Underground, The Julian Assange Story

Background:

April 4 2013 a special screening of Underground, The Julian Assange Story was presented at the Palace Cinemas, Byron Bay New South Wales. This film was originally made, on commission, by Robert Connolly for Australian commercial television Channel 10 to be subsequently broadcast nationally and viewed by over 1.5 million people.

Robert Connolly is a politically conscious film director, producer and screenwriter based in Melbourne, Australia. He is best known as the director and writer of the feature films Balibo, Three Dollars and The Bank, and the producer of the high-profile Australian films Romulus My Father and The Boys. These are all highly recommended social and political issue films of a progressive nature and artistic quality that challenge the official status quo and sometimes censored versions of recent Australian events.

The Byron Bay screening was held in the largest cinema at the Palace Multiplex to a full house. It was presented as part of a series of special events being held across the country offered by the director with cast and crew in Q&A sessions with audience following the film. On this occasion Director Robert Connolly, Christine Assange (Julian’s mother and a life long political activist), actor Alex Williams (who played Julian Assange in his first role after completing acting school) were available. There was also WikiLeaks party spokesperson Sam Castro who provided information on the launch of the new Wikileaks political party and Julian’s run for a Federal Senate seat in Victoria. Following the event, everyone who attended was also given a CD ROM containing Production images, video featurettes, the film play, a chapter from the book the screen play was based on (Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electric Frontier) and a hyperlink to a directors commentary:

The Film:

Underground, The Julian Assange Story is a “coming of age story”, a historical “bio-picture” and “thriller” all roller into one very watchable and engrossing film. The past collaborations of the Director/ Screen Writer, DOP and Production Designers etc al show a skillful approach, common vision and passion in recreating a specific time and place and the emergence of a singular mind and genius from obscurity into global peace activist.

Regardless of fact that Underground, The Julian Assange Story was made for commercial TV this film looks great. The flow and continuity, from one scene to another, never betrays any “hooks” for the presence of the original “commercial breaks”. Indeed the look and feel of the film is excellent, drawing the viewer into an analog world (not so long ago) on the cusp of a coming digital age. 

We are immediately in Australia 1989 with a then 17 year old Julian Assange remembering a crucial family turning point from ten years before. This opening scene, like others in the film, links various themes from the adult Julian Assange public life, that people will be aware of (secrecy, running, hiding, social and political conundrums, charisma, sexuality, idealism etc.) with the adolescent Julian riding on a train. The motion of the train and sound design roll us into a dark and chaotic setting for the Assange family (single mum and two sons) that brings up questions and immediately engages the viewer. From here the fringe world of precarious living, political protest and activism, the beginnings of computer “hacking” in the telephone mode pre-internet era come alive and take shape to inform the accelerating narrative. In the tradition of all good suspense, cop and robbers (hacker) movies its style and tempo raise the risks rapidly as the events unfold.

Key to the believability of this film is its attention to the detail of the artifacts and settings of late 80’s Melbourne, with its punk attitudes and music centering around flea market computer swap meets and the telephone and computing gear of the time. The movie illustrates beautifully just how far and fast we have all come in 25 years by our conversion from the analog world into digital computers/gadgets and the internet (which still had not been invented at the time of the story). The star of the show could be Julian’s Commodore 64 computer, seen in use along with similar vintage machines, dot matrix printers, and a thick as a brick analog mobile phone the cops struggle to employ. The humor in this movie is dry, ironic and very Australian.

The Event

Over three hundred people attended in a mixed crowd of all ages. As there was no reserved seating, people cued early, sharing a growing atmosphere of pleasant anticipation. The local Independent newspaper The Echo along with the film making community of ScreenWorks were in obvious presence. It was a diverse crowd generating a sense of excitement as a self selected group of people coming together to support concepts of truth and freedom inspired by a man they had never met, but only heard of; Julian Assange. Among the crowd was a local character in an Anonymous mask, holding a homemade cardboard sign, who contributed another amusing theatrical aspect to the evening.

