and that man, the universe, and, therefore, certain psychoactive plants, ultimately, at a higher dimensional level, all share a common origin, how might man likely have come to realize that his heritage was so shared? Contemporary accounts of the experience of ingesting psychoactive compounds frequently relate the spontaneous appearance within the visual field of certain geometric forms, sometimes apparently related to the substance's molecular structure.20 It would seem that this would present one possible route by which the ancients might have come to regard the processes of man and the universe as being related to the number sequence 65. In an attempt to corroborate the central proposition of this thesis a little further, I will now look at some early chapters of the Old Testament, particularly those where the text appears to relate to the ingestion of plant alkaloids. The Journey of the Israelites The biblical book of Exodus, the second book of the Pentateuch, contains an account of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt and their wanderings throughout the desert to Mount Sinai. Symbolically, the book can be understood as relating the personal journey of the spiritually-developing individual from a land of psychic oppression, through a period of confusion and despair, on to the "promised land." In addition, this metaphor can be understood in the context of developing mankind or developing consciousness itself. In Qabalah, the Israelites have no meaningful race significance. They simply symbolize those individuals, from any race background, on the path to achieving enlightenment. The land of Egypt symbolically refers to a state of oppression, particularly psychic oppression.21 Egypt symbolizes negative psychic forces, overt materialism and the corruption of sexual impulses. The flight from Egypt may therefore be understood as being both an individual journey from materialism and negative psychicism and the journey of the collective psyche, or developing consciousness, from the same concepts. Having been led out of Egypt by Moses, the Israelites find themselves travelling through a desert and, as the days pass, become increasingly despondent. The desert is a metaphor for the mental state that the developing individual passes through as he or she begins to lose interest in materialistic pursuits and ego pleasures. Exodus 16 commences with the Israelites voicing their despondency, complaining that it would be better for them to die in Egypt, with bellies full, than here in the desert, starving. This passage then follows: Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. - Exodus 16:4, Authorized Kings James Version. The word translated as "Lord" throughout most of The Bible is, in the original, represented by the Hebrew letters "Yod Heh Vav Heh," sometimes written "Yahveh."22 In Qabalah these letters signify the phrase "That which was, is, and is to come." This phrase refers to the Void, the words relating the Void's non-temporal nature. Throughout much of The Bible, the Void is envisioned as an anthropomorphized "divine teacher" figure - "the Lord." Entering the state of superconsciousness, and thus being freed from temporal and spatial limitations, can allow prophetic insight. Thus, it can be inferred, that Moses has entered a superconscious state and is receiving some form of revelationary insight. The Lord's message is then communicated thus: And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even [evening], then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that ye murmur against us? - Exodus 16:6-7. A little later the text continues: And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. - Exodus 16:10. Thus it would seem that the Israelites have been granted an experience of superconsciousness to sustain them spiritually throughout their desert wanderings. Further, it appears that this experience has been brought about through the action of a divine agency referred to as "bread from heaven." The nature of this "bread from heaven," or "manna," as it is otherwise known, has been speculated upon by various writers, several quite convincingly proposing that manna is, in fact, a psychoactive plant. It has been variously suggested that manna might have been an ergot fungus resembling LSD,23 a psilocybin-containing mushroom,24 or the fly agaric mushroom (active ingredient - muscimol).25 The psychoactive component of the first two of these substances is an tryptamine. Towards the end of Exodus 16, further reference to manna is made, giving indication that its use may only be temporary: And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. - Exodus 16:35 Sustained on their spiritual quest by their use of manna, the Israelites finally reach Mount Sinai. A covenant with God is forged by Moses who receives the Ten Commandments. The story continues in the biblical books of Numbers and Joshua with the Israelites again returning to the wilderness where Moses eventually dies. Moses' death at 120 years of age indicates his enlightened status to Qabalists and others familiar with Gematria, the numerology system used by scholars of biblical Hebrew and Greek. The Bible traditionally ascribes "three score years and ten" to man's lifetime, and the extra fifty Moses achieves identifies him as having achieved superconsciousness via the kundalini-awakening process. Fifty is the number ascribed to the Hebrew letter "nun," which is associated with kundalini-awakening via esoteric Tarot and astrological symbolism.26 The story of the Israelites recommences with their adoption of a new leader, Joshua, "son of Nun." Joshua's appellation identifies him as also being enlightened and thus capable of entering the state of superconsciousness. Joshua leads the Israelites across the River Jordan and into the land of Canaan. Metaphorically, the crossing of the Jordan and the spending of the passover in Canaan may be considered as symbolizing the acts by which the individual becomes capable of accessing superconscious states without the aid of entheogens. Joshua chapter 5 records: For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: unto whom the Lord sware that he would not shew them the land, which the Lord sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey...... ..........And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. - Joshua 5:6, 10-13. This passage signifies that the Israelites remained in their metaphorical wilderness until they had been purged of all impure drives. It then relates that the manna that had been given to them in the wilderness ceased and