The secrets of the universe lie hidden in the details of our experience. Look for them! – Pete
Norske to Worldchangeguy (Pete), Post: Angelical Atheism, on Thom Hartmann’s Message Board:
By any chance did you partake of LSD or Magic Mushrooms in your youth?
Fair question! After reading Inside Ivy several years ago, my daughter, Crystal, asked me if I was on drugs when I had my Ivy experience. The answer is, no. However, I have taken LSD four times and smoked marijuana, that didn’t do more than make me dizzy, three times in my life. While in the Air Force (1959-1964), after basic training, I drank alcohol almost every day as a “social lubricant”. In truth, it was a crutch that provided me with relief from habitual fears and inhibitions. Just before leaving the Air Force, I had a revelation while lying on the ground under the stars. I decided to go back to school even though I hated it (I hated authority), and I decided to end my dependence on alcohol before it destroyed me. If people couldn’t accept me for who I was, I’d live with it.
Insight and Laughter on LSD
The first time I took LSD was early 1974. We were living in San Francisco at the time and a friend who lived with us for a while asked if I had ever tried LSD. I said, no. He then asked me if I wanted to try some. Having read accounts of LSD experiences in school made me curious so I said, yes.
Since it was my first time, he broke a small piece off a transparent square (usually considered a single dose) of Window Pane, pure LSD. It took about a half hour for the drug to have an effect on me. Sitting quietly, I began to notice that as I thought about something, an idea or concept, I could see it from almost an infinite number of angles or viewpoints. I could even get inside ideas and see them from the inside out. Exploring this newfound ability, I discovered I could travel from one idea to another as if there were no separation between them. Without realizing it, I was seeing the oneness of everything. Unlike my normal state of consciousness, nothing was truly separate and nothing was closed to question and understanding.
As my euphoric bliss grew, I began to find humor in everything. I started laughing out loud and my wife, Sandra, who had refused to take LSD, asked me why I was laughing. Since I had already shared with her most of the experiences I was now laughing about, I began to share my thoughts with her. Infected by my humor, she began to laugh too. Before long we were both laughing so hard our guts ached. In bed, I continued to share my thoughts with her and point out what was so funny about them. I was seeing things in ways that made it impossible not to laugh. Finally, as the effects of the LSD wore off and exhaustion claimed us, we fell asleep.
Shape Shifting on LSD
In late 1980, I took LSD for the second time. This time it was in the form of a small white tablet. When it kicked in I stripped naked and stood in front of the bathroom mirror. It was daytime and I was home alone. On impulse, I began to Tone, saying, ohm, out loud. Immediately, ornate tattoos began to appear on my neck, starting at the top and growing down. As they spread over my shoulders and started down my chest, I became uncomfortable as I began to think that I might have been an Aztec Priest in another lifetime, one who participated in human sacrifice. At the thought of seeing myself actually kill someone so I could cut out their heart, I grew nauseous. When the tattoos reached the bottom of my rib cage they stopped growing and turned into feathers. I was now half man and half bird.
I marveled at this unique form until another impulse (?) urged me to raise the pitch of my Tone. When I did, my body transformed into that of a Minotaur. I was now half man and half bull. Not particularly pleased with this form, I intentionally raised the pitch of my Tone again and became a Centaur. I really liked this form and turned sideways to see it better in the mirror. My centaur arms and torso were shorter than my human arms and torso but much more muscular. My blond centaur hair hugged my scalp in tight ringlets. Excitedly, I wiggled my rear and stamped my hooves repeatedly while flexing the muscles in my centaur arms and shoulders. Both my human and centaur bodies were visible in the mirror.
Thinking about this experience later I wondered what would make it possible for me to have an experience like this. The best idea I could come up with was cellular memory. I thought, by toning, I was able to access and control the expression of my body’s cellular memory, cellular memories of other lifetimes in other forms. Over the course of the next two years I took the last two tablets of LSD but nothing of significance happened. I guess I had learned everything I wanted to learn from drug-induced, altered states of consciousness.
