The Read Pill

The 'red pill' is not read. In it's natural state, it looks quite green, and muddy brown after it's been boiled down for a few days. As a crystal, they say it has a yellow tinge. What do you think?

(For those whose gray matter is imbued with a short attention span, scroll straight to THE BOTTOM. 

For those who don't mind sitting through a trip or two, you may wish to start at the top. This post is the layered and can be read as a kaleidoscope of images that actually do fit together, as this sort-of summary is intended to e'splain. 

This post was written in three sittings, the last of which was written by hand. A lot of what is written here may not appear to make sense. Trips are like that. If you do make it to the bottom and leave a comment you'll get a response. 

Okay, here goes...)  

Now, I’m not even sure how people manage to communicate anymore.

Life is in the comments. That’s where there’s the interaction, the recognition that people normally don’t get, at least when it’s sincere. And sometimes…sometimes people let you know something that you can use.

This will be the last blog post here for quite some time, perhaps for good.

(clears throat)

Roughly two years ago I was coaxed out of my hole, so to speak.

There was this guy, a blogger, who was throwing a party.  I stood outside, listening to the DJ spin…also got to hear a few of the guests do their thang.  Moving, it all was.

Here goes.

(deep breath)

Background.

I do drink alcohol, but not much. Might have a beer with dinner now and then. And I don’t do ‘drugs’.  I’m clean.  By the time I was old enough for ‘higher education’, I’d already had my share of 'acclimational' experiences. I don’t think I’ve ever tripped. Not from what I can remember. And I’ve never had blackouts.

Churches…those are places I’ve been. One that is arguably a cult, depending on which sect you talk to. Was never forced to participate, but undoing the fear in order to be able to see better has taken years. Occasionally, if there’s a bump in the night, it can still set me off. Still, I’ve never ‘seen’ anything. Still…just gotta be still and remember to breathe.

Worth millions apparently. 

 

  

The imagination...worth so much...and also can be used as a weapon on the unsuspecting, ‘specially when trust comes into play. Mixed in with a little bit of hope...that magic goes to work. 

Cleanse, fold and manipulate for profit.

$$$$$

At the same time, the blessed mind (or what’s left of it) is a sacred space. One in which serenity can still be found.

Set & Setting

Consciousness. Not too sure if consciousness is an actual setting. An editor’s letter was posted just a short while ago. In it there was mention of the Origin of Consciousness. You can see the messy response I left in the comments below in the post linked here.

Shortly after submitting the comment and having it approved, I did a quick search and, as serendipity would have it, I stumble across DMT. Didn’t know what it was exactly and still don’t really know.

Since I’d rather read than watch TV, other than documentaries, I started looking around. And ended up watchin' a documentary and subsequently reading a lot of comments here and there. 

It’s this last one that gets me.

The last one gets me because something happened roughly two yeas ago.

Look, despite an early indoctrination of sorts, buying into the system was not hard-wired into me. When you get a look at what’s behind the scenes, how shows are run, how things are made - forgetting that it’s one big show, for the most part, is hard to do. Unless you, through isolation or some kind of subconscious decision, kind of put things into hyper-sleep. Maybe you thought you had to in order to go with the flow. 

 

Then, one day, there’s a low boom. First you feel it or maybe think you feel it. Then, there may be a buzzing sound. And then the ringing. Launch. All within a time-frame that allows for a mind to pick up where you think it left off. 

The fucker was supposed to be sleeping.

Intermission

 

“Maybe it wasn’t even a game.”

No, not a game. It was an educational tool designed to open up, flip switches, observe, make connections…

Myst was a taste of what really being connected feels like.

So, what does ‘really being connected’ feel like?

We’re doing it now.

The simplicity is deceptive. 

“You are The Stranger, a person of inconsequential gender, race, or origin, minding your own business when a book falls into the black starlit void you call home.”

The backstory is in every single post.

Only, the story is something that has needed architecture through which messages can be relayed. Sometimes pictures. Other times, just a phrase or two.