The Q&A session following the film was informed and interesting. The most popular question (the one that many present would have wished to asked but wouldn’t) came from a young boy: “Mrs Assange, what was it like to live with Julian when he was growing up?” Christine gave a parents answer by asking first “When?… How old are you?”  The boy replied eleven. “Oh well, he was a beautiful boy with big eyes who was always asking ‘Why?’ questions … We had many long conversation about the Why of the world”

Other information came forth concerning Julian’s health and spirits in light of the human rights politics of his asylum status at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The formation of the Wikileaks Party of Australia with the strategy and intention for Julian to stand for the Federal Senate seat in Victoria. What winning it could achieve and what it could also mean for Australian politics. Interesting comments and observations came from Director Robert Connolly on the making of the film. There were also personal reflections from the young actor, Alex Williams on his playing Julian Assange by forgetting what he knew about the man and learning to code on a “Commodore 64” to understand how his character viewed the world in part.

Personal Reactions:

I don’t get out much, for my own reasons, and usually don’t expect much when I do. This evenings event however was a pleasant exception as would be obvious from the above comments. Two important aspects remain with me:

Firstly are many questions concerning the fate of Julian Assange. Given the enemies he has made of the global “command and control” powers, regardless the sexual allegation charges made by Swedish prosecutors and / or if he becomes an Australian Senator. It seems he could likely be a “dead man walking” unless global public opinion and respect for truth in journalism can assist him to walk free into plain sight and continue his work. Julian has stirred up a deadly hornets nest and, like many other former 20^th C cultural heroes have proved, is in grave danger. If we cannot protect Julian how can we expect to protect ourselves?

The other, equally important, feeling I take from this screening/ event was by being in the presence of Julian’s mother Christine. A primary and fundamental link was empathically established, sealing my appreciation for this man and his family, as being much like many other friends and collogues, in being and  becoming advocates for truth and justice for all peoples in opposing corporate military secrecy and totalitarian agendas. Seeing and hearing the mother of this novel human~being who has stood out from the crowd to ask the world “why does the emperor have no clothes (sic)”. Appreciating this loving, stressed and flummoxed mother of such a crazy brave holy fool. A modern Parsifal who would dare to ask the forbidden questions, seize the power available and to then tell the world of the “big controllers” secrets.

In the end - IT IS (only) US (not “them”) - who will make the difference and find new ways toward justice, opportunity, prosperity and freedom now and in the future.

At Exodus: Stories, Vision & Direction

At Exodus:
Stories, Vision & Direction

A month ago we found ourselves, once again, turning west and exiting home territory for the local psychedelic, trance dance, arts festival known as Exodus. It was our fourth consecutive year. Each has been more interesting and enjoyable than the last; and the kids love IT. The event is a homemade exploration of art, community and post psychedelic consciousness that flourishes deep in the bush of Northern NSW. The children love to attend and beg each year to return because the adults are happy and relaxed while camping in the bush and music plays 24 hours a day. Also, there are the regular, surprising, outbreaks of artistic creativity that blossom in an increasing crescendo over three days. Exodus can be an experience that defines freedom and delight for the youngsters, and the many young at heart who attend its call.

It is, in part, a family affair with a number of the children’s school friends attending with their parents; who bring along bikes for the youngsters to zoom around the festival site on and explore the beautiful forest it is set in. Oh, and the food is great, both in camp and out on the midway; which specializes in excellent ethnic cuisine, as well as the usual hamburgers, hotdogs and other yummy offerings like gourmet baked potatoes.

Exodus is a collective vision of the possible, on a cultural edge, where anything goes, within an environment of tolerance and freedom. Nobody gets hurt and the rubbish gets picked up. The local Aboriginal mob are its hosts and a modern form of ceremonial and customary law sets the tone to the opening and closing ceremonies and a daily call to family, service and cultural solidarity. If you should like to experience a taste of Reconciliation and progressive cross-cultural integration in Australia than Exodus could be a nice way to start.