Channeling Energy and Seeing Transformations on Marijuana
I smoked marijuana twice while we lived in San Francisco and once in Santa Rosa (we moved to Santa Rosa in 1980). A friend from Sonoma County gave me three joints while visiting me in San Francisco. It was called Acapulco Gold and he said it was really good stuff. By that I mean it was supposed to provide me with heightened sensory awareness and hallucinatory experiences. The first time I tried it I smoked two joints back to back. Almost instantly it kicked in and, on impulse, I began to send energy to Sandra through the palms of my hands. She sat at the other end of the couch from me and had refused my offer to share a joint with me.
At that time in my life I meditated regularly and had developed the habit of channeling energy through the palms of my hands as they rested palm up on my lap. I would visualize a continuous loop of energy rising out of my hands and going down through the top of my head before flowing down my arms and out through my hands again. It was part experiment and part practice in control. I discovered this practice had a soothing affect on me.
The energy coming out of my hands felt like solid columns and as I directed energy over Sandra’s body it almost felt like I was touching her skin. After several minutes she began to fidget and look uncomfortable. Suddenly, she stood up and announced she was going to bed. We said good night and she left.
Alone, with no one to talk to except Cindy, our hamster in the cage at the end of the couch, I focused my attention on the lamp sitting on the nearby table. As I looked at it, it flew up into the air and started flipping end over end while transforming itself into other objects, including a glass ashtray. Several minutes later, my daughter, Crystal, came downstairs to give me a goodnight kiss. As she walked away, just before she disappeared around the corner of the hallway wall, she turned into a bright golden ball of light.
Skin Sensing on Marijuana
The next day, I asked Sandra why she left so abruptly. She said she could feel the energy I was directing at her and it scared her. A few nights later I smoked the last of the three joints. For some reason I decided to move my chair into the middle of the living room directly off the end of the hallway. The walls in our townhouse were white so I had installed a red light bulb in the hallway for effect. After smoking my joint I closed my eyes and started to meditate. Noticing that I could see the red glow from the hallway light, I shut my eyelids tighter. I could still see the red glow of the hallway light. After more attempts to block out the red light, I was forced to come to the conclusion that I was seeing it through my skin!
Years later, I read a magazine article about an elementary school teacher in South America who conducted experiments with his students. Blindfolded, they would run their hands over images of colorful ads in magazines selected by the teacher and then draw pictures of what they had seen with their hands. According to the article, test results were amazingly accurate. It was evident the students were seeing objects through their skin, the teacher concluded. A quick Google search turned up a website article entitled: Seeing Through the Skin, which describes a study of skin viewing being conducted by Prof. Leonid Yaroslavsky at Tel Aviv University, in Israel. You can visit the website by clicking on the link above.
Chest Cavity Blues – A Role for Marijuana in Therapy?
My final experience with marijuana came in the Summer of 1981. One of our magazine subscribers, C, from Pennsylvania, came to visit us for several days. I can’t remember whether it had anything to do with the fact I had missed publishing deadlines or not.
At the time, I was depressed and suffering from psoriatic or roving arthritis. Joints all over my body, including the toes and bones of my right foot, were swollen and sore. For a whole year I limped around with the middle finger of my left hand locked in a straight position. Whenever I closed my hand, it looked like I was giving someone the finger. When C realized I was depressed, she asked me if I wanted to share a joint with her. Surprised by her request, I said, no. When she asked if she could smoke one, I said, yes.
The next day as Sandra, C and I sat around the kitchen table discussing different metaphysical concepts and magazine articles; I told her we were thinking about discontinuing Coordinate Point. She said she expected as much and again asked me if I wanted to share a joint with her. Since the cat was out of the bag about the magazine and I felt even more depressed, I said, okay.
After a couple of hits (Sandra refused to partake), C started asking me questions. She wanted to know how I felt about myself and the magazine. Even though her questions seemed really personal, I decided to go along for the ride. Suddenly I was Ralph Bellamy (the actor who was still alive at the time) talking with that distinct gravely voice of his. I was telling C, I’m tired and I don’t want to do this anymore (publish the magazine). I’ve worked long enough and hard enough in my life; all I want to do is retire and be left alone.