Cryptography is too advanced and not something that is really my style. Never has been. Neither is violence. Not really.

Still, the idea of lining walls with brail has never seemed unfair to those who can see.  Last time I had a conversation with a person who could read brail, it was with someone who was bilingual. She’d spent less than a year in the US. Her active memory, for words and phrases, was near perfect. When you’re in the dark, there’s a lot to be aware of. You kind of have to be.

I doubt she could see what I imagined to be a cruel grin just on the corner of the principal’s face, the authority who worked at the school where she was teaching. Bruises on her shins from the coffee table. Yes, many fresh looking bruises. When she was invited in to speak with me, even though she moved carefully, she still managed to bump that table. Not like anyone would have had moved it. 

Are we focusing now? See where this is headed?

There was a lot going on. A lot going on that I didn’t see. Next time I have a conversation with a blind person, I will remember to close my eyes. To listen.

“Thankfully, they later realized that they were going to have to make a couple of conceptual concessions for a game that took many players months to work their way through.”

Thee consecutive sittings were required to get through that ‘game’.  The resolution on my monitor was poor, so it took a bit longer than it could have. Still, it was manageable.

“It's an alluring idea — the ability to write words with such power and focus that they could physically transport someone to a place of the author's choosing — not to mention a tempting metaphor for the Millers' love of world-building.”

Yeah. Books can do that.

“The world being linked to — its terrain, its people, its architecture, its biosphere — all existed before that first link was created; the writer is merely presenting opportunities to see these worlds.”

That’s all.

“Open-world gaming somehow feels more truthful these days, maybe because the illusion of freedom and lawlessness so closely mirrors the biggest, most popular computer game of all: the Internet.”

END

 

(takes another breath)

19:33… it mentions something about influencing human consciousness.

Influencing human consciousness. So what goes on behind the eyes? He’ll show you his...

For anyone who takes DMT, there is a chance to see what’s down underneath the last turtle. As much as I’d like to think I understand that most of what we do, the way we interact, is some kind of agreed upon way of acting out roles we may not even be aware of… as much as I’d like to think I’m at least aware of that (see linked quote if necessary).  If I ever do DMT, I want to have prepared for it (knowing that I maybe really can’t). 

For now, however, my real reality, the one that I breathe and walk through on a daily basis, takes precedence over that ultimate trip through the cosmos. 

The strength of the Internet, one of them, is very real. If you want to double-check something you think you might have read or watched once upon a time, odds are, now, you’ll have a good chance of finding something. And also get an opportunity to see what other people are saying, whether they agree or not. Or disagree a lot. 

What's this got to do with Loco?

You see, if you do google the author of the bicameral mind, you’ll see a name, Brian J. McVeigh. Go ahead, don't close your eyes. Google him.

One of the hardest parts, I’ve found, is seeing how things fit together. Sometimes you stumble across bits and pieces of important stuff that has happened and you are able to actually connect the dots. And then verify.

Like the DMT experience, as far as I understand it at this point, asking questions like this is very important. And has it’s dangers.

To ‘close’ this post and start shutting down the ‘blog’, I never would have come this far had I not just to have happened across Loco and Chris’ interaction and subsequent recognition. For me, everything is very real, and I’d like to keep it that way.  Were I to meet the other one in person, as Wifey thought I was going to when I explained that I was headed off to meet a blogger, I’ve got a set of about three. But it’s not magic, which often involves distraction, slight of hand, or some trick… it’s something else very, very real. 

I’m not sure there are any answers. But that doesn’t stop me from asking.

Two of the three require presentation in order.

After the third are questions I am prepared to answer.

It all depends.

It takes a hell of a lot of mental energy.

Just to stay focused.

But not 
Just 
yet.

Thank you and goodbye.

THE BOTTOM

(I had to find a park somewhere, be outside in the sun. That's how this part was writ.)