they were fed on the fruit of the land of Canaan. The underlying image left by these apparent references to the temporary use of psychoactive substances by the Israelites is that of plant alkaloids being used to sustain the individual on a spiritual path until mental and physical development has sufficiently proceeded for their use to be unnecessary. The Road to Infinity To examine more deeply what the Israelites' temporary use of entheogens may signify, I will look briefly at what esoteric schools believe takes place in the brain to allow the initiate to experience superconsciousness without the use of drugs. I will then examine the symbology of this process within the wider contexts of both the evolutionary and cultural development of man. It is recorded in Qabalist and alchemist literature that access to superconsciousness, without the use of drugs, is made possible by slight changes in the organs of the brain. In particular, it is believed that changes in the chemistry the pineal gland occur during the kundalini-awakening process and that this in some way facilitates both greater intuition and superconscious experiences.27,28 The completion of the necessary changes in the chemistry of the pineal is symbolized, in the story of the Israelites, by the action of them crossing the River Jordan and spending the passover in Canaan. From this moment on they need no longer rely on the use of entheogens to gain access to superconscious states, these states can be acquired without chemical assistance. They have become enlightened. In the wider context of developing human culture, the imagery of the text seems to indicate that the use of entheogens to facilitate access to superconscious states in pre-Christian times may have been necessary for the human brain was insufficiently developed for these states to be otherwise attainable. It would be my contention that those who used entheogens in such a way during this period gained such a level of knowledge of their own true nature and destiny that they were empowered to "do the work of the Lord" (infinite consciousness) and create cultural structures that would serve to direct mankind's evolution, making it possible for future generations to eventually access superconsciousness without the use of drugs. Whilst this might be considered a somewhat controversial concept by some, my personal belief is that a valid case can be made to demonstrate that orthodox Christianity is a cultural vehicle created to achieve just such a purpose. By depriving believers of unitive experiences, through the application of restrictive moral and cultural practices, the physical body of Christian populations is slowly driven by evolution to attempt to facilitate these same experiences through minor changes in brain anatomy. The validity of this principle is symbolically alluded to in The Bible, again in the story of the Israelites. Having reached Mount Sinai, after many years in the wilderness, Moses receives from the "Lord" a series of commandments, strict moral platitudes by which his followers must live. Morally sustained in this manner, the Israelites return to the wilderness for another period of 40 years before finally crossing the Jordan and entering Canaan, the "promised land."29 Moving to the evolutionary context, or the wider framework of developing consciousness, it would be my belief that the biblical tale recounted above implies that the use of psychoactive substances by our primate ancestors may have led to the evolution of human beings, and thus self consciousness. 'DESCENT AND RETURN' Figure 2 depicts the cycle (drawn anticlockwise) of "descent and return" through the various stages in the development of consciousness - mineral, plant, animal, and human. Note that time is again non-linear. From this, principally Qabalistic perspective, it can be seen that the use of entheogens appears at three stages in the development of consciousness, on each occasion to apparently "bootstrap" the evolving "mind-stuff" to a new level of development. The entheogen can perhaps be seen as an emissary of the Void, infinite consciousness. The use of entheogens appears to occur at crucial points in our physical and cultural evolution, directing our development such that a return to infinite consciousness can eventually take place. Conclusions The fundamental hypothesis of this piece is that tryptamines, in plant form, are, if not the source, then very likely the channel by which much of The Bible has been created. This is based, in part, on two observations developed from examining the actual text. Firstly, that the text reveals, in symbolic form, such specific details about the processes by which creation came into being, and how this limited consciousness seeks to return to its source, that it demonstrates a level of knowledge of man's true nature and destiny that could only have been gained by someone who had achieved superconsciousness, a state likely inaccessible at the time of The Bible's writing without the use of drugs. Secondly, that the tale of the Israelites temporary use of "manna," in the time of their flight from Egypt, symbolically relates this very notion, and thus may be considered a corroboration of the hypothesis placed within the text itself. (One might even say that the overt symbolism of the story of the Israelites almost anticipates The Bible's deeper examination in times far removed from its writing.) Moving away from the actual text, the hypothesis is further strengthened, in my opinion, by the observation that the molecular structure of the tryptamines, to some degree, places them symbolically within The Bible. Numerological symbolism drawn from Qabalah, (the number system used throughout The Bible to indicate or reinforce hidden meanings30) identifies the number 65 as being related to the process of developing consciousness, whether through access to superconsciousness or by the revealing of mental processes at work within the individual of which he or she was previously unaware. Both these functions are performed by certain tryptamines, drugs which contain the characteristic indole rings. It should here be mentioned that it is not the indole structure alone that seems to facilitate the necessary shift in consciousness. Instead it is a slight development of it, the meaning of which I am not currently able to place within the context of Qabalist numerology or astronomy. In attempting to demonstrate the principle hypothesis, two intriguing secondary hypotheses come to light. The placing of the Israelites temporary use of "manna" within the wider symbolic