As Ralph continued to complain to C, another part of me shifted focus, materializing as a shaft of light in the middle of a hollow chest cavity (my own?). Jutting out from the chest walls around me were shadow boxes, which reminded me of the Hollywood Squares show on television. Each contained an old person (I was 39 years old at the time). Some people sat against the side wall of their box while others faced straight out with their legs dangling over the edge. Some of the women wore short cotton summer dresses with their nylon stockings rolled down around their ankles while others wore bathrobes and muumuus. The men were in retirement-home garb too. Some wore bathrobes and others wore pajamas or sweats. Some people looked like they were suffering from strokes while others appeared to be suffering from dementia. Many were drooling. Most looked distant, as they waited to die. They looked tired, done with life. Did this scene, these people, represent the state of my psyche?
Numb with shock, I continued to rotate and absorb the full impact of this depressing scene. On each turn, I began to notice a dark shadowy figure moving back and forth behind the rear wall of my chest cavity. His large hands rested against my chest cavity wall as he moved his head back and forth from one side of my backbone to the other. He wanted to see inside. As I continued to observe him, the back wall of my chest cavity grew less opaque. Finally, it revealed a large, powerful young man who reminded me of the comic book character, Hulk. More than see inside, he wanted to get inside. Before leaving this vision, I popped outside my chest cavity to help him get in.
Summoned back outside at this point, Ralph is just finishing up his rant. The effect of the marijuana was wearing off and my heightened sense of awareness was fading. Despite Ralph’s depressing mood and the nursing home state of my psyche, I began to feel a glimmer of hope. Something inside me was changing.
Although I suspect C was performing therapy on me, I didn’t ask her if it was intentional or spontaneous. Whatever it was, it gave me insight into my current situation and hope for the future. At this time in my life, both physically and mentally, I was in terrible shape. After C left for the airport later in the day, I realized I didn’t know much about her other than she emigrated from Germany and since moving to the United States, she had lived in Florida and Pennsylvania.
The next morning, after Sandra and the kids left for work and school, my thoughts returned to the amazing experience of the day before. In my imagination, I rejoined the powerful young man behind my backbone as he struggled to break into my chest cavity/psyche. Together, we broke through, which visibly disturbed the old people. Before I knew what was happening, the young man grew much larger and in one swift motion raised his arms, sweeping away every last one of the old people.
Just like that it was the dawning of a new day. I had a new canvas to write on! I decided to stop publishing my money-losing magazine and get a regular job. I knew that if I wanted to be healthy and live a long life, I was going to have to change my attitude, exercise regularly and improve my diet. I would just have to do my idealistic stuff in my spare time. Right now, I had an economic future to think about.
For days and weeks afterward, whenever I was at home alone, I would flex my muscles like a body builder and growl with the energy and power of the Hulk. I knew this was my road back to health and happiness in life. Thirty years later I still exercise regularly and eat well, not because I’m afraid of dying but because I love looking good and feeling great! I also do it because I love my family and this world, and think I still have more to contribute.
Even though I’m sharing my drug-related experiences with you, I don’t advocate their use. In many cases they’re considered illegal. Personally, I prefer a clear mind when I explore the nature of my own consciousness. It makes me a better observer. In fact, my most profound experiences in altered states happen when my mind is clearest. Openness, fearlessness and curiosity also play a vital role in experiencing altered states of consciousness.
Many of us have been convinced that looking inward on our own is dangerous. It is not if we refuse to be frightened by it. Like everything else, it’s best to start with baby steps. When we really want to know something it’s as if the entire universe cooperates in making it happen. In other words, we get what we concentrate on whether it’s by design or default. There are no accidents so it’s up to us to be clear on what we want.
- Pete, http://realtalkworld.com
YouTube has a series of videos put together by Dean Radin. (Short Bio: Dean Radin, PhD, is Senior Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA.) He concludes that between discoveries in Quantum Physics and personal experience, many academics are coming to believe in the psychic nature of mankind.
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
We create our own reality from what we choose to believe about ourselves, and the world around us.
If we do not CONSCIOUSLY choose our own beliefs, we UNconsciously absorb them from our surroundings.
How you define yourself, and the world around you, forms your intent, which, in turn, forms your reality. - Seth
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