Now, this of course, is all very ideal but temporary and it does have some bumpy bits in being non-funded and homemade; existing mostly by an informal organization of artistic alliances. It is never known from year to year if Exodus will arise again from the ashes of the previous effort. Some how it does. This year saw alcohol arrive for the first time in a noticeable fashion with a large influx of 20 something kids intent on getting as loaded as possible as quickly as conceivable. This novelty was tolerated in true hippy “live and let live” fashion, as the majority of the festival attendees flowed around their childish antics and foul mouth attempts at communication with each other. While sad to observe, first hand, the excesses and confusion of generation Z+, they successfully blew themselves out in about 24 hours. Having experienced no true resistance or judgment to their sorry behaviors they simply went unconscious or left before the festival had gotten into full swing. As usual, at Exodus, very pure and lovingly crafted psychotropic substances ruled and the collective mindset expanded into an ever more mellow and transformative space. So IT goes.

So, with this contextual background in place we can come to the point, which is to share with you an exciting visionary experience of the direction in which such bold and experimental arts festivals can point. Indeed, it is a spiritual experience, in a shamanic sense, that is the culmination of many peoples’ vision and honest efforts at a co-creative expression of the future possibilities of human consciousness and collective integration; within a (however temporary) self selected community. IT surprised as well as delighted me to walk within this possible world for a few hours and I feel duty bound to share this expansive prospect with those willing to listen and entertain ITS healing potential and resonance.

One of the ironic facets of Exodus is its temporary nature. It is like a wild orchid that blooms in the forest for a few hours and then fades and disappears. You have to catch IT in action because the experience is alive and fleeting; like a cloud formation parting to reveal a glorious rainbow of pure delight before reforming and hiding the divine rays of light that make it possible. ITS like that …

The third and final day saw many people, lounging and swimming, in a deep, wild, river gorge about a mile from the main festival site. A few hundred humans of all ages and types experiencing wet, naked, sunlight delight on a hot mid summers’ day. IT was divine and bucolic and beautiful and sane. Nothing like what the dominate culture would expect or project in its sleazy fascinations and perversions of natural innocence and beauty. Pregnant ladies and old men, stunning maidens and ripening crones, children and babies, cultural warriors and wannabe Sadhus all mixed together with moms and dads in the goddess river enjoying an expansive joy of BEING IT.

This unplanned and deeply human experience of togetherness set the tone for the final evenings closing ceremony and dance party conclusion. I could share a number of insights on how this evening progressed musically and culturally but its time to get to the main magical revelation and allow its importance to flow. Words are a poor substitute for the experience that follows, yet, give your imagination permission to flower as I make an attempt to describe what my partner and I witnessed.

There were two stages at the festival, separated by 200 meters, and connected by a path that led down a hill, across a dam wall and up the other side. The Main stage had just closed after a beautiful set by a local band “Mystic Beats” (highly recommended) and a number of us were slowly migrating under a gorgeous Cancer Moon to the Trace Stage on the far hill. Along the way, as a kind of gate way, we came to a recently erected art installation (hadn’t been there two hours before) that consisted of a 10 meter high tripod from which hung two large mirror balls, one atop the other to form a 3D figure 8 (Infinity). To this was attached a wind catcher to help it slowly spin in the evening breeze. This mirror ball configuration was lit by a black light. The effect/ illusion created was of a large spiral swirl of blue stars upon the ground, an illuminated pathway, that also reflected off the light colored clothing of those who walked beneath it. It was a moving, swirling image of the Milky Way Galaxy; that could be traveled upon and play with while moving to the techno music coming from atop the hill 150 meters distant. Now, this was surprising, pleasing and pretty fun stuff; but actually, just a warm up for what was to come.

Processing down the hill and out across the dam wall there was, to the right, a large, still pond of water; complete with lotus flowers and crocking frogs. This mill pond then backed onto a big hill covered in mature Gum Trees. The Full Moon was just rising from behind the hilltop, casting a soft diffuse light upon the pond below. Along the shore, and up into the trees, were numerous paper lanterns and art installations, lit by candles and LED lights and surrounding a large central lavender Star; a Merkabah.

Now, all of this mystical art was perfectly mirrored in the water before us. Indeed, so perfectly (due to the ambient moon light), that the reflection was actually of a higher resolution than the reality itself. Looking into the pool of water one was drawn deep into a watery illusion of the forest and lights and images. Down into “another world” like those spoken about in fairy stories and the legends of the ancient, mythical, Irish Tuatha Dé Danann.