contexts of both the macrocosm and developing consciousness tends to indicate that the use of entheogens may have occurred at two key points in our physical and cultural evolution. Firstly, as a means by which the primates, via the ingestion of plant psychoactives, were led along the evolutionary path to becoming humans and animal consciousness could thus develop into self-consciousness. Secondly, as a means by which the Christian religion, with its imposing moral framework, came into being as a means to bring about evolutionary changes in brain anatomy as repeated generations of individuals were drawn, at a subconscious level, to try and facilitate the unitive experiences denied them by their culture. It would be my contention that these changes will one day make superconscious experiences available to sufficient people to bring about the "ascension" of all creation. Again, recognition of this process as a valid means to bring about the return of our limited world to its infinite source, should it be so, could, in my opinion, only have been gained by the ancients through drug-assisted access to superconscious states. Before concluding this piece I will briefly mention that it may be the case for many readers that the nature of what I contend The Bible to be about is both so revelatory and contentious that they find the demonstration of the principle hypothesis being swamped in emotive criticisms of parts of the evidence. In attempting to address this problem, I will briefly examine some of the points made, commencing with those that are likely to be regarded as most contentious. The notion that limited consciousness will return to its unlimited source via the action of a threshold number of individuals capable of entering superconsciousness is likely to be regarded as contentious by many. This notion is essentially my own. I have, thus far, been unable to locate any direct and explicit literary source (this is not to state that the same does not exist), though it would be my contention that the symbols of both the esoteric Tarot and the Qabalist interpretation of the Old and New Testaments strongly allude to the veracity of this notion (see note 10). In addition, I believe that when some of the tenets of Ilya Prigogine's theory of "dissipative structures" are symbolically placed in the context of developing limited consciousness, this idea is reinforced. Valid or not, this notion, as I pointed out earlier, is not in itself central to the principle hypothesis of this piece. The idea of limited consciousness descending from and returning to a "Void" of unlimited being is, I submit, most definitely a cornerstone of Qabalistic and Vedantic thought, though these doctrines do not, however, to the best of my knowledge, elucidate the means by which the "return" takes place. Again, this notion is not in itself central to the hypothesis. A more important area of likely contention relates to the actual meaning of the various texts and stories of The Bible itself. The interpretation I have drawn upon here will no doubt be questioned by many. Evidence as to it being at least one valid interpretation might be drawn from reading the works of various Western esotericists, notably those of Dr Paul Foster Case, an early twentieth century US Qabalist who founded the organization, Builders of the Adytum, in Los Angeles in the twenties,31 James Morgan Pryse, a Theosophist writing around the turn of the twentieth century,32 and Thomas Troward, a metaphysicist and English High Commissioner of the Indian province of the Punjab of around the same era.33 In addition, several Hindu sages, notably Swami Sri Yukteswar,34 Paramahansa Yogananda,35 and Osho,36 formerly the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh have, at times, elucidated their beliefs of the true meaning of The Bible. That the numbers "5" and "6" represent the Qabalistic or alchemistic "Microcosm" and "Macrocosm," and that the nature and molecular structure of the tryptamines are as I have depicted them, is, in my opinion, fully established. I will however mention that the indoles which are psychoactive are usually those that bear the characteristic "tryptamine" side-chain, indicating that it is not the indole structure alone which facilitates hallucinogenesis but instead a certain, slight, specific modification of it. In conclusion, I would like to state that I would not regard this piece as containing an entirely adequate validation of its central hypothesis. Even if it were to be unequivocally true, there exists, in my opinion, simply an inadequate amount of pre-existent literature for an empirically valid case to be made. I hope instead that this article has proved stimulating and might perhaps draw the interested reader into a deeper study of these topics. [ September 06, 2002: Message edited by: Nursey ]
Aww,poor tommy,i had a feeling that he might have a seizure or something when he saw so many words put together in one post.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tommy710: NURSEY YOU ARE ONE STUPID BITCH.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> you weren't fascinated and captivated? I think porn, racism, and jokes involving bodily functions should be shunned from Fugly in place of long ass quotes on social issues...oh wait this is FUGLY, what the fuck was she thinking?
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Goddess Yummy: you weren't fascinated and captivated? I think porn, racism, and jokes involving bodily functions should be shunned from Fugly in place of long ass quotes on social issues...oh wait this is FUGLY, what the fuck was she thinking?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> No-that wasn't on 'social issues'...this was...dumb bitch.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ross perot: my eyes hurt now<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Sorry Rossy!Here-have a look at
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nursey: No-that wasn't on 'social issues'...this was...dumb bitch. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> how else would you sum it up in one word, stupid whore? Have you not noted that for like two fucking days it was you and Ross and Pimp dribbling all over each other and noone else posting and that BS like this 6 mile long post have no place on Fugly? No one is going to read the whole thing and probably just rolled their eyes when they saw it. Why do you want to bore everyone into leaving again? As I suggested before if you feel the need to be an elitist then a PUBLIC forum is not the place to be.