Consciousness 

At some point in life, people may find themselves hyper-aware of what's going on around them in their universe. The manner or circumstances that lead to this state of elevated consciousness does not always occur when it is convenient. And they may or may not be other people around who we can relate to. What’s difficult is when trying to relate that experience to others who may not be receptive or sympathetic to our observations. Reactions may vary, from offhanded dismissal…

Loco or Baye, provides a good example of what that can be like. His editor, in her own way, has talked about that too. And there are others. Here in Japan.

But not everyone, despite noticing the similarities, is so willing to engage with other people about this. It’s a tricky business, or it can be.

Bad Boy provides a grand example of this phenomenon. We all bring our chips to the table, along with axes of various shapes, sizes, and sharpness.

In exploring consciousness, there is overlap. If there are any doubts regarding these connections, I can demonstrate their existence by showing the threads I discovered so far.

In the editor’s note to Loco, the ‘Origins of Consciousness’ is discussed. So let’s start there. Julian Jaynes discusses bicameralism, an idea definitely worth researching further for those who are interested. One of Jaynes understudies is B.J. McVeigh.

One particular comment on Loco’s blog was fairly critical of his observations. McVeigh happened to be an author I had read who provided insight that was useful in confirming the validity of Loco’s reflections on education. Whoever left the comment was bragging about working in ‘higher education’ or something like that. So, I just quoted what I’d read about how it can be. Loco remarked on how I’d ‘dropped science’.

McVeigh had spent some time in Japan and wrote about what he’d observed, relating to his experience in a straightforward way that is easily ‘accessible’ to the laymen reader. Japanese Higher Education as Myth is worth a quick look if only for the anecdotal value. That particular book was met with praise and criticism. Anyway…

Before McVeigh’s attempt to dispel a myth, he’d published some other work dealing with shaman-worthy consideration from the perspective of a person with experience in Japan. His interests appear to be more than merely recreational in nature.

Psychology deals with the mind (duh!).  Neurophysiology is another is another perspective or way of approaching how the mind works. That’s where he and Strassman overlap. Literally.

Strassman is one of the most recent big pioneers in the West to legitimately pursue an area or filed traditionally left or entrusted to shaman. A clinical approach to DMT just so happens to reveal a lot of ideas that people are interested in discussing with regard to consciousness. Rational minded scientists and mysticists both are confronted with data that is still very open to interpretation.

Although I’ve never had any kind of mystical encounters, my own mental filters do not allow me to tune out those who’ve experienced what I have not. Many people have reported a number of encounters with perceived entities that bare striking similarities. The similarities have been verified, only the way in which the observations are interpreted vary, be they from a rational perspective grounded in science or faith.

One striking feature is the phenomenon of the ‘machine elves’.

If I ever do decide to take a trip into or across and over to that realm, it won’t be for shits and giggles. They, my elders, have offered to sit through the journey because of their familiarity with my set and sensitivity to setting.

There are few physical settings that I would even consider embarking on a search or journey. Because of the bonds I share with a circle of friends who consider me family, I feel fortunate to have such support. The physical part of the journey is very real. And like any physical journey, the weight of the baggage is crucial to the territory to be explored, both in metaphorical and spiritual terms. Humor allows for a deeper understanding as it enables courage that is required for the trip.

Our trip spans generations, a trip that is well documented in a book of sorts that will be exhumed one last time before being transported to an unspecified location before a circle will have been completed and ceremonially laid to rest deep in the heart of a living dreamscape.

Whether another generation will continue to honor the legacy remains.

Ash to ashes…

This blog experience is at the end of a cycle that has been very profound for me. Comments will remain open for a time. I am prepared to answer any question the observer may have, using metaphors where direct answers will not be appropriate beyond the circle to which I belong.

Thank you.

 

Will

END NOTE:

Oh yeah. Before anyone want to blow me off for ‘not having a clue’, BJ McVeigh, who studied under you-don’t-want-to-bore-yourselves-with-this Jaynes, BJ is apparently working in U of A, and Dick (Strassman) has done some overlapping. When you're up high, there's a lot to overlook. 

 

*******

(mostly unedited)