There was information here, and feeling, and a deep, mysterious life force in this illusion that combined with the “outer” reality. The synergy of the mirrored illusion expanded beyond any previous experience, as it visually harmonized with the sounds of the music, lights and movement of hundreds of people at the dance ground. The resultant “reality” was truly awesome and amazing in a way that it is impossible to adequately describe (but hopefully you get the idea). The immediate effect was to immerse us in a 6 to 8, perhaps a 10 dimensional experience in real time. It did not diminish “normal”, rational, 3D reality, but supported and augmented it into an experience of the probabilities, possibilities and potentials of living within a ‘collective multi-dimensional consciousness’.

A merger of a holy trinity of Self, Other and Object transpired which informed the spirit in a similar way what experiencing a beautiful landscape, a dynamic thunderstorm and a natural child birth, all at the same time, could open to us. A visionary reality, of unity through multiplicity, that we, as an artistically and spiritually informed humanity are destined to travel. A quest, that we have been on since “time out of mind” within the firelight, drums, voices and paintings on the cave walls. A radical, yet traditional, call to our individual and collective imaginations and desires, to transcend what has gone before and to become IT.

The future of humanity may have always lived in its ceremonies and festivals devoted to service of the “Divine wOw”. The sacred synergy of passion and purpose focused through art and intention as a ‘skillful means” to empowering our being and growing, living and dying, loving and birthing of the god(dess) child within/ without, above / below and beyond.

I beheld a vision of the possible this night and a direction for action and transcendence of the looming challenges upon us. A conception sparked and a pregnancy of the spirit commenced. It tells me a wild child of the spirit world is gestating within us all and the dream is about to be born.

To be continued …

A HOLY GRAIL MOMENT

A hallmark of human consciousness is ‘The Quest” which IT exhibits endlessly, in great variety, from the mundane to the collective and mythic.

Now a personal aspiration or ambition can be a type of quest, requiring commitment and purpose, in selling the outrageous act we present in demonstrating to society “ I know what I’m doing”. This is also called “whistling in the dark” or “Scoopy Doo where are you”.

On a deeper collective level quests originate from dreams and ideals. Often they are impossible ideas; and they can take a long time. Consider for example “Flight”. How many people, over how many millennia, dreamed of taking to the air in flight; both literally and metaphorically? It was an illogical, impossible dream that defied common sense and experience (it being manifestly much easier to fall down than to ascend). Yet, we are now the heirs and beneficiaries of “air travel” as a contemporary fact of life. Our children take it for granted in having known “we can fly” all their lives (thank you Peter Pan). The same can be said for our digital technologies that can move images, sounds and ideas about the human world at near the speed of light. These were once impossible notions that are now current realities and even needs.

At an even more fundamental level is the human quest for meaning. The “Vision Quest” instinct to know: who are we and what are we doing here; how will we find our way … This instinct to transcend the known outer reality by exploring the inner landscape of the possible is not only as old as human consciousness but is synonymous with IT. Every great culture hero was “on a quest” and their success is what defines them as mythic cultural heroes: Eve, Innana, Isis, Gilgamesh, Moses, Buddha, Christ, Beowulf, Joan of Arc etc. etc. Each is a visionary living out a dream to solve “the unanswered question” to the satisfaction of their tribe, mob and people.

Among the greatest quests is the one known as the search for the Holy Grail. A mythic, redemptive “object of obscure desire” that is traditionally to be found in the wasted kingdom of a wounded and impotent king. This potent image of a healing and transcendent talisman is a story older than history and deeper than known human time. IT IS a shaman’s quest of power and meaning in service of the people for the highest good of all. We know it from stories of the Knights of the Round Table and Parsifal’s quest into the wasteland presided over by the failed Grail King who does not know the answer to the paradoxical question: “Whom does the Grail serve?”

This week we have witnessed a contemporary Holy Grail moment. Barak Obama accepting the mandate of his people as the first African American president of the United States. The “dream” articulated by Martin Luther King:

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”… I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

That day has come. The impotent Grail King “W” presiding over the wasteland of American ideals is to be succeeded by an innocent everyman who took on the quest by saying: “Yes We Can” (with acknowledgment and thanks to “Bob the Builder”). A wise fool whose reply to the question “Whom does the Grail serve” is a brave and compassionate one:

“... Its the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.”

The “spear of destiny” becomes “the will of the people” in healing the land, the sacred law and the hearts of its people. A better day is possible and “the best is yet to come” because:

“… above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to –
IT belongs to You.”

“The One” who expressed “The Audacity of Hope” in undertaking the quest succeeded through empathy and inclusiveness in an outrageous victory over fear and division, control and domination.

Or, as Frank Zappa once said:

These things don’t happen very often. I had my nerve didn’t I …”

THE MAN FROM HOPE

Hello, welcome to:
Intelligence Test 08’
(aka: the US Federal Election)

There’s Something Happening Here
What IT IS Ain’t Exactly Clear…

Stop Children - What’s that Sound
Everybody look what’s Going Down…

For What It’s Worth
Buffalo Springfield/ S. Stills

Epic is the word that comes to mind in appreciating this ‘date with fate’ that the US Presidential election contest represents. Playing like Ravel’s Bolero it has been a very long, drawn out, crescendo of repetitive phrases that grows in novelty while slowly and steadily grinding to a climax. It issues are monumental: war, health, global crises, human rights, ethics and morality; sustainability and prosperity.

Obama, the anti-Bush political and social phenomena, grows in maturity and esteem in the heat of the process by being the cool, calm and collected everyman for the season of choice America holds every four years. Ignoring the fear wedge and speaking to “the people” Obama, refuses to take IT personally by reminding US of our dreams. I imagine that his boyhood hero was Kane in Kung Fu – a cool, unfazed and deadly agent of the spirit acting in the pursuit of peace with justice; a half-caste initiate on a hero’s journey of discovery and ethical purpose.

I/we resisted him for a while, being unwilling to be sucked into yet another politicians populism screening an impotent power trip (‘ah Bill, we got to know you too well’). Or worst yet, experiencing another visionary being cut down by the right, in another well reported violent act. Regardless, Barak patiently wore down our cynicism, and became “The One” we have been waiting for, by passionately speaking to all of US who have been seeking each other at the edge of possibilities and potentials.

IT has been as long as both the Trojan War, the Odyssey and more, since the last “great communicator” Ronald Reagan seduced America with his “voodoo economics” sales pitch of a “trickle down economy”. Indeed, IT IS a Saturn Return* of 28 years since the Republican landslide of 1980 (here we go again - one more time with feeling people).

Of course the real genesis of our disillusionment was generations old even by then and before being dangerously turbo charged with the murders of JFK, Martin Luther King, Bobby and many others calling for progressive policies, or those suffering the consequences of that optional but aggressive, pre-emptive war in Viet Nam (watch out for the dominos). We also remember Nixon and the dark places he shared with US in his paranoid quest for power – in life, Nixon imitated art; no better Gulum ever existed than in the twisted mind of Tricky Dicky (“ ... my precious, my precious ...”).

Of course we cannot forget George HW Bush I with his promise of a “New World Order” and the pain unleashed by the organized global cartels and mafias it spawned. Indeed, where would we have been all these years without say the “War On Drugs” and its criminalization of culturally important plants and activities, the creation of black markets (abetted by the CIA while in the process of installing dictators like Sadam and war lords like Bin Laden) or the monstrous, record breaking, prison populations, renditions and torture. Who benefited – then and now – in these bogus wars of every description, of the Darwinian attitudes to progress as strictly the survival of the fittest or the re-invention of Casino Capitalism – Google: ‘Tulip Mania’ or ‘South Sea Bubble’ (“its déjà vu all over again”).

With all this in mind, and in our living memory, is it any wonder than many of US liberal and progressive souls are ambivalent, if not skeptical, about the potential for success with Obama. We would be foolish not to be suspicious after the last two elections for the US president being stolen in broad daylight. But also foolish not to be dreaming, once again, “the dream” revived by this latest prophet from the “no coincidences department”. By being almost too good to be true, Obama challenges our individual and collective realizations of our own power and purpose. He rallies the weary, wary citizens of a lost Great Society to grasp the power of the possible – of the ‘what if it is’ … the time for the best and the brightest to be also those who are responsible, caring and devoted to the world, ITS people and the highest good of all.

“Yes We Can. ”

We must. The “End of Days” trajectory that “W” has fronted for the neo-cons, fundamentalists and haters is a darkness too deep to be plumbed by trusting to “the same old same old”; of continued “ right is might, I’m the sheriff of the world” delusions.

So, it is an intelligence test. An opportunity to get IT right by moving left; of healing the wounds created by the misuses of power and the arrogance of might.

Passing this test and electing Obama is “just the first part, just the start”. It will be like having a successful birth, a right of passage resulting in new life; and, like having a new born babe, it will be just the beginning.

*
“Saturn is symbolically/astrologically associated with time, challenge, fear, doubt, confusion, difficulty, seriousness, heaviness, unwanted burdens and hard lessons, among other more positive things such as structure, significance, accomplishment, reflection, power, prestige, maturity, responsibility and order – this is why astrologers believe that the thirtieth birthday is such a major rite of passage and is considered by many astrologers to mark the "true beginning" of adulthood, self-evaluation, independence, responsibility, ambition, and full maturation.”

Wikipedia

Big Al has departed...

Albert Hofmann died last week at the age of one hundred and two.

Albert Hofmann in 1993
(January 11, 1906 – April 29, 2008)

He is the other “big Al” of the twentieth century; along with Albert Einstein.

Albert Einstein in 1905
(March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955)

Both Al’s changed our perceptions of the world in almost accidental, middle class, Swiss precision. Albert Einstein, at the opening to the century, and Albert Hofmann, at its mid-point, during WW II. Both of them made IT look easy and natural to look beyond the surface of "things" and find new meanings.

Einstein revealed the “relativity” of mass and light in 1905, leading to the creation of previously un-dreamed of energy and power by the end of the same, above mentioned, world war. He proved theoretically that matter and light were “variations on a theme” with light actually being a “thing” - a “photon” - a packet of energy interacting with other forces such as mass/gravity.

This insight also gave a shock to “Time”, which lost its straight arrow “thing-ness” to became a mutable "point Of view" (POV). We can observe our energetic past now with the Hubble Telescope; looking back, deep into IT, to within minutes of the so called “big bang” . Producing digital images of that “primal light” at the beginning of Time/ Now. Einstein’s “thought experiment” becomes our contextual conundrum.

The “bending of light”
observed in this 1919 eclipse image
helped to prove Einstein’s
“Special Theory of Relativity”

Albert Hofmann, (while looking for a natural synthesis of a fungus ergot, in investigating possible medicines to assist with post partum bleeding in mothers) accidentally absorbed a tiny amount of LSD25 on a fingertip and effectively proceeded to demonstrate the “special relativity” of our human consciousness. That day, April 16, 1943, has become known as “bicycle day”, in the mythology of LSD, in an ironic twist on things/ events not being “business as usual” while experiencing the "glamour" of this novel molecule.

LSD 25

At first, LSD was appreciated as a medicine, that was tested and embraced by serious scientific and psychoanalytic communities, both in Europe and America. Popular exposure lead to indiscriminate use and abuse by the public, the US military and the CIA coinciding with dominant political and social agendas to demonize LSD. Official doctrine collided with “word on the street” about what was also being experienced as an opening to “the doors of perception” and a modern version of mystical experience; a holy grail.

Indeed, it was Albert Hofmann’s thesis that "a properly conduced LSD experience" was comparable to a “soma” type of induced ‘vision quest’, known as the ‘Eleusinian Mysteries’; sacred rites conducted in Greece for over two thousand years and a foundation experience of western civilization.

“…at Eleusis, the mystical vision, the healing, comforting experience, could be arranged in the prescribed place at the appointed time, for all of the multitudes who were initiated into the holy Mysteries. This could be accounted for by the fact that a hallucinogenic drug came into use; this, as already mentioned, is something that religious scholars believe. The characteristic property of hallucinogens, to suspend the boundaries between the experiencing self and the outer world in an ecstatic, emotional experience, makes it possible with their help, and after suitable internal and external preparation, as it was accomplished in a perfect way at Eleusis, to evoke a mystical experience according to plan, so to speak.”

Albert Hofmann
My Problem Child, LSD

This ancient, yet revolutionary notion of there being “sacred initiatory substance” is both a promise and a threat to the “progressive” and “reactive” segments of human consciousness. The ancient clash of world views between Dionysian freedom vs. Apollonian control “needs” experienced by both ends of the consciousness string. These classical antagonists reactively engage in a tug of war; rather than, the making of interesting loops and knots, created by the inter woven perceptions of both an informed and relativistic point of view. There are many examples of the contrary mode of perception to be found in synthesis and union. ITS language is art. How else did certain ancestors imagine those “Celtic knots” and “Persian rugs” that we marvel at yet today; than by reconciling the "inner" worlds of intuition and imagination with the "outer" experience of "Right Here/ Right Now" in order to enter the “gates of heaven”.

Dr Hofmann discusses this point in his memoir, My Problem Child, LSD Experience and Reality

"...Today a type of "meta-medicine," "meta-psychology," and "meta-psychiatry” is beginning to call upon the metaphysical element in people, which manifests itself as an experience of a deeper, duality-surmounting reality, and to make this element a basic healing principle in therapeutic practice. In addition, it is most significant that not only medicine but also wider circles of our society consider the overcoming of the dualistic, cleft world view to be a prerequisite and basis for the recovery and spiritual renewal of occidental civilization and culture. This renewal could lead to the renunciation of the materialistic philosophy of life and the development of a new reality consciousness. As a path to the perception of a deeper, comprehensive reality, in which also sheltered, meditation, in its different forms, occupies a prominent place today. The essential difference between meditation and prayer in the usual sense, which is based upon the duality of creator/ creation, is that meditation aspires to the abolishment of the I-you-barrier by a fusing of object and subject, of sender and receiver, of objective reality and self. Objective reality, the world view produced by the spirit of scientific inquiry, is the myth of our time.

Albert Hofmann
LSD, My Problem Child

"St Albert"
by Alex Grey

There is a profound and essential instinct in humanity that both “knows" and is also "known" by energies and forces outside our normal experience. IT is known by observation. We see them by their effects. Wind in the sail. The “attractiveness” of our planet to an apple as it falls from a tree. We Know IT when we see it. Or, like with a current, when we feel it.

People have always sought information and knowledge of the ‘un-seen” forces; from a "time" outside of any known human recall. It is a basis of all culture, religion, government and science. This is a form of direct knowing, through experiential means, by observation and psychological/ intuitive methods of discovery. IT IS how Albert Einstein came up with E=MC2

It is the art of shamanism, or for want of a better word today, ‘Neo-Shamanism', to continue these investigations at the edges of reality. As technology and consciousness push beyond all known boundaries at an ever accelerating rate of change a “meta-medicine” to aid in the effort of moving beyond the materialist dilemma is precisely what Dr Hofmann discovered.

IT IS for us to learn how to make use of the gift.

Today, in 2008, LSD is getting a second look, with new scientific medical studies planned to be under taken soon in America and Europe. IT IS also still assisting in traditional “lower world” investigations by adventurous healers and contemporary shamans. While LSD is not required or useful to everyone, or even recommended to anyone, this shamanic “power tool”, is an important and promising “skillful means” in exploring consciousness enhancement and expanded metaphysical understanding. To not investigate ITS potentials would be a generational "failure of nerve" and serious mis-understanding of the human need for consciousness growth and development to take place in "showing the way" by ecstatic means.

As the Greeks taught in the Eleusinian Mysteries:

Know Thy Self

Do No Thing to Excess

Do as Thou Wishes

Blessings to you on your continued journey Albert Hofmann.

Albert Hofmann Foundation

... and as Douglas Adams would say, “thanks for all the fish …” mate.

THIS IS IT

Thanks for coming along ...

Today’s post is when I begin sending this link out to as many friends and associates as feels appropriate.

Then, beyond today, through the virus of the internet, to all of the people who can benefit and enjoy these messages.

Pass this link along to whoever may be interested in a practical and earthy shamanism, intellectually based and amusingly presented.

“Information wishes to be free”

Today I Launch:

WHATIF-ITIS

I hope and expect that a dialog can develop as new posts come along, so we can develop this topic in useful and positive ways with: Links, Images and Sounds that I will be sharing.

You are also invited to enhance this discussion with ideas, questions, stories
-

"What-Ever"

You are welcomed and encouraged

To get stuck into IT

As IT happens

I have been busy

Responding to recent experiences

By constructing a BLOG

a proverbial

21st c “message in a bottle…”

Cast out,

Into the digital domain of 0’s & 1’s
Charged by the electrons that run through them.

IT seems an ingenious and timely way to share

A creative "peace offering" of insight and experience

An empathic, intuitive response

that is

Philosophical

Psychological

Artistic

Metaphysical

neo-Shamanic

'SLOWED DOWN'

IT IS

offered,

in a state of:

Humor

;-)

YES

;-)

An ironic and metaphoric excessive humor
in which the truly gonzo are prone to rave.

;-) !!!

No apologies for IT

As in Life & Death

You will just have to work IT out

There IS no help for IT

We take IT seriously

Be-cause

IT IS

Funny
Paradoxical
Compelling

Last month, I reached the age of sixty (shock horror ... nothing changed ;-).

The surf was still up and the Mojo still running …

So, I embarked upon an intuitive three part adventure that saw me travel from the Blues & Roots Festival in Australia to the UK and on to Ireland ('as you do if you can' ;-).

In the process, meeting and sharing with exciting, alive, smart, switched on people; all seeking their dreams. Inspired humans, each following their individual notions of bliss and imagination towards positive outcomes. IT was empowering, humbling and an honor to be met and BE seen by them.

“Pronoia”

is alive and well
in the worlds I traveled

I was also able to experience new digital technologies that change the way we conceive of our world and our place in IT. Our, so called, “day job” as Alchemica is progressing into exciting new platforms of dynamic information display and advanced entertainment ... “with feeling”…

Stay tuned for IT

Then,

for the first time,
this time ...

I returned to the land of my principle ancestors;
and heard ITS voice deep in my bones.

Ireland is a landscape that can/ will speak to you

IT IS

Another deep and ancient place,
like Australia,
where an a live current of spiritual intelligence
seeks to connect with

US

YES

US

Self Conscious,
Meaning Seeking,
Perceptually dim witted
baby Beings that we are …

IT loves US

IT grows and develops

through OUR consciousness

Our attitudes of

Gratitude

Or

“Whatever”

Feeds and Informs

IT

All right, that’s IT ;-)
The previous 13 Posts can be Read in any order you please:

Conceptually IT runs backwards:
“Introduction” => Here & Now

Read IT

That way if you choose

In theory

IT

doesn’t really matter

You get IT anyway

Good Luck with IT

“I’ll Be Back”

;-)

IF IT WASN'T

So sad ... IT could be funny.

Example:

“Google News”
(27/04/08)

China wants to have “IT” both ways with the Dali Lama by offering “talks” on the future of Tibet while demonizing him in the state controlled domestic press.

Robert Mugabe’s government forces are Jailing babies and children of the Opposition” in order to force their leaders into exile.

“Kim, of the North” in Korea is busy building his own ‘Bat Cave”, to secure his jet fighters from detection, so they can zoom out of the mountain side, in a “Thunderbirds” type launch, to protect “Dear Leader” & Co from ...

Meanwhile, back in the disillusioned USA, Obama and Clinton argue over “gasoline fuel taxes”, while stumping for the Indiana primary, in making crucial leadership distinctions and “common touch” style for the electorate.

WHAT IF

This were a Dream

What would we Think?

TIME TO WAKE UP

In a universe of pure information:

IT IS

BEING & BECOMING

Appearing Now

To US

Every Where / Every When

Here